[Winning PCO] Lucky Number Four

There are a few things that serious golfers must do in their lifetimes: Shoot a round at Pebble Beach, play in Scotland and go to the Masters. Bert Putterman — no pun intended — has done that last one.

Four times.

“I would drop just about anything to go to the Masters, including my wife.” (Sorry, Darice.) Putterman first went to the tournament about 12 years ago to watch the practice rounds in the early part of the week. He’s been to the practice rounds once more, and got to see Vijay Singh win during the final round in 2000.

LUSH AND LAVISH. This year, he got to go to Augusta courtesy of Univar, as the winner of the company’s recent “Go to the Masters with MasterLine®” promotion. He and his golfing buddy Mike Howard stayed in a private country house near the storied course where Univar employees cooked their meals — steaks all around, by the way — and looked after them.

“Univar was just spectacular,” Putterman said. “It was great. It was quite an adventure. It was all very lush and lavish. We had a great time. ”

He and Howard spent the final day of the tournament walking the course. They watched the first groups tee off, then spent about three hours at the famous three-hole stretch known as Amen Corner.

“The whole experience was terrific,” Putterman said. And, Sunday’s windy conditions put many of the pros through their paces. “There’s nothing better for us than to watch professional golfers make fools of themselves: It reinforces our faith that our game can’t be that bad.”

HISTORY IN THE MAKING. As a way to help increase awareness of Univar’s private brand, MasterLine®, the company started the contest at NPMA’s PestWorld in 2007, and had more than15,000 people enter. Jason Roberts, Univar’s MasterLine® product manager, said the company wanted to give pest management professionals a chance to see history in the making.

“Knowing that you’re at arguably the greatest golf event in the world and one of only a few in attendance to witness part of sports history is priceless,” Roberts said.

To get into the tournament, which has been played at Augusta National Golf Club since 1934, you have to be a member of the club, be a guest or have some pretty high-up connections. “(The Masters is) always interesting. It’s highly regulated; it’s hard to get into. Anytime you go, it’s special,” Putterman said. “It’s a great opportunity.”

WELL TRAVELED. Putterman — who, for the record, has a terrible short game but is great off the tee — splits his time between Florida and Arizona as president of Oliver Exterminating, a position he’s held for 19 years. His primary residence is in Fountain Hills, Ariz., but he spends two or three weeks each month in the Miami area.

Before his career in the pest control industry, Putterman worked transiting sailboats worldwide, returning racing boats to their home ports after they docked all over Central and South America. It was in Mexico where he met Truly Nolen and agreed to fix the engine on the industry icon’s 44-foot sailboat.

That deal grew into a three-year stint as captain on Nolen’s boat and in 1980, at age 28, Putterman opted to move back to the land, and took a job at a Truly Nolen branch in Phoenix. Three years later, he became the company’s regional manager for Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.

PESTS, NOT PIRATES. Putterman said he doesn’t sail anymore: having spent seven years living at anchor, worrying about pirates and if his boat would be confiscated by the next group of authorities, he doesn’t miss it.

“This is a stress-free industry, if you can believe it,” he said of pest control. Now, he’s happy to spend his days on land — preferably green fairways and groomed greens.

“I’m good off the tee,” he said. “But I don’t putt worth a damn. I’m a very good beer drinker.”

The author is assistant editor of PCT.

The MasterLine Connection
This is the first year Univar has offered the “Go to the Masters with MasterLine®” promotion, which sought to tie together the historic tournament and the company’s own line of insecticides.

“As we roll out the 2008 season, we felt that featuring the Masters tournament in our promotion would separate our brand, being that this is such a distinctive and one-of-a-kind sweepstakes,” said Jason Roberts, Univar’s MasterLine® product manager.

To promote the contest, Univar posted an interactive golf game on its Web sites, www.PestWeb.com and www.MasterLine.com, where customers could try their hand at sinking a virtual hole-in-one. Since launching the site in October, more than 5,000 people have played.

The event gives the company an opportunity to give back to the people in the industry who have supported it.

“It gives us an opportunity to spend quality time with our customers,” Roberts said, “building on that trust and friendship we hope will last for years to come.”

It’s Not Easy Being Green
The green jackets now given to tournament winners date back to 1937, when a group of them was purchased from the Brooks Uniform Company of New York City. Members were urged to buy one and wear it during the tournament, so they’d be more recognizable to patrons looking for help. But they weren’t popular — their heavy material made members a little hot under the collar in the Georgia spring. The jackets weren’t awarded to winners until 1949, when Sam Snead became the first champion to don one.

The Winner's Circle
Name: Bert Putterman
Title: President, Oliver Exterminating
Age: 54
Favorite course: We-Ko-Pa, a course owned by the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation in Arizona, east of Scottsdale

Other Winners
The following pest management professionals won second place in Univar’s recent “Go to the Masters with MasterLine®” contest. Each won a $250 gift certificate toward the purchase of MasterLine® products.

• Monica Byrd, E-pestsolutions, Humble, Texas
• Charles Gill, C&C Lawn, Pest & Termite Control, Nacogdoches, Texas
• James Kearney, Battleline Termite and Pest Control, Largo, Fla.
• Joe McBride, Hydrex Pest Control of Sacramento, North Highlands, Calif.
• Lester Sutton, Pest & Termite Consultants, Raleigh, N.C.