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tOtAl turF eXperience
pitmAn,
s
everal years ago, four dads had an idea.
Actually, they had several ideas.
Two of the dads were business partners. Three
of them coached together. They had twelve
kids among them.
One Saturday, they drove to a facility in South
Jersey. "It took us 45 minutes to get there, 45
minutes back," says Jerry McGough, Principal
at total turf Experience in Pitman, New Jersey.
"It was on an old mushroom farm, so it
smelled like mushrooms. There was mud in the
parking lot. The concessions did not appear
fresh." When they returned home, half the day
was gone, and they had only played one game.
The dads got to talking: What if we built one?
What would it be like?
The dads felt as if they could take from their
own experience and create a better product.
Jerry has been in business development for
a number of years. His long-time business
partner, Bob loftus, has extensive experience
in business and finance. andy logar, who
played soccer professionally for 10 years, is
a low-voltage electrician. Brad yates is a high-
voltage electrician.
Some needs were easy to identify: Clean
bathrooms, well-lit parking lots, a concession
stand that sold fresh food, rather than
shriveled-up hot dogs.
They designed the facility, bought the land.
"We got creative on the finance side and put
a lot of equity in it ourselves." They became
members of USIndoor and started talking to
consultant Jim cline of the Goals Group.
But in 2007, the economy was falling apart.
"We made a critical move early on that kept
us in it." They used the land as leverage
toward a million dollars worth of steel for
the building. "The steel sat in a field for two
years while we tried to find a bank. Had the
steel not have been bought, we probably would
have walked away, because it was very, very
difficult at that time. Thank God we bought
the steel because we stayed with it, and
we're having fun."
In June 2011, Total Turf Experience opened its
doors.
Jerry plays well with others. He thinks that
almost everybody has an entrepreneurial spirit.
"We were four guys who were willing to lose
our homes if this failed." Working together,
they knew they could succeed.
"Jim Cline gave us the ultimate compliment.
He said there are a lot of people in grade
school trying to figure this out, and you guys
have written the masters program."
A Unique Business Model
"Total Turf does not run a single sport. We
designed, built and run the businesses for the
folks who run the sports for us."
