By PGA.com news services

Export sales of SofTrak Putting Greens turf in the first two months of 2003 have increased by 40 percent over the same period a year ago, officials at United Turf Industries (UTI) have announced.

The increase is largely the result of an ongoing global expansion by UTI and SofTrak, UTI President Lance Pierce said. A SofTrak distributorship was established in Europe last year encompassing Germany, Holland and Belgium.

SofTrak already has a presence in Asia, and Pierce said other international deals are imminent.

More than 1.1 million square feet of SofTrak turf has been sold in the five years since SofTrak was introduced to the market, officials said. SofTrak is the only high-performance synthetic sports surface designed specifically for use as golf putting and chipping greens and not adapted from other design purposes (tennis, multi-activity turf, etc.), they said.