order to match the thickness of the sod. head groundsman ... · 21/08/2013 · photo by steve...

SportsTurf 21www.stma.org

order to match the thickness of the sod.This would allow for an easier installationand a level finished surface. To do this, weused a Koro Field TopMaker 1200 with thenew Terraplane Rotor, which is similar to awood planer: it has cutting blades that leavea clean, even surface. This is one of the firsttwo machines in the US to have this rotor.The machine arrived from Holland a weekbefore the project. It’s actually the samemachine used to level the clay courts atWimbledon.

We mounted a laser receiver on the ma-chine so we could monitor the depth of thecut and make sure we removed the exactamount of clay. The clay was hauled out ofthe stadium using a fleet of workmen. We re-moved less material in the middle of the in-field skin, creating a slight crown in order tohelp any excess water that hit move towardthe edges of the field and into the rootzone.The base lines were then cut and removedusing a sod cutter set at 1.25 inches.

All of this work was being done underthe watchful eye of Chelsea Football Club

head groundsman Jason Griffin, who wasquite impressed with the method we wereusing to remove the clay and prepare thefield.

“This isn’t new to us,” he said of play-ing soccer in baseball stadiums. “But theprocess that they’re using out here is a newway of doing it. It’s very good. It is goingto be nice and flat, which is what bothteams want.”

The pitcher’s mound, which had beenin place since the field was built in 2006,was being removed at the same time as theinfield. It took the power of an excavatorto get the tightly packed clay broken up sothe mound could be hauled out. Like thebase lines, the mound area was taken down1.25 inches below grade as well. Themound clay was kept in one pile, and theinfield clay was kept in another. Both pileswere watered to try and keep the clays hy-drated. We did not want them to get toodry, as this would make it hard to get themcompacted and firm when we reappliedthem to the field.

Top: JASON GRIFFIN, Chelsea’s headgroundskeeper, and Steve Bush confirming di-mensions on an iPad. Photo by Taka Yanagimoto.Bottom: BASELINE with clay removed. Photo bySteve Bush.

When the sod arrived, we did everything we could to keep therolls cool and in the shade, so we took advantage of Busch Sta-dium’s gigantic ice machines. We filled Gators with ice and hauledit outside to the staging area. We then used a special scoop we builtto pack ice into each of the tubes in the sod. This lowered the tem-perature in the middle of the rolls of sod, where they usually areprone to overheat and burn out.

By the end of the first day, we had all of the clay removed andhad installed sod at home plate, the baselines and the pitcher’smound. The 1.25-inch thick sod lined up perfectly with the exist-ing grass. The 6 mil plastic was installed under all of the sod, andthe seams were sealed with tape. We had to make sure the clay be-neath the sod did not get wet, as this might make the areas unsta-ble, and make it difficult to reassemble the field after the game.

With heavy rain predicted, we covered the entire infieldwith tarp at the end of the day.

Everything was going smoothly, and we were on sched-ule.

WHEN IT RAINS…That night, severe thunderstorms tore through the St.

Louis area. I was awake in the middle of the night, listeningto the thunder and watching as it poured outside. I wasglued to the weather radar on my iPad while the stormdumped 1.5 inches of rain on the field.

At that point, I wasn’t terribly concerned, since we hadcovered the field with the infield tarp.

But when we showed up Tuesday morning, the situationwas a little damper than my outlook. The strong winds thataccompanied the storm had ripped the field tarp, and thefirst base side of the skin was full of water.

Without wasting a minute, the Cardinals’ grounds crewstarted doing everything they could to get rid of the waterand wet clay. They used pumps, squeegees, rakes, brooms,shovels and conditioner. Some of the clay had to be com-pletely removed, as it was totally saturated, and we did nothave time to wait for it to dry. Simultaneously, our crewbegan working on the portions of the skin that were stilldry enough to work with. A pass with a laser box blade wasmade on everything to confirm the grade and smooth outany minor imperfections. The plastic was then laid downand taped, and sod was installed.

By afternoon, the first base side had dried enough that itcould be graded and sodded as well. To ensure tight, unno-ticeable seams, the thick-cut sod was pushed into placeusing our Sod Slider. The Slider is a hydraulic, tractor-mounted device that pushes or pulls sod into position. Wedeveloped the Slider in 2011 when we were installing morethan six acres of sod at Halas Hall for the Bears. Tightseams are critical, especially in soccer, as a bad seam canhave a dramatic impact on the ball roll. The sod was rolledwith a 2-ton vibratory roller, and we were pleased with thesmooth, even surface we had achieved.

Once the infield was completed, the entire field wasmowed and turf paint applied to help blend the old sod

with the new. They were nearly identical in color, but some of thenew sod was stressed and had yellowed very slightly. Normally, itwould grow out of it, but we only had one day to work with. All ofthe newly installed sod was hand-watered, so as not to get too muchwater on top of the plastic. Once the paint dried, the infield wascovered with the tarp for the night.

First thing Wednesday morning, we sodded the corners on thewarning track. We left this for very last to avoid cutting off access tothe field. Once the corners were installed, the field literally ex-tended from wall-to-wall at Busch Stadium.

The warning track material was removed and tapered away fromthe field. Plastic was put down, mostly to keep the sand from con-taminating the warning track material. It was starting to get reallyhectic as they were setting up for the practice game; the band was

22 SportsTurf | August 2013 www.sportsturfonline.com

Facility&Operations

A RIPPED TARP and saturated infield. Photo by Steve Bush.

BILLY FINDLEY, left,and Steve Bush, right,painting turf.

PUTTING ICE inthe rolls of sod.Photo by Steve Bush.

INSTALLING SOD andtightening the seams.Photo by Steve Bush.


moving in with their equipment for the post-practice concert, andthere were people everywhere. The field was mowed to establishthe pattern and the signature arch.

Shortly after noon, the field still needed to be stripped. It wasa group effort to get this done. Findley and his crew, our crewand Griffin (from Chelsea) set up the string lines around theperimeter of the field. Using several tape measures and triangula-tion, we established the goal boxes, penalty boxes and the othermarkings. After some minor paint machine problems the fieldwas finally painted and the goals were installed. Once a littlemore field paint was applied to the sod on the warning track, thepitch was ready.

More than 10,000 fans attended the practice game that night.Despite all of the cutting and turning during the practice, the sodstayed in place and played remarkably well. The practice was asmuch (if not more of ) a test of the field’s endurance as the maingame would be, as the drills concentrated the activity in the areaswe had sodded. But the field withstood it all, and the night endedwith the turf unscathed.

And the next day, soccer left its mark on Busch Stadium. The final score was Manchester City - 3, Chelsea - 4, in front of

a record-setting crowd. And on top of that, the teams, coaches andplayers were all pleased with how the field looked and played.

BACK TO BASEBALLFriday morning, we started the whole process in reverse as we

began literally “throwing out” the first pitch. The beautiful, thick-cut sod was quickly removed, hauled out of the stadium, loaded onsemis, and hauled off-site to be composted. The plastic had done anice job of keeping the clay dry under the sod, as well as keeping itclean.

Next, the challenge was to rebuild the baseball infield so that itwas firm and had smooth transitions. Once the sod was removed,the entire infield clay was lightly tilled with a Rotodairon to helpthe clay bond, rather than form a shear plane. As the infield mate-rial was brought in, moisture was added, it was rolled and lasergraded. One thing we learned was that we should have added moremoisture to the clay when taking it out.

Next, the base lines and home plate circle were filled in andleveled off. A form was set for the mound plateau, and the oldclay was brought up in lifts and compacted around it. Themound was finished off with new clay on the plateau in the land-ing area. By the middle of the day Saturday, the field was putback together, and the warning track was cleaned up and readyfor baseball.

It was an intense week, but an unmatchable experience. Work-ing with world class groundskeepers (Billy Findley and Jason Grif-fin) was an incredible honor, and building the first world-classsoccer pitch at Busch Stadium is a project I will always rememberwith great pride. It was hard work, and had its challenges. Butsomeday, I’ll be telling my grandchildren I got to do the first pitchat Busch Stadium, and that is priceless. n

Steve Bush, CSFM, CFB (Certified Field Builder) is an agronomistand president of Bush Sports Turf.

Top: REMOVING the thick cut sod. Photo by Steve Bush. Above Left:LASER GRADING and leveling the baselines. Photo by Steve Bush. AboveRight: A soccer pitch in a baseball cathedral, Busch Stadium in St. Louis.Photo by Steve Bush.


Facility&Operations | By Dr. Elizabeth Guertal

tend injuries and how to wrap to preventsports injuries and in the process introducedparticipants to careers in nutrition, physicaltherapy and athletic training.

• Our turfgrass team, stationed on theoutdoor practice field, packed several activi-ties into each 20-minute lesson. We talkedabout field construction; used potato chipsand marbles to illustrate the concepts of soilcompaction; helped students take horizontalslices of soil and turf from the field to seethe layering of sand and root developmentin the field; and showed them how to use

turfgrass measurement devices such as CleggHammers and torque meters. Students thengot a special treat as a member of Auburn’sathletic field maintenance staff, an Auburnagronomy alumnus, fired up the core aeratorand made a pass across the practice field.Students then found the aerator holes andinserted dowel rods into them to measurethe depth of the aeration.

The activities began at 4 pm as parentsdropped students off at the Athletic Com-plex. Auburn Director of Athletics Jay Ja-cobs and a couple of Auburnstudent-athletes welcomed the group, andthen the students were separated into threegroups of 15. From 4:15 to 5:15, the groupsrotated among the three different 20-minuteactivities. Student-athletes spent the next 15minutes running relays with the youngsters,and at 5:30 pm, organizers served the kidspizza and handed out goodie bags.

ON AN AFTERNOON lastApril, 45 sixth-graderswho are keen on athleticsbut maybe not so muchkeen on science arrived on

the Auburn University campus as partici-pants in the first-ever “Sports and Sci-ence” program, produced by the AuburnUniversity Athletics Department and theacademic departments of Agronomy andSoils and Kinesiology. This after-schooloutreach event was designed to introduceyoungsters to the possibilities of careersin which they could combine their loveof sports with science. From all indica-tions, it achieved its purpose.

Sports and Science was held on a daywhen Auburn Athletics’ indoor footballpractice facility was available and when anumber of Auburn student-athleteswould be around to help with the event

as part of National Student-Athlete Day,one in which high school and college stu-dent-athletes nationwide are celebratedfor achieving excellence in the classroom,on the field and in their schools andcommunities. For the 2-hour event, fac-ulty and graduate students in the agron-omy and soils department’s turfgrassprogram and in kinesiology and membersof Athletics’ Sports Medicine staff devel-oped three educational activities designedto show youngsters some of the possiblescientific careers related to sports.

• Kinesiology faculty used their state-of-the-art imaging systems to let studentsanalyze and track their athletic motion,using that as a starting point to talkabout careers in injury rehabilitation,sports medicine and exercise science.

• Auburn Athletics’ Sports Medicinestaff showed youngsters how to wrap pre-

SPORTS AND SCIENCE – Sixth-Graders, Marbles and Potato Chips

Every participant receiveda special Sports andScience T-Shirt thatsported the Sports andScience logo and theAuburn AthleticsDepartment’s sponsorship.

Every participant received a specialSports and Science T-Shirt that sported theSports and Science logo and the AuburnAthletics Department’s sponsorship.

The day was a success. The studentswere interested and active, and they askeda ton of great questions. Since the partici-pating sixth-graders were all selected fromour local middle school, we got excellentfeedback in the days after the event, andmany teachers at the school said their stu-dents talked about the fun they had andhow they learned about new careers insports science.

THE HOW-TOSSo how do you put together an event

like this at your school?• Get everyone on board. This event

never would have been a success withoutthe combined and creative efforts of fac-ulty, the staff of the Auburn Athletics De-partment and a great number of bothstudent-athletes and graduate students inthe respective disciplines.

• Have small numbers and lots ofthings to do. Sixth-graders do not want alecture; they want to run and pound bigthings into small things. When we toldthem to compact the potato chips (ourfield soil), those potato chips were com-pacted. We recommend one college studentto every two to three sixth-graders. Thiskeeps it personal, fun and the students en-gaged.

Use your students. Our student-athleteshelped us move the groups from place toplace, and they organized and ran all thegames at the end of the education sessions.The graduate students helped to teacheach education session, and they madesure each student was actively involvedand not wandering around.

• If in doubt, run. Any time things gotslow, we just told the students to run tothe other side of the field and then comeback. The chance to run on a pristine, im-maculate and green athletic field (or theindoor practice facility) is such an eventfor a kid. It’s just really fun!

• Pizza and a T-shirt seal the deal—es-pecially when that T-shirt is clearly special,was made specifically for this event andadvertises that the student attended anevent at a major university athletic facility.

THE NITTY GRITTYBased on our experience, fol-

lowing are some important de-tails to consider when planningsuch an event:

• Have the legal experts craftthe safety forms that parentsmust sign for liability issues.

• Work with your schools toget the right kids. We focusedon students who were interestedin athletics but perhaps didn’tshow that ‘science spark’ in theclassroom. Teachers helped toidentify the right kids, and three teacherscame along for the afternoon.

• Get everything organized, and have adetailed timeline. Use a boat safety horn tosignal when it is time to change groups.Always keep things moving along.

• Make sure the parents have all thecorrect information, including drop-offand pickup locations and times. Be sure,too, that parents leave emergency contactinformation

Thanks to the generosity of the AuburnAthletics Department, the entire eventcost $2,200. This included pizza, waterbottles and sports drinks and T-shirts forall. n

For more information contact ElizabethGuertal, [email protected]. Dr. Guertalis a professor in the College of Agriculture atAuburn University.


www.sportsturfonline.com26 SportsTurf | August 2013

FieldScience | By Jerad Minnick & Allen Reed

Challenge: Thatch/organic build-up onbermudagrass athletic fields.

Issues challenge is causing: Reduceddurability, including plants growing verticalup through the thatch instead of laterally soit is not as strong and healthy as needed;and thatch breaking down into organic ma-terial is full of fines, creating surface com-paction and slickness.

• Isolated dry spots due to inconsistentrooting

• Increased water requirement for rye-grass overseeding (seed is growing in thatchinstead of in the soil)

• Decreasing ryegrass overseeding dura-bility (seed is growing in thatch instead ofsoil)

Concept solution: Fraze mow to cleanout thatch completely. Thatch managementon bermudagrass is an on-going challenge

for sports field managers. Advancements inbreeding to create more aggressive bermuda-grass varieties create a solution for high traf-fic fields. But conversely, vigorous growthcompounds the challenge of maintainingthatch and organic material build up.

Verticutting, core aeration, and topdress-ing are the accepted maintenance practiceswith which sports field managers addressthatch and organic material build up on allgrass fields (cool or warm season). Accord-ing to data from the International SportsTurf Research Center, a verticutting ma-chine with 3mm blades on 1” centers re-moves 11.81% of the surface area. Coreaeration with 5/8” hollow tines on 2”x 2”spacing removes 7.67%. Thus ultimatelyverticutting and core aeration can not keepwith maintaining the current thatch levels,let alone reduce the amount of thatch and

organic build up taking place on top of abermudagrass athletic field.

INTRODUCTION TO FRAZE MOWING

In 1996, Ko Rodenburg decided thatthe practices of verticutting, core aeration,and topdressing for thatch and organicmanagement on his Kentucky bluegrassand rye fields needed another option. As

Concept to active practice: fraze mowing bermudagrass makes debut

With overseeding andfeeding the fields, thegrass could regeneratequickly, nearly thatchand organic free.


the parks superintendent for Rotterdam,Netherlands, Rodenburg created a machinethat could remove 100% of the thatch andorganic build up that accumulated each sea-son. At the same time, the machine re-moved the poa annua plants and seedaccumulation while leaving the crown ofthe Kentucky bluegrass and rye grass for re-generation. With overseeding and feedingthe fields, the grass could regeneratequickly, nearly thatch and organic free. Ro-denburg’s fields immediately becamestronger and more durable as the re-growthof the stand was much hardier than theoriginal sword of grass. Additionally, thecompaction potential at the surface was re-duced because the fines from the organicbuild up were cleaned out and the diseasepressure was nearly eliminated with thethatch removal of the thatch. Thus in 1997,fraze mowing with the KORO Field Top-maker was born.

The adaptation of fraze mowing tobermudagrass is more an introduction ofthe entire concept to the United States. A

practice common on fields across Europe toimprove field durability and reduce poaannua, fraze mowing fits naturally intobermudagrass thatch and organic manage-ment. That adaptation became even morenatural this year with the introduction ofthe Universe rotor for the KORO FieldTopmaker. The Universe, designed byImants (makers of KORO) and CampeyTurf Care (of Manchester, UK), is for frazemowing Desso sand-based natural grassfields. The 3/8” blades, aligned on four spi-rals, allow for Desso fields to be frazemowed without damaging or pulling outthe synthetic fibers in the sand. The smallteeth do the same for bermudagrass plants,cleaning off the stolons, thatch, organicbuild up, and leaving the rhizomes of thebermuda exposed in order to regeneratequickly.

Allen Reid and Miles Studhalter at FCDallas Park became the first Americans tocommit to fraze mowing entire fields (frazewhen referencing bermudagrass) to cleanout ryegrass overseeding, thatch, and or-

ganic build up on three fields. In mid-March, Simon Gumbril from Campey TurfCare was on hand in Dallas to oversee theprocess. Also, Joe Pemberton, headgroundsman at Manchester United’s Car-rington Training Ground stopped in to FCDallas Park to observe while in the USA ona vacation.

The 419 bermudagrass was still 95%dormant in March, but a few of the rhi-zomes were showing some green in thefields as they were cleaned off. See photo 1-6 for the results.

The highlight field, the FC Dallas train-ing field, was out of play for 8 weeks,though the field was ready for play in 7weeks. The unseasonably cold spring in theDallas area hampered the re-growth byslowing the 419 bermuda’s exit from dor-mancy, extending the re-generation periodby approximately 2 weeks. But still, theprocess succeeded. According to Reed, “Thefirst day Coach walked back on the pitch hesaid, ‘the field feels strong.’ Now after 2months of daily training, the field has been

Left: Fraze mowing process Middle: Rhizomes exposed after rye, thatch, and organic removal Right Top: First mowing, 2 weeks after fraze mowingRight Bottom: Field 6 weeks after fraze mowing


FieldScience

lightly verticut one time to stay ahead of thethatch, and is showing little to no wear.”

Fraze mowing next used when MarylandSoccerPlex Grounds staff cleaned off threefields of Patriot bermudagrass in early June.Because the fields were sprigged only 18months ago, the processes was intended totransition out the ryegrass and promote aquicker transition to full bermudagrass in-stead of cleaning out years of thatch and or-ganic build up. The Patriot bermudagrasswas 30% out of dormancy when cleanedoff, but within 10 days all of the exposedrhizomes were green and responding. A lackof warm weather was again an obstacle forthe SoccerPlex fields, but not to the extentof Dallas. See photos 7-9 for results.

The three SoccerPlex fields that werecleaned off were 100% bermudagrass im-mediately. The non-fraze mowed bermuda-grass fields still were only 80% bermuda(rye being the other 25%) on July 1. Addi-tionally, the removal of only a thin layer oforganic build up on top of the native soilfields now allows water to be absorbed intothe soil faster. Following heavy rains, thefraze mowed fields now soaking in rainmuch faster than before, allow the fields tobe used more.

Also in June, a golf course fairway ofCelebration bermudagrass in North Car-olina was fraze mowed to demonstrate theprocess on active, fully growing bermuda-grass. The Celebration had begun to buildup a thick thatch layer that needed cleanedout (see photos 10-12).

Fraze mowing is a new process to theUnited States turfgrass market. Yet manyintuitive sports turf managers have always

1.THATCH/ORGANIC build-up, June 20122.THATCH/ORGANIC build-up, July 2013 (re-duced by 1 inch)3.FRAZE MOWING Patriot bermudagrass 4.GREEN RHIZOMES prepared to re-generatefrom Celebration bermuda5.GREEN RHIZOMES exposed from fraze mow-ing 6.THATCH BUILD-UP removed from Celebrationbermudagrass7.EXPOSED RHIZOMES following clean out viafraze mowing

1.

2.

3.

4. 5.

6. 7.

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used similar techniques such as scalping, shallow sod cut-ting, and even burning off to remove thatch build-ups.Now those are brought into one practice. The process is avastly different approach to thatch management. It is apractice is not for the faint of heart and can leave a sportsturf manager questioning whether they should have done itor not for the 1st week. But ultimately, the strong grass willprevail.

Albert Einstein said it best: “If you always do what youhave always done, you will always get what you have alwaysgot.” Can fraze mowing bermudagrass become an acceptedpractice in a regular maintenance program to advance thedurability of fields for them to sustain more traffic? That isnow up to the industry to decide. For more on fraze mow-ing bermudagrass, see Jerad Minnick’s blog, http://Grow-ingGreenGrass.Net. n

Jerad Minnick is sports turf manager of the Maryland Soc-cerPlex at the Maryland Soccer Foundation, Boyds, MD. AllenReed is stadium groundsman for FC Dallas.

FIELD 12 following fraze mowing compared to 5 weeks later

SportsTurf 29

30 SportsTurf | August 2013

FieldScience

SportsTurf: How will turf managers firstrecognize they have a grub problem?

Dr. Shetlar: Most professional managerswill notice that the turf under their care isnot performing well or is showing signs ofdrought stress at times when soil moisturesare okay. However, inexperienced managersmiss grub populations until the birds or dig-ging animals “show” where the grubs are!Unfortunately, by this time, the grubs areoften third instars and pretty difficult tocontrol with inexpensive products. At thistime, one may have to use Dylox or Arenaand ensure that immediate irrigation fol-lows the application.

Dr. McGraw: Probably more oftenthen not, most turf managers recognizethey have a problem once they have someserious damage signs. Vertebrates likeskunks poking around, raccoons rollingback the turf or birds pecking at the turfare all good signs of grub activity. This ismore likely to be late in the fall and whengrubs are fairly large and capable of caus-ing some damage on their own (i.e., feed-ing on the roots of the plant).

Astute turf managers would probablycue into a general wilty-or yellowing ap-pearance to the turf in earlier in the fall, andfollow this observation up with some sortof soil probing (taking a golf course cup cut-ter to a section of turf and looking for theactual culprits is in my opinion a easy wayto confirm grub presence). Given the work-load of sports turf managers, especiallythose that have many schedule games andactivities on fields in late summer to earlyfall, proactively sampling large areas with acup cutter is probably not feasible. Restrict-

ing sampling to where grubs have been aproblem in the past and in high-valuedareas is a more realistic approach.

ST: What steps do you recommend toeradicate the problem?

Dr. McGraw: Preventive insecticides arestill the number one go to method of con-trol. When neonicotinoids like imidaclo-prid (Merit) came on the market itrevolutionized how we treat for grubs. Be-fore, turf managers had to applied harsherchemicals curatively or after the infestationhad been realized. With products like imi-dacloprid and newer classes like the an-thranilic diamides (Acelepryn), applyingpreventively before egg hatch leads togreater levels of control, since you are deliv-ering a toxin to a much smaller insect (1stinstar larva vs. a 3rd instar). That being said,eradication is not really possible even withchemical controls. Adult beetles are capableof travelling great distances to find your ad-equately watered soils to lay their eggs in.Even with great control in Year 1, someadult beetles will wander in Year 2 fromneighboring sites.

Dr. Shetlar: Late season grub issues fallinto what I call “rescue treatments.” This isan extreme form of curative treatment be-cause the large grubs can be 30 to 40 timesthe body weight of the grub that hatchedout of the egg! Another issue is that thegrubs often stop feeding once they haveachieved their maximum size for the season.

I often talk to Dan Potter in Kentuckyin September and he points out that hisJapanese beetle and masked chafer grubshave turned a yellow white color which in-

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Dealing with grubs:latest recommendationsEditor’s note: We asked two noted academicians, Dr. David Shetlar, professor of entomologyat Ohio State, and Dr. Benjamin McGraw, associate professor, golf & plant sciences at theState University of New York-Delhi, to update us on treating grub problems:

I think that, especially on sports fields, we can min-imize the effects of white grub damage substantiallyby developing a healthy turf stand

— Dr. McGraw

order to match the thickness of the sod. head groundsman ... · 21/08/2013 · photo by steve...

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