SportsTurf 21www.stma.org

mounted on either end of the blade. Bycontrolling each end of the blade individu-ally, a dual mast system can grade in anydirection relative to the slope with equalefficiency and accuracy.

Using manual controls on a dual mast

system, the operator can go from auto-matic to manual with either the left orright side of the blade and adjust the bladehigher or lower than the elevation deter-mined by the transmitter without leavinghis seat. This comes in handy when multi-

ple passes are necessary to reach the fin-ished elevation or when it is necessary tomake minor adjustments when matchingexisting perimeter elevations. Manual over-rides are also provided on single mast sys-tems.

A laser receiver can also be used simplyas a visual reference when grading an areawithout the use of an automated bladecontrol system; the receiver is mounted di-rectly over the cutting edge of the skidsteer bucket. The receiver has a series offlashing red and green lights that tell theoperator if the bucket needs to be adjustedup or down or if the cutting edge is ongrade.

Note: individual transmitter functionsvary by model and manufacturer.

As they say in the golf industry, “theproof is in the putting.” ■

Jim Hermann, CSFM, is president of TotalControl Inc. Athletic Field Management,www.totalcontrolinfields.com.

22 SportsTurf | February 2012 www.sportsturfonline.com

FieldScience | By Mitch McClary

I oversaw the installation of ParkviewField in Fort Wayne, IN (Single A affiliateof the San Diego Padres) in 2008, and thenthe install of Werner Park in Papillion, NE(Triple A affiliate of the Kansas City Roy-als) in 2010. Taking care of a 5 or 10-yearold field is one thing, that’s common, butthere’s not a text book or established man-

agement plan for a new one. The best thingyou can do is talk to people who have doneit before.

Much like custom building a car beforeit’s rolled off the assembly line, I was luckyenough to be brought on board during theinstall process and have input, which isoften times not the case in the minor

leagues. All of a sudden you start thinkingabout changes you want and not problemsyou inherited. When it will make your jobeasier and your crew more efficient, go forit. I’m not talking about asking for heat oran air system, but simple things like quickconnect locations, ¾-inch hose connectionslike I have in my bullpens, or infield and

Building two new fields in 3 years

BEING PART OF A NEW FIELD CONSTRUCTIONcan be looked at as either a blessing or a curse, however,once you catch the bug and have the opportunity to buildone you may want to do nothing more but do it again. Ilooked at it as a chance to attain the elusive “perfect” field.

I know it’s impossible and that’s what keeps me humble yet comingback for more.

>> BELOW TOP: New field in Omaha, Fall 2010.>> BELOW BOTTOM: Werner Park in Papillion,NE, 2011 season.

warning track cutout sizes. We intentionallyoffset the mound radius and made it largerin Omaha to minimize wear for our extrahigh school games. It may not be a cure all,but every little bit certainly helps.

Irrigation design is also a key impor-tance. Most designers submit a neutral lay-out because everyone has differentpreferences. Head layout is extremely im-portant especially on your infield grass andfoul territory because a couple feet fromcenter either way and your cutouts will al-ways be wet. I also try to have the installerkeep heads away from player locations to re-duce a bad hop but also for maintenance. IfI’m resodding or aerifying behind where thesecond baseman or shortstop plays, I don’twant a head right there.

I prefer to manufacture or fix anythingwe can in-house which means we have a lotof tools and the same goes with our irriga-tion. Our remote controller for the system issuch a time saver for locating heads (espe-cially before aerifying) and running cycleswithout having to go to our controller lo-cated in center field. Along with that are ourinfield skin zones; I know the coverage isnot always perfect, but it has benefits. Weuse it when the team is out of town to keepmoisture in the skin, since the wind canwreak havoc if it dries it out, as well as be-tween lower level games. High school dou-bleheaders are tightly scheduled andsometimes the only way to water is to turnon those zones for a minute or two; it’s bet-ter than nothing.

Another thing is to know your materialspecs put in place by the field designer andto be approachable. Get a feel for howthings should look and be installed and gofrom there. The better relationship you havewith everyone involved from the generalcontractor to every subcontractor, the easierthey will be to approach and talk aboutchanges, but keep in mind the domino ef-fect. It’s hard to change one thing, whetherit’s an elevation, home plate diameter orpipe size, without that changing otherthings down the line, so talk it out witheveryone.

Understanding what materials are beinginstalled helps with the design but also themaintenance. My track material on bothfields was a higher maintenance crushed lavamaterial. As I came to find out, that meant

extra watering and constant grading anddragging to maintain the negative slope fordrainage. I understood that early enoughand was able to purchase a large enough boxgrader and laser setup that not only allowedme to constantly work the warning track,but also allowed me to grade my infield skinwhenever I needed. This multi-use needhelped me sell the purchase to management.

Taking pictures is the single best way todocument the install and have some sense ofassurance on what’s below once it’s coveredup with sod and clay. I don’t love to read, letalone take the time to write, but taking pic-tures tells a much greater story and sayseverything without saying anything. It al-

lows you to look back, compare and seemany things that may have been missed oninstallation such as buried valve and drainboxes, head locations, even how the fielddrained before the sod was laid.

All contractors will tell you “We wantyou to be happy” or “If you’re happy, thenwe did our job”, so make sure you arehappy. The potential problem with that isbeing too nice. Don’t settle for “that will do”or “I’ll fix it later”, it will come back to biteyou. I did a terrible job about this on myfirst field and a little better job (emphasis onlittle) the second go around. Don’t makemore work for yourself that you won’t havetime to perform in the spring. It’s under-

SportsTurf 23www.stma.org

Taking pictures is the single best way to documentthe install and have some sense of assurance onwhat’s below once it’s covered up with sod andclay. I don’t love to read, let alone take the time towrite, but taking pictures tells a much greater storyand says everything without saying anything.

26 SportsTurf | February 2012 www.sportsturfonline.com

standable that the fine detail work may notbe just how you want it, but edging, moundand plate construction, even infield skingrading should all be written in the specs andfinished to a game-ready condition.

Sod is down, the infield is graded andmounds are built so now what? Dependinghow far along your budgeting and equipmentprocess is this becomes a great time to get afeel for the field and equipment. If possible

have everything linedup and see if it’s possi-ble to have the fieldhanded over that fall.This is a great time to geta relationship with equip-ment dealers, demo theirequipment and see whatyou like. It is also time tobegin your fertility andfungicide program and geta feel for the products andthe field.

All of this being said, don’tlose sight of one of the mostimportant areas of the wholejob, the maintenance shop. Bythis time I’m sure your newhome has been promised for

completion 2 months ago, but keep at it.Many times the importance of this area andthe timeframe it’s needed in is overlooked. Justlike irrigation is needed before sod is laid, themaintenance shop is a key part for prepara-

FieldScience

>> 2011 CREW for Omaha Storm Chasers. Left to right:

Matt Kozeal, Gavin Cordaro, Roger Bettmann, Mitch McClary

(head), Noah Diercks (assistant), Andrew Miller, and Troy Lorenz.

Intern George Powell is not pictured.

>> 2010 CREW for Fort Wayne TinCaps, L to R: Adam Basinger, Greg Slee, Keith Winter(assistant), Dave Joest, Mitch McClary (head).

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SportsTurf 27www.stma.org

tion, organization, and storage before theseason.

Attic stock materials may be built into thespecs but storage of them is not. The lastthing you want is $5,000 of loose materials

sitting outside on a construction site gettingcontaminated. Plenty of work will need to bedone come spring time and the last thingyou will want is a disaster of a shop and ma-terials when games start in the spring.

I faced this in Fort Wayne when the shopwas promised in November and we finallywere able to move equipment in 2 days be-fore the team came into town in April forworkouts. You make do, you get by andhopefully if there is a next time you’velearned the importance like I did this time inOmaha. Everything goes so much smootherand more efficiently when you have organi-zation, no matter what the setting is.

There will always be challenges on everyfield, new and old, but the more you knowabout your field the better prepared you canbe to keep an issue from turning into a dis-aster. Relationships are key in this industryand just about everyone is willing to talkand help out, as long as you are willing toask. Don’t make that the hardest part. ■

Mitch McClary is head groundskeeper forthe Omaha Storm Chasers.

>> OPENING DAY in Fort Wayne, April 7, 2010.

28 SportsTurf | February 2012 www.sportsturfonline.com

FieldScience | By Jon DeWitt, CSFM

SUSTAINABILITY in sports turfmanagement is a topic that coversa vast amount of territory, and canbe as complex as an in-house bio-diesel production facility or as

simple as recycling cardboard. Both are stepsin the right direction, but how can we im-prove?

Certainly the public is looking at all areasof industry and demanding more environmen-tally friendly methods of doing business. Ironi-cally, many environmental activists havetargeted the turf industry, especially golf, asenemies of the environment. However, assports turf managers, this push toward sustain-ability is an opportunity for us to promote ourindustry and show that we were green beforeGreen was cool.

For example, the October issue of Sports-Turf magazine had in informative section onstorm water management. A simple shift inperspective could view sports turf managers asprotecting 2.8 million acres of filter mediarather than contributing to 2.8 million acres ofrunoff-producing development.

One of the hottest topics in the world ofsustainable agriculture/turf is water usage. Un-fortunately, many people in the transition zonehave come to view a green field during thesummer as quite possibly a bad thing becauseof the water required to maintain that field.The reality is that the water used to maintain afield is paying dividends by providing erosioncontrol (as mentioned above), a carbon diox-

Sports turf management sustainability in the transition zone

The reality is that thewater used to maintain afield is paying dividendsby providing erosion con-trol (as mentioned above),a carbon dioxide scrubber,an oxygen producer, andlast, but not least, a venuefor entertainment.

>> A CISTERN being installedunder the southwest corner ofthe natural turf practice field.

SportsTurf 29www.stma.org

ide scrubber, an oxygen producer, and last, but not least, a venuefor entertainment.

That being said, there are things that we as an industry can do tobecome even better stewards of the environment, and hopefullybegin to change public sentiment about what we do. Start by fol-lowing BMPs for water management. Also, consider reducing theinput to common areas and some fields that may not be your high-est profile sites. Install basic controls that stop irrigation due to rain.This last one should be a no brainer at this point, but recently Iwitnessed an athletic site being irrigated in the rain. Ouch. Con-sider stepping up to a central control type system that can both helpyou water most efficiently and also closely monitor usage.

Another idea is to incorporate plant growth regulators (PGRs),specifically trinexapac-ethyl, into your maintenance program. Theuse of PGRs is widespread in the golf community; however, therehas been more hesitancy to embrace this family of chemicals in thesports turf world. This is certainly understandable as wear patternsin golf and sports are vastly different. Further complicate this withtiny grow-in windows (specifically from overseeding stress/damage)and the idea to use something that “slows” the plant down is coun-terintuitive.

The reality is that trinexapac-ethyl reduces the plants’ verticalgrowth and elongation while promoting turf density and turf qual-ity by stimulating growth of other plant parts such as stolons, rhi-zomes, tillers and roots. These deeper roots and denser turf canreduce water usage by up to 25%.

A growing trend among colleges and some school sites is to buildwater retention sites that collect water from a variety of sources in-cluding air conditioning condensate. Last summer at Georgia Techwe installed a third such system on our athletic properties. Thecampus has also installed several cistern systems and plans to ex-pand the use and installation of them as part of the Institute’s largerinitiative to strive for LEED certification on all new construction.The concept is quite simple in that a site collects water in anythingfrom tanks to ponds and then uses a pump to irrigate with the col-lected water.

The system installed at Georgia Tech’s practice field in the sum-mer of 2011 is 280,000 gallons and collects water from the 93,000-square foot roof of the Brock indoor practice facility, the75,000-square foot natural grass practice field adjacent to the build-ing, and the surrounding hardscape (see photo). Interestingly, thecistern at this site is also tied to a campus cistern that collects con-densate water from the Ford Environmental Science & TechnologyBuilding. Due to this cistern’s central location, it is able to provideirrigation water for the track, practice football, and baseball fields.The other two cistern systems are located at Grant Field (stadiumfootball) and the Shirley Clements Mewborn softball field.

Although the water retention concept is quite simple, the realityis a bit more complex. If your facility is looking at installing a cis-tern system, be prepared to do some homework and provide somedata about your specific needs to the system designers. Some obsta-cles to potentially overcome is how to provide water for small vol-umes from either a garden hose or small ornamental spray zone allthe way up to a multiple rotor zone with heads capable of irrigatingat 25gpm+ each.

Also, prepare for the inevitable—running out of water and/orsystem failure—in which case you will want a readily available backup water source. Be aware that any weakness in your current systemmay be quickly exposed when dealing with fluctuations with pumpdriven water if previously on a city source. Do not forget to alertyour user groups to the change over from city water to city cisternwater, which should be generally good public relations.

Obviously, there are multiple benefits from a cistern system, butit will not be without expense and some of your time as well. Theydo bear some monitoring compared to a city supply. This is espe-cially true as you are learning/debugging the system, but eventuallythis will level out. In the long run it is likely that your initial instal-lation expense and maintenance expenses will be offset by the sav-ings in city water.

CARBON FOOTPRINTIf water usage is a hot topic in the world of sustainability, then

fuel usage and carbon footprint is certainly a close second. There isonly a limited amount we as sports turf managers can do about thisuntil more advanced technology is available. In the meantime, wecan make sure our equipment is properly maintained and runningefficiently. Once again, consider the use of PGRs. As mentionedabove, the water savings from improved rooting and density couldbe enough to encourage the use of a PGR, but what PGRs are reallymost known for is their ability to reduce mowing. There is the po-

30 SportsTurf | February 2012 www.sportsturfonline.com

FieldScience

tential for a substantial amount of savings in both labor and fuel bymowing 2-3 times a week rather than daily, to say nothing of thereduction in emissions.

From personal experience, we were having some stress on ourfields due to clean-up passes occurring with regular daily mowing.When we got on a Primo program, it allowed us to skip some cleanup passes and thereby reduce the mechanical stress on the turfcaused by frequent mowing. I will also admit that I was skeptical atfirst of using a PGR, but have now incorporated them into ouragronomic program. Finally, consider ways to potentially reduce themaintenance to non-essential or common areas.

A much more dramatic approach to the fuel and emissions issueis to use bio-diesel. Many equipment manufacturers are offeringmachines that are bio-diesel ready, making it easier to transitioninto this fuel source. Westminster Schools here in Atlanta has takenbio-diesel use to the next level by producing their own fuel fromcafeteria waste oil. Not everyone will have the capability or even acafeteria on their site from which to make fuel, but it is a sign ofthe good things that are happening in our industry to make ourgreen industry greener.

My personal favorite sustainable turf management practice is tosimply recycle all the cardboard I come in contact with, even if itwas not generated by me or my department. Sure it takes a fewmore minutes to break down a box and transport it to a recyclingarea especially when the convenience of a dumpster is all around,but it is the right thing to do. I like to follow a similar practice withpallets. More than likely, there is someone in your area in a rattytruck that will gladly collect them. Not only will you have recycledyour pallets, you will have provided for someone willing to go outand do some work. Another idea is to collect your pallets in-houseand take them in on a rainy day. Divvy up the money among thecrew or have a pizza party, whatever. Recycling triple-rinsed empty2.5g containers is yet another simple but helpful and smart sustain-able way to practice sports turf management.

These last ideas are neither radical nor glamorous, but they domake and impact and most importantly, anyone can do them. Ulti-mately, to practice sustainable turf management does not require afancy cistern watering system or a bio-diesel producing facility. Itdoes require some common sense and a little effort. ■

Jon Dewitt, CSFM is athletic field manager for the Georgia Techathletic department.

>> THE NEW INDOOR FACILITY, the baseball field, Rosebowl football prac-tice field and, in the far back behind the blue wall, the track. All of thesecan now be watered from the cistern system.