Putting down a product that provides a safe, quality game field that can be played on immediately appeals to athletic directors, football coaches, college and NFL teams, and even project managers and concert managers, according to Price. “GameOnGrass is more than a niche product,” he says. “It’s a new tool that allows a facility to be used for multiple practices, games and other in-season events. A pro or college facility can work in a major concert, which gives their fan base the opportunity to use that venue in another way. With the money the facility earns from that, they can justify the financial upgrades that make their facility even more appealing to their fans and state-of-the-art for their athletes. Te costs of replacing the grass, a couple hundred thousand dollars, is not a big number compared to what they can earn from the event. Tat puts it all into perspective: the natural grass is disposable; it’s not personal; it’s just money.”
Price reports GameOnGrass comes in 3.5-foot by 45- foot rolls, 1.5-inches thick, weighing 17-pounds per square foot. Te sand-base profile provides an infiltration rate of 11-inches per hour. According to data from Penn State’s Center for Sports Turf Research, issued in October of 2014, its tensile strength is 88 percent greater and its shear strength 43 percent greater than 1-inch thick cut sod.
Installing the new sod.
Price says, “UNC was vigilant in their due diligence prior to committing to stay natural and a lot of vetting was done. Tey called many of our clients and others who had played on our fields. Tey wanted to know how well we handled the fast turnarounds; how thorough we were in making sure the job was done correctly; and if all were satisfied with what we delivered. And it seems like everyone contacted was willing to give them that information, knowing that they would like to have the same information if they hadn’t done it before.”
Carrick also reached out to several of his peers within STMA and, as reported in an article he wrote for Recreation Management, stated, “I received valuable input and insights, which was critical. Te support we received from people all over the country in our industry was surreal; everyone also wanted to see this project succeed.”
The Master Plan Carrick says, “Going synthetic would have allowed the teams to use the field whenever they wanted. We talked with all the teams and let them know that staying with natural grass would still allow them access to the field for their practices and games. If back-to-back practices were needed, we’d work with them to make that happen.”
Price says, “Once UNC made the decision, an agreement was reached to provide, worst case, seven full fields of GameOnGrass. GameOnGrass is typically Northbridge, Latitude 36 or Tifway 419 bermudagrass and is usually grown for a specific use with a projected harvest date, although we try to keep inventory for emergency situations. Most of our GameOnGrass sales are based on an agreement that involves a non-refundable deposit for the grass. In most cases, our clients will request which variety they prefer and the quantity they’ll need as much as 6 to 12 months in advance. We may get a call in an emergency where the client doesn’t care which grass it is, they just need grass and will take what they can get. If that situation occurs, we always try to accommodate them and, more often than not, we can supply them.”
For Carolina Green, having a long-standing relationship with a client and doing much of their work, as they are for UNC, means spending a lot of time there. Price says, “Tat means we also need to establish relationships with those involved in all the other connecting parts of the job, from local truckers and plumbers to places to sleep. Often the timing of the work we are involved in changes on short notice, or must happen at a specific date, maybe a holiday or graduation weekend. A lot goes into being able to make that happen.”
A “little” reconstruction was the initial step. Carrick says, “Part of the project was renovation of the stadium. We spent about $200,000 to take out the hedges, concrete and grass around the perimeter of the field and installed 30,000 square feet of synthetic surface in the areas we had cleared. We gained 15,000 square feet of space for practices, primarily for some of those grinding, stay-in- one-spot drills, and for some cart traffic.”
Once the practice fields were removed, practices moved to the stadium field. Carrick says, “Tey were practicing on the stadium field all through June camps, summer workouts and the whole fall practice season.”
46 TPI Turf News January/February 2019
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
