years, was out of warranty, and needed to be replaced anyway. When I heard this, I started communicating with Pat Berger about what some natural grass options would be for Razorback Stadium.”
Te University of Arkansas served as one of the test sites in the most recent five-year NTEP study of bermudagrass varieties. Karcher compared all the latest cultivars, side- by-side, right there on the same campus and in the same climate as the stadium.
“I shared our information on how Tahoma 31 performed in our trials. I told Pat it would be a good variety,” Karcher says. “It’s safe to say that Pat was a little hesitant about it because it was so new when we started discussing it, and he couldn’t talk to anybody who had been using it at the time (on a sports field). But Dr. Richardson and I thought the data were so compelling, that it looked so good and was so well adapted to northwest Arkansas, that it should be a slam dunk decision.”
Karcher continues, “We had five years of really strong data on that grass being managed at a mowing height of less than an inch. It just performed really well year after year, not only with regard to cold tolerance but just its density, color and overall quality of a high-end, dense turf and its potential for a golf course fairway or a high-end athletic field.”
Tahoma 31 was developed by turfgrass breeders led by Dr. Yanqi Wu at Oklahoma State University.
“I have to tip my hat to the Oklahoma State breeding program, continuing to develop these excellent cold tolerant bermudagrasses with excellent turf quality. Tey are doing a really good job over there of developing cold tolerant bermudagrass varieties for a wide range of uses,” Karcher says.
Finding a Source Te next step was to find a source for the new grass. It’s only 350 miles from Winstead Turf Farms’ location in Arlington, TN, to the Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, roughly a five-hour drive. Berger says the farm’s nearby location was important to save on trucking costs and to get sod in a hurry, should the need for emergency patching arise. “Most sod producers are a good two days out,” Berger says.
If Berger needs more sod, he’ll be able to get it at practically a moment’s notice. Te team at Winstead Turf Farms is growing sod earmarked specifically for the University.
“One thing we are doing for insurance,” says Winstead, “is we know we only need 75,000 square feet of Tahoma 31 sod for the job, but we are planting about 175,000 square feet for future applications. If they have a concert or something like that, where they need to do some replacement, we’ll always have replacement grass, maintained just like they do at the stadium.”
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Not only is this the first college stadium to plant Tahoma 31, the way it is being grown on the sod farm field is also a first for the United States. Over top of the sand profile, the grass roots grow into and through the mesh of a product called the Evergreen Turf Matrix. It’s a system developed in Australia and used widely in that country for soccer and cricket fields.
“Te Evergreen Turf Matrix system is a sand-based profile that includes an interwoven mesh; this, combined with the root system of the turf, gives it maximum strength and stability without compromising drainage or any general turf management practices,” explains Robert Davey, managing director of Evergreen Turf Australia. “It is a ready-play system that allows a quick changeover on a sports field.”
Te ready play stabilizing effect of the Evergreen Turf Matrix should assist with the short interval between installation of the grass and when the Razorbacks take to the field for the first time. Te grass is slated for delivery sometime in late July or early August, with the intention of giving it at least 2 weeks to acclimate to the stadium before the team’s first game of the season at the end of August.
Renovation Details At the last renovation a decade ago, Berger believed that eventually the field would be converted back to natural grass. So, instead of gutting the entire sand profile, he left a little gift for the next sports turf manager to come along. Rather than core out the entire field, he left approximately 3 inches of the USGA rootzone sand mix intact “for the next guy,” never guessing that the next guy would be himself.
To construct the new field, Berger enlisted the expertise of Jeff Salmond, CSFM, former STMA President who worked for the University of Oklahoma for 12 years. Salmond now serves as Vice President of Projects and Corporate Development for United Turf and Track, a sports field construction company based in Arcadia, OK. Berger entrusted Salmond and his crew to strip off the artificial turf surface and ready the field to accept natural grass.
When synthetic was put in 10 years ago, Berger left approximately 3 inches of the USGA rootzone sand mix intact “for the next guy,” never guessing that the next guy would be him.
TPI Turf News November/December 2019
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