www.stma.org February 2015 | SportsTurf 29
During the summer tournaments,
the lip build-up was so great that
something had to be done. The turf
discolor was hurting in recruiting and
was becoming unsafe to play on. With
added pressure from the coaching
staff, we tried several things to get the
Hilltopper clay out.
I had my staff try brooming it back
in with a very stiff broom. Next we
tried chipping it away with an iron
rake. Neither of these worked well. We
started power washing it, which worked
well enough to get some of the clay out
but not all of it. Using a 15 degree tip
helped to get the clay out but it made a
great mess of the mound. This forced
us to rebuild the top 1 or 2 inches of
the pitcher's mound. This was not cost
efficient with the labor cost and price
of clay.
In the past we had an Astroturf halo
behind the dish that would get clay in
it and we would have a carpet clean-
ing company clean it out and it always
looked brand new. After speaking
with my supervisor he suggested hav-
ing them give it a try. They came out
and did a test area and the results were
amazing.
With this there are some problems
though. With their removing the clay
it also took up some infill. Having to
replace infill is easier than rebuilding
the mound. With sand and crumb rub-
ber on site one staff member can fill in
one day. It's important to have a good
relationship with carpet cleaning com
pany that will come out when needed.
Last fall, with football games regu-
larly drawing student-athletes being
recruited, the area had to look good
every day; now there is an easier way of
getting it done that's cost effective and
time efficient. ■
ST
Jason Demink, CSFM, is a sports turf
manager for the University of Mi
They came out and did a test area
and the results were
amazing
.
