www.stma.org March 2016 | SportsTurf 9
TIFSP
RT
TEAM
UGA
www.tifsport.com
Hallowed
Ground
Bobby Gruhn Field
at City Park Stadium
Gainesville GA
Any sport played on natural grass like
Bobby Gruhn Field is a natural for
TifSport Bermudagrass, If you're look-
ing for a sports turf that can handle non-
stop action, a transition zone climate
and heavy overseeding, TifSport's your
answer. It's ideal for intramural fields,
practice fields and game-day venues,
where everything has to be perfect.
Coaches and players love the way it
looks and plays and you and your crew
will appreciate how easy it is to man-
age. TifSport can only be sold as certi-
fied sod or sprigs and only by licensed
members of the TifSport Growers
Assoc. For more information call 706
552-4525 or visit us at www.tifsport.com.
that a Cu near 3.0 is a nice target number. With a Cu higher than 3.5,
compaction has the potential to prohibit the rootzone matrix from
absorbing the force of the batted ball.
TYPE OF GRASS
Your type of turfgrass is of course an important consideration.
Be it Bermuda, Kentucky bluegrass or perennial ryegrass, the
key point here is to grow a dense, healthy stand of turf. I recall an
excellent talk I attended at the STMA Conference in 2012 by Dr.
Karl Danneberger from Ohio State University. The lecture was titled
"Solar Radiation is the Driving Force of Sports Turf Management."
It sounds simple, but after 20 years of doing this, I continue to be
astounded by the positive impact of bright sunlight on turfgrass.
Of course, the other side of that is the infield tarp. Quite often,
many of us at the college and professional levels have our infield
tarp on during daylight hours on a game day. The threat of rain or
light snow in the spring leads to a great deal of sunlight being denied
to the turfgrass. By blocking light to the plant, the wear
tolerance of the turf decreases significantly. Because of
that, we like to focus on pre-stress conditioning by keep-
ing potassium levels high and using biostimulants in our
spray program. Tarping for extended periods of time also
increases the disease pressure on the turfgrass. I find it use-
ful to have the infield and other turf under the tarp on a
separate fungicide program. Daily evaluation of the turf
and anticipating problematic weather conditions will drive
the use of contact and systemic fungicides.
Given that you are likely mowing at your preferred
height of cut at least four times per week, keep in mind the
goal is to maximize the density of the plant. Along with
that, we try to avoid having the turf laying over due to
continued mowing of the pattern with reel mowers. At the
professional level, the expectation is usually for the turf to
