SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/43432
Tools&Equipment TEAM'S SUCCESS LEADS TO NEW FIELD AT U OF AKRON professionals who designed and built the field, in- cluding consultant Stan Moscrip of Athletic Field Development, LLC. "He really knew his business; I was so impressed, for example when he was check- ing the work of the GPS-operated laser leveler. My hat's off to the turf industry." Curtis relayed a story that turf managers can ap- preciate. While speaking at a function, Coach Porter said, "My grounds people tell me . . ." and went on to make his point. Curtis rightly believes that that statement shows the good relationship his grounds staff has with their championship winning coach. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS and close finishes tend to bring a lot of at- tention to collegiate athletic pro- grams and in the case of the men's soccer team at the University of Akron in Ohio, that attention translated into a new, state-of-the-art natural turf pitch. Within a year of opening the new soccer facility, Akron beat Louisville 1-0 to win the NCAA men's championship. "At the behest of Coach Caleb Porter we wanted to create a European atmosphere with our new field," said Ted Curtis, the university's vice presi- dent of capital planning and facilities management. "That meant seating close to the field and natural grass." Curtis said the men's team has been competing at a high level for years but the straw that broke the camel's back regarding their no- drainage home field came 3 years ago when heavy rains dictated that the team give up a home NCAA playoff game, which they lost. The new field has a chevron drainage system under it and a continuous slotted drain around the field. "The number one reason we built a new field on a new site was to get more seating, followed by needing to eliminate the drainage problems," said Curtis. "We also had bad lighting, with leaning telephone poles and not enough light to televise night games." Curtis said he was "extremely en- lightened" by working with the turf SMART PRACTICES FOR REEL MOWERS ACHIEVING GREAT AFTER-CUT APPEARANCE isn't purely a function of machine adjustments. It is an equal combination of precise ma- chine adjustments, smart maintenance practices, and proper agro- nomic practices. Achieving two while neglecting the third can lead to poor turf conditions or an unsightly after-cut appearance. 34 SportsTurf | October 2011 WINNING RELATIONSHIP Cub Cadet Field was really born out of a great rela- tionship between the University of Akron and Cub Cadet. "Cub Cadet equipment is used to help care for the grounds, we've filmed our products in use on campus and hired interns from their top-ranked pro- grams," said Jeff Salamon, Cub Cadet director of brand marketing. "So considering Cub Cadet's com- mitment to caring for high-profile grounds, campuses and yards, the opportunity to have our name associ- ated with one of the most impressive campuses and a showcase, state-of-the-art soccer fields in the coun- try was a natural extension of this relationship." A commitment to impeccable grounds care ex- tends beyond the playing field. In fact, the University of Akron has been recognized nationally as Campus of the Year multiple times. It is a remarkable institu- tion—progressive and innovative—in a very vibrant, thriving market that is important to Cub Cadet. "The opportunity to extend our relationship with a uni- versity that fits so closely with our brand was a very exciting opportunity that really got our attention," Salamon added. "Cub Cadet's reputation is progressive, innova- tive, premium quality and high performance, quali- ties that can also be said of the many universities and colleges like the University of Akron and its Na- tional Championship soccer team. The fact that we can also leverage the visibility of a #1 ranked college team in an important geographical market and to the university and college market made this a very smart decision for our brand." ■ PRECISE MACHINE ADJUSTMENTS The cardinal rule when setting up the cutting units within a machine is consistency. All cutting units within a machine and all traction units within a fleet should be set up the same for consistent re- sults. Many times, an operator or technician will ex- periment with different settings or accessories on one or a few of the cutting units and leave the other cutting units on the machine untouched. This typi- cally leads to inconsistent cut quality and appear- ance. If things appear to go awry or you've lost track www.sportsturfonline.com