T
he rain came down in buck-
ets. Jeff Salmond, CSFM,
director of athletic field man-
agement at the University
of Oklahoma and a 20-year
member of STMA, stood on the side-
lines and watched as the Oklahoma
Sooners football team took the field
at Memorial Stadium in Norman. But
the rain kept coming. "It wasn't a light
rain, or a misty rain. It was a down-
pour. Water was pouring out from the
stands," Salmond recalls. It rained the
entire game.
Still, despite the punishing weather
conditions, Oklahoma freshman run-
ning back Samaje Perine scored five
touchdowns that November day last
fall, and rushed for a record 427 yards
to lead the Sooners to a 44-7 win over
the Kansas Jayhawks. Perhaps nearly
as impressive, after the game the field
(featuring Latitude 36 bermudagrass),
looked virtually untouched.
"The field held up great. It was awe-
some," Salmond says. "There were no
ill effects from the weather. After we
mowed it, you couldn't even tell we'd
had a game."
He attributes the field's performance
under such dramatic conditions to
several factors: The field has an excel-
lent drainage system. Because it is
sand-based, wet weather doesn't create a
sloppy mess, which helps with durability
and playability. He also credits the grass.
16 SportsTurf | July 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com
RAIN CAN'T STOP
SURE-FOOTED SOONERS
FIELD SCIENCE
■ BY STACIE ZINN ROBERTS
The field has an excellent drainage system.
Because it is sand-based, wet weather doesn't
create a sloppy mess, which helps with durability
and playability.
