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/64785
surface. The irrigation lines were not installed according to design specifications. Lines were punctured in hundreds of places after an 8-inch deep tine aeration. The lateral replace- ments took about a week from start to finish. The sod was harvested out in hopes of being able to put it back down as soon as the lateral was replaced. However, the harvest was unsuccessful and new sod had to come in on the 4-foot wide strips that were removed, says Bertrand. Irrigation lines not installed to correct depth according to design specifications. Lateral lines ranged from 6-inch depth to 9-inch top of pipe. The line depths were found when we deep tine aerated at 8-inch depth. We feel that deep tine aer- ation is an important cultural practice and wanted to be able to continue this practice in the future. The renovation was very successful in that we accom- plished our goal of burying the laterals to their proper depth. The new sod is a challenge in matching up color but this only a aesthetic issue and does not affect playability of the sur- face. Soil composition: USGA sand Turfgrass varieties: Midnight, Awesome, Impact, NuDes- tiny-Kentucky bluegrass (70%), Caddieshack, Accent, Top- gun-Perennial ryegrass (30%) Overseeding: Overseeding is done now strictly with Ken- tucky bluegrass. The pitch is overseeded four times a year (last week of March, first week of May, mid-June, and last week of August) at a rate of 10#/1000sq.ft. The seed mix is Midnight, Awesome, Impact, and NuDestiny. For divot repair we use a 1:3:1 ratio of pre-germinated seed, USGA sand, and fertilizer. Drainage system: GraviTURF designed by Dan Almond of Millennium Sports. Using 4-inch ADS drain pipe, located on 15-foot centers, set in pea gravel 10 inches below the sur- face. Derby at Churchill Downs, the turf crew at Infinity Park was facing its biggest challenge in 2011. Infinity Park hosted the largest Kentucky Derby party (outside of the actual Kentucky Derby) in the United States. More than 5,000 partygoers spent 4 hours celebrating the Ken- tucky Derby with open bars, a live band and watched the race live on the Jumbotron. Ladies wore extravagant hats, sundresses and high- heeled shoes, men wore derby hats and plaid pants. The result was 100 cases of champagne, 150 cases of wine and more than 140 kegs of beer being consumed. Six months before the event the decision was made not to rent flooring for turf protection. At that time, it was felt that par- tygoers would spread out over the surface and traffic spots would be minimal. However, the month before the event, the infrastructure of tents, catering stations, bars and portable toilets was increasing in num- ber (doubling +). CHALLENGES On May 7, 2011, while Animal Kingdom won the 137th Kentucky Another challenge was the home Raptor Rugby team was tremen- dously successful and making a strong push to the playoffs. The Raptors would be hosting a playoff game the following weekend and Infinity Park would be hosting the National Championship games the first week of June 2011. One month before the event the pitch department began careful planning. Developing "worst case" scenarios (the worst case was a snowstorm during the 2 days before the event) and action plans to ad- dress concerns in each scenario: 1. Overseed the pitch a week before the event (anticipating 2-week germination, just in time for the potential playoff game the following weekend). 2. Water heavily 4 days before the event, before set up and staging, in anticipation of hot conditions and being unable to water with the event infrastructure in place. 3. Use a combination of Enkamat and plywood (courtesy of Bret Baird at Dick Sporting Goods Park). All potential wear areas, access areas, and anything heavy had this combination layer of protection under it. 4. Carefully scheduled the setup and staging of tents, portable stages, catering, refreshments, décor, etc., to minimize the amount of time and impact on the pitch surface. 5. One key policy was everything going on or off the pitch surface had to be done under the direction or supervision of the pitch depart- ment. This prevented a flood of traffic at the end of the event as all stakeholders tried to get their items off the pitch at the same time. The most unique challenge of managing a rugby pitch is the culture of the sport of rugby. Rugby is an all-inclusive sport, where in the cul- ture, the unwritten rule is all the players who show up to play get to play in a game of rugby that day. Games can and will continue all day regardless of weather or any other outside limiting factors. coaches, administrators and users of your facility? Bertrand: We use three basic channels of communication at the SportsTurf: What channels of communication do you use to reach City of Glendale: e-mail, meetings and direct communication. Email is the primary form of communication for us. It allows for mass/multiple people to receive the message and it leaves an electronic trail. Those two items make email a valuable form of communication. Next, I or someone from my staff, attend the weekly operations meeting with administration, coaches, facilities and operations. I am al- ways amazed how well events work when everyone is on the same page. Also, I liked sending different people from my staff on occasion to those www.stma.org SportsTurf 37