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/739563
www.stma.org November 2016 | SportsTurf 43 John Mascaro is President of Turf-Tec International BACKGROUND ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF ISTOCKPHOTO.COM 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. This softball fi eld was part of a school district's renovation of all their athletic fi elds. A roadway construction company was awarded the contract as the low bidder. A portion of the renovation specifi cations on this fi eld were for a drainage system to be installed at a depth of 8 inches, the trenches then backfi lled with sand and the whole infi eld then covered with an additional 3 inches of new infi eld material. The fi rst question: why the drainage system was installed into the infi eld material in the fi rst place, as the perk rate would not allow for the water sitting on the skinned portion to travel fast enough through the infi eld material and down into the drainage system to be of any benefi t. The other question: whether the system was actually buried to the 8-in. depth required and wrapped in a sand mixture. A better solution might have been to provide for a proper surface pitch when grading for water to run off and away from the infi eld area and install a drainage system into the turf area surrounding the fi eld area where turf meets the infi eld material. This would then catch any moving water toward the skinned infi eld. In addition, over a period of just a few years of cold, wet winters in the Northeast the freezing of the soil also caused repeated upward movement of the plastic drainage system, which exposed the pipe to tearing during the nail dragging preparation of the fi eld for games. On this particular year, the drainage system had fi nally "risen to the top," settling above grade, with the visible damage exposed. As it turned out, the drainage lines were installed in circular patterns throughout the infi eld about 10 feet apart and about 50% of drainage lines were visible above grade. All the lines had to be removed before fi nal preparation of this fi eld for the fi rst game of the season. The grade of fi eld was corrected minimally as the outfi eld area of this fi eld was used for multiple sports teams for practices and games. If you would like to submit a photograph for John Mascaro's Photo Quiz please send it to John Mascaro, 1471 Capital Circle NW, Ste # 13, Tallahassee, FL 32303 call (850) 580-4026 or email to john@turf-tec.com. If your photograph is selected, you will receive full credit. All photos submitted will become property of SportsTurf magazine and the Sports Turf Managers Association. This softball fi eld was part of a school district's renovation John Mascaro's Photo Quiz Answers from page 29 Photo submitted by Mike Whelehan, R.M. Landscape, Inc., Hilton, NY.