Facility&Operations
Lone Star turf: grass management experience
Texans share their
Editor's note: This article was written by Adam Slick, who works for Jacobsen. We appreciate his sending us a report from his trip to Texas.
storied history. For sports turf managers in the Lone Star state, the battle rages on. We recently visited four professional sports fields in Texas to learn how they handle the daily rigors of managing turfgrass in one of the most challenging climates in the transition zone. We learned that they're fighting much more than just Mother Nature.
T
EXAS TURF has always been a bat- tleground. In fact, the state has been under six different flags during its
COWBOY COMPACTION Chris Morrow is the field supervisor for the Dallas Cowboys practice facility in Valley Ranch. He's a one-man show, play- ing several positions on the Cowboys' squad including spray technician, me- chanic, field painter and grounds manager for 4 acres of turfgrass.
28 SportsTurf | August 2012
row helped manage the turfgrass for the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Sta- dium. In Dallas, Morrow maintains TifS- port, a cousin of 419 bermudagrass. The breed gives him a thick rhizome mat, which holds up better to the 300+ pound linemen that wage war between the hashes on his field. "The compaction from the players is
Before coming to the Cowboys, Mor-
>> Above: CHRIS MORROW, field supervisor for the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility in Valley Ranch, TX oversees 4 acres of TifSport bermudagrass.
>> Below: CHRIS MORROW uses a pen- etrometer to measure compaction on his turf. The ground pressure from linemen can push readings to 700-800 psi.
probably my biggest challenge," says Mor- row. To monitor the compaction, Morrow uses a penetrometer. "A reading above 300 psi tells me I've got compaction out there. By mid-season, it might be 700-800 psi in the middle of the field." To open up the soil, Morrow uses a vari- ety of different applications including high- pressure water, core aerification, verticutting and his newest toy, a linear de-
"A reading above 300 psi tells me I've got compaction out there. By mid-season, it might be 700-800 psi in the middle of the field." — Chris Morrow
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