FACILITY & OPERATIONS

Major League Baseball's11--+- }}

historv as Major League Baseball's firstfemale groundskeeper in the small farmingcommunity of Milford, ML

Heather got her first taste of grounds keep-ing while helping her father with his lawn carebusiness. Working during the summers, shenever imagined thai her Lime enjoying theoutdoor air would lead her down a path that

would change the face of professional groundskeeping. But it was inevitable.

During a summer seminar on turfgrassprograms, Heather realized that she trulyenjoyed getting her hands dirty and wanted whave a career doing something she loved.Heather embraced the art of turf maintenanceand began taking classes aL Michigan State

20 January 2007 www.greenmediaonline.com

"YOU DON'T WANT THE MOUND TOOBRITTLE OR ON THE OTHER HAND,SLIPPERY," SAYS HEATHER. "YOU

WANT YOUR CLEAT TO GO INAND COME BACK OUT."

University. Upon graduating from !\ISU in1993 with a degree in Sports and CommercialTurf, Heather look her first major step towardmaking a name for herself and opening thedoor for other women interested in profes-sional grounds keeping.

Heather credits many people with her suc-cess, including her MSU advisor, DavidGilstrap, who helped her get her first proies-sinnal job for the Toronto BlueJays. She laterbecame head groundskeeper for the \'\TestMichigan Whitt> Caps, where she IMd theopportunity to experiment with creative mow-ing pauerns, some of which are highlighted ;.11a book published by Boston Red SoxI:,'l."oundskeeper David Mellor.

In 1999, Frank Feneck, head groundskeep-er for the Detroit Tigers announced his retire-ment, and Heather received a call to interviewfor the job. "It was an honor to be consideredfor tile position," said Heather. "I am follow-

ing in we rOol~tep~ of a great professionalgrouudskeeper."

Being the first female in a male dominatedindustry hasn't intimidated Heather. "There isa great network of people 1 work with," saysHeather. "\Ve are a close knit community andeveryone helps everyone. 1don't feel treatedany differently from my collea6'l.les."

During the season, Heather and her crewwork an average of oS hours a week. Thisleaves lillie time for personal recreation, espe-cially since days begin at gam and end close to

midnight. "Preparatiun of the field atComenca Park begins in March and some-times doesn't end until early December. Thisyear was especially long considering the teamplayed in the world Series," says Heather.

Regular field maintenance includes mow-ing, painting the foul lines, and dragging the:warning track. Heather uses Pro Mound in the:pitcher's mound and batter's boxes and has

Heather, second from left, and her crew at the 2005 All-Star Game.

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I!ACILITY & OPERATIONSdeveloped her own spe-cial "toe test," to monitorthe moisture in theseareas. "You don't want themound too brittle or onthe other hand, slippery,"says Heather. "You wantyour deat to go in andcome back out."

To keep on lap of hergame, Heather regularlyconsults with many of theindustry's most celebratedexperts. She is grateful to

George Toma, NFL turfconsultant and Ed Mangan,NFL Field Director, formentoring her and allow-ing her the opportunity toserve as pari of the groundscrew for the Super Bowl,which she has been paltid-pating in for several years,

Heather has also workedwith Roger Bossard, headgroundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox.Bossard led the reconstruction of the DetroitTigers Ccmenca Park that was completed in2000. "While working on the field reconstructionwith Heather, Roger stressed the importance ofclay on the infield and offered maintenance tipsfor keeping the ground firm but soft.

"Roger taught me how to work the infielddirt and the importance of'getting to know theskin." says Heather. "By hand drag/,ring thenail and screen drags, you can feel the infieldmoisture, the texture of conditioner, and thethickness of the conditioner. That is oneimportant tip that Roger passed on to me."

"Roger also is adamant about the impor-tance of particle size in your soil conditioner.He uses Pro's Choice Pro Blend which r alsouse on my field," says Heather.

Just as others have mentored Heather, shar-ing and passing along knowledge is importantin this business. "I've received a lot of supportfrom my peers," says Heather. She, in turn,shares what she has learned with her groundscrew and numerous interns who come herway. "1 have received lots of support and wantto help others corning up in this industry."

"I HAVE RECEIVED LOTS OFSUPPORT AND WANT TO

HELP OTHERS COMING UPIN THIS INDUSTRY."

"While Heather holds the responsibility ofoverseeing all field maintenance at ComericaPark, she does not do it alone. She works witha four-member full-time seasonal groundscrew, her assistant Gail DeGennaro, CharlesMcGee, Ryan Silva, and Riley Paquet. Herteam also includes two full-time seasonalinterns, Noel Brusius and Mart Gerhardt. Inaddition to her full time staff, Heather workswith an event staff of aboul 20 .

The 2006 \Vorld Series was an exciting timefor Heather, as this was her first World Seriesas head ground~keeper for a competing team.~We didn't do anylhing especially different tothe field for the world Series," says Heather."However, the weather during the games wasquite rainy. The field had to he covered moreoften and monitored for moisture. Vole had a lotof Pro's Choice soil conditioner on hand."

"\Ve topdressed the field prior to one of thegame~ to control the moisture," says Heather."Between games we made sure things weremoist but not slippery, we really had to moni-tor this because of the rain."

"" ....'ben we mow during the months ofSeptember and October, we collect our clippings

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FACILITY & OPERATIONS

because they take longer to decompose during the fall season.Removing them helps to prevent the slime layer that can add to slick-ness of the turf," said Heather.

Now that the 2006 baseball season is over and the cold has settledin, Heather is looking forward to once again participating in the SuperBowl as part of the grounds crew. She also can't wait to relax for awhile and hit the slopes for a few weeks with friends. But as Heatherreminds; grounds keeping is year round work. "Over the winter, I'llcatch up on paperwork and work the Super Bowl inJanuary." It's thenback to work in March preparing for what she hopes is another win-ning season for her home team.

So, whether you consider Heather a Turf Goddess or not, one thingis undeniable, she has earned her place among the few distinguishedMajor League Baseball professional groundskeepers. Heather's com-mitment to excellence and professionalism in the industry can be wit-nessed every time you watch the Detroit Tigers playa home game, andfor Heather there is nothing better than doing what she loves.

This article was sponsored by Pro's Choice. For an online productdemonstration, see http://info.hotims.com/9931-304 .•

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FACILITY & OPERATIONS

Daytona's turfis part of the show

By Eric Schroder

SamNewpher's career in turf management started traditionally,as an assistant groundskeeper at Atlanta's old Fulton CountyStadium back in the 1970's. He eventually was named thehead guy and spent 8 years maintaining the field for the

Braves and Falcons. He moved to golf for 6 years, and then took the jobhe's now had for 12 years, superintendent of grounds and turf at theDaytona International Speedway (DIS). NASCAR dads, eat your heartsout!

"My maintenance schedule isn't that much different here than it wasfor baseball," he says, "except we keep the turf a bit more firm. Safety is

www.sportsturfmanager.org

still the major goal. When you have a 3,500-pound racecar sliding acrossyour turf, you're more worried about the driver than you are the turf."

Newpher is responsible for 550 acres of turf at the world's mostfamous speedway and has a crew of five to assist. There's another "greenteam" responsible for trees and other landscaping; Newpher is strictly thegrass man. Newpher says his boss, VP of Operations Dick Hahne, wantsto make sure when the Daytona 500 runs in February that "the grass isbright green, the flowers look perfect, and the tropical nature of the trackis complete," so that fans watching up north say to themselves, "Let's goto the race next year!"

SportsTurf 27

f John Mascaro's Photo Ouiz •Can you identify

this sports turf problem?Problem: Black line between field and

common area

Turfgrass Area: Athletic Field

Location: Pinecrest Village, FL

Grass Variety: Bermudagrass athletic fieldand St. Augustine grass common area.

Answer toJohn Mascaro's Photo Quiz

on Page 48John Mascaro is President

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IT'S AN IIUNWRITTEN RULE" ACCORDING TONEWPHER THAT ONLY THE DAYTONA 500 WINNER

CAN SPIN OUT ON THE TURF LOGO IN THE TRI-OVAL.

"By the day of the Daytona 500(the "Super Bowl" of NASCAR)only 40 acres of those 550 are notbeing used for something," saysNewpher. "Fans take over about10 acres, for example, and thedrivers' RV park is another fouracres, and it goes on and on. Thatone day we need to look our bestand often, the turf looks its worst,

at least to the crew and me. People are allover it that week so we irri-gate as little as possible."

The most famous, and visible, section of Newpher's turf is 5 acresknown as the "tri-oval" that sports the huge Daytona logo. This logo is200 feet long, with 34-foot high letters and an apex of 68 feet at the topof the flag in the middle. It's this tri-oval, so close to the track itself, thatperiodically gets an out of control race car skidding across it. (Newpherhas an acre of replacement turf growing near the track.)

"We used to string out the logo ourselves until our 50th anniversary(in 1998)," says Newpher. "To celebrate the anniversary we changed thelogo and added more logos to the tri-oval, as well to the backstretch andTum =#=3,and it became a lot more work. Now Missouri Turf Paint does

28 January 2007

all the logos because they are so complicated and time-consuming.They bring a 200-foot stencil for the main logo and work exclusivelyat night since it's way too dangerous to be that close to the track whenit's 'hot'."

It's an "unwritten rule" according to Newpher that only theDaytona 500 winner can spin out on the turf logo in the tri-oval. Hesays his greatest memory of the great race was when the late DaleEarnhardt, driver of the black =#=3Chevy and known as "TheIntimidator," finally won Daytona after 20 tries and proceeded to spindoughnuts on top of the logo's flag. "The fans went absolutely nuts,and after the race many of them grabbed some sprigs that had chippedup from his doughnuts," says Newpher.

Another memorable moment came 3 years later, during the Pepsi400 race in July. Earlier that year, Earnhardt had passed away after hit-ting the wall at Daytona. This day, his son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., tookthe lead in the backstretch near the end of the race. "I was in the pitarea and you could actually hear the crowd's roar over the noise fromthe racecars," Newpher recalls.

By the way, if you're thinking you'd be angry if a millionaire race cardriver tore up your perfect turf on purpose, you need to know that imme-diately following the Daytona 500, Newpher every year begins tearingout the turf on the tri-oval for a motocross event the next week. •

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FACILITY & OPERATIONS

Kris Harris is the Sports Turf Manager for theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets

eorgia. Tech Sport Turf ManagerKris Harris isn't bothered 100much about what other peoplethink. "I don't mind being thevillage idiot for it few months

out of the year, All I care about is managingmy football and baseball fields for those threeor four months when it COUIlls," Harris says.According to most agronomists, nothing Kr-isdoes should work.

WHAT'S .A

TEns AGGIEDOIl6 WITHUtiA TUBI'OlIOS61 TEeH FIELD?

"For football r go a 10v'[as I can go," he says,"We start out in May at 1!2"-7/1G" and I godown from there. Tkeep my baseball field a lit-tle higher. "Ve mow it at 3/4" most of the yearand lake it all down to 112" after the season."

Most sports field managers rarely mowtheir bennudagrass lower than an inch, andnever lower than a half-inch. Kris also over-seeds very heavily. "1 may have 50 to 70pOllnds/lOOO of rye out by the end of the sea-

30 January 2007

son on the football field here at Bobby DoddStadium. And usually about JOibs/lOOO onmy baseball field. They have to be perfect allseason long, not all year long."

The administration and Georgia Techcoaches want the field to be perfect for thespring practice game, lou. "So far I've beenreal lucky there," say~ Harris. "I've never hadto paint the football field green for a game yet.To keep my fields looking good J know I have

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FACILITY & OPERATIONS

'y

~ y'vJ-y' -:v""YOU'VE GOT TO CHOOSE YOUR

POISON. DO YOU WANT IT TOLOOK GOOD YEAR-ROUND? OR DO

T , ~

YbU wANT IT TO LOOK GREATvV ",.A._ y r""'DURING THE SEASON?

.I'M A VERY SEASONAL GUY.",

to hold that rye unlil we're done with our bigspt'ing practice game in mid-April and thebaseball season is over, which is usually themiddle ofjune."

'Vith that much ryc Kns knows he's shad-ing out his TifSport, holding it back. So whenhe sprays out his rye, he's got maybe 2%TifSporl coverage. Maybe. "The hardest thingI have to deal with is impatience. A lot of guy,can't do this because their coaches go ballistic.Mine do, too. Every )'-ear, for a month or two.That'~ OK with me. T jll~tsmile. T know every-body wants it to look good all the time. Butyou've got to choose your poison. Do youwant it to look good year-round? Or do youwant it to look great during the season? I'm avery seasonal guy.~

Kris is a Texas Aggie. That explains a lotabout his approach tc life, which is a lot likehis approach to !,'Tass: hard work and longhours followed by more hard work and longer

•

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32 January 2007 www.greenmediaonline.com

FACILITY & OPERATIONS

Harris explains his management program to University of Georgia plant breeder and TlfSportdeveloper Dr. Wayne Hanna.

hours. Even as a student at Texas A&M he wasputting in five days a week for the athleticdepartment. "1 worked for Leo Goertz, one ofthe best guys you'll ever want to meet," hesays. It was Goertz who convinced Krls thathe needed to look for an internship elsewhereto broaden his experience. "I'd been lookingallover the country for something for thesummer, and got a call back from EdMangun, who was in charge of Turner Field inAtlanta. I loved baseball and hate cold weath-er, so Atlanta was a no-bramer." Kris wasmorc than eager La get started. "I finished aregional baseball tournament at A&M, drove<illnight, got to Atlanta about noon, workedthe rest of the day and did the game thatnight."

"Ed is the best in the business, and BobMcCulloch, Ed's assistant at the time, is prob-ably the best clay man you'll ever meet. I

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34 January 2007 www.greenmediaonline.com

FACILITY & OPERATIONSHE GOT HIS STAFF DOING THINGS HIS WAY, AND HIS

PROGRAM JUST KIND OF TOOK OFF FROM THERE. NOWHE'S GOT ONE OF THE BEST PROGRAMS IN THE COUNTRY.

guess that's where I learned about never trust-ing anything to chance, from Ed and Bob.Back then the Braves were owned by TurnerBroadcasting and we were on TV almostevery night, so everything always had La Deperfect." VI/hen Kris got ready to return Laschoolthat September to finish his final semes-ter, Ed asked him if he wanted (0 come backto work as an assistant when he graduated. Furthe record, Kris graduated in December andstarted with the Braves two weeks later.

Harris recalls, "I really didn't have a lifeexcept for Turner Field and turf. When I was-n't busy at the ballpark I started hanging oulhere at Tech. One thing led to another and

before too long, Shawn Teske called and askedme if I would be interested in taking on thesports turf manager's job here. J initiallyturned him down. r was working on the pro-fessional level and thought that was where Ineeded to be. n

Back to cam.pusTeske persisted, and finally, in 2000, Kriscame to Tech. "When I look back on it now, Idon't. know how J kept the job. r was totallyout of my league. J had too much on my platebecause I was trying way too hard to makethings perfect like at Turner Field. I couldn'teven get everything to mediocre! My grass

was fair at best that first year. J had a lot ofproblems. Ccorge O'Leary kept my job forme. He literally did."

Fortunately Harris got through that firstyear and got things on his schedule, He got hisstaff doing things his way, and his programjust kind of took off from there. Now he's gotone of the best programs in the country.

When Kris first arrived at Tech, all of thefields were Tifway 4J9, His decision to switchto TlfSport. lumed out to be more luck thanplanning, "I'd heard that there was a goodnew bermuda out, but J didn't know anybodythat had it yet. J also knew that my Tifway wasworking OK for me. So when we decided to

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FACILITY & OPERATIONS

re-work the baseball field, it was pretty mucha given that it would be 419 again. Even mysod farm, Turfgrass America down in Camilla,was pushing me to go with Tifway. I also knewthis was a big deal, because when you putgrass down, your bosses wanl it to look green.They've just spent a lot of money and theywant to see green grass."

True to form, Kris wasn't taking anychances He'd been making the three-hourdrive down to Camilla every week for at leastsix weeks to check on his grass. "It was reallylooking good - that is, until my final visit tothe farm. It was a snafu that worked out for thebest. My Tifway had been scalped to all get-out and 1 knew that if 1 look it back to Atlantaand put it down on my baseball field, they'dprobably fire me right there on the spot,"Harris says. "So the farm manager took meover to look at their new TifSport field. It wasyoung but I thought, 'If we can 1101dthis stuff

together, it just might work.' 1 knew I didn'twant a grass that had been grown in day, evenif it was 419, and the TifSport was growing inthe right kind of sandy soil. We cut it thatnight and started laying it down the nextmorning. It's amazing.

"I've got a picture I took two or threeweeks after we put that TifSport down. It's ofMark Heinlein. He's with the Motz Group,and he's holding a six-foot piece of sad. I betthe roots are 12-inches deep. So I was excited.Whether it was the grass, or what I was doing,or a combination of both, something wasworking," Harris says.

That next summer, though, after the ryehad all died back, Kris didn't like what hesaw, "It was the first 'week of July and Ithought for sure that 1 was going' to have tore-sod my infield and hips again, but I decid-ed to put if off until I got back from a raretwo-week vacation."

Two weeks later he found that nearly theentire infield and hips were grown back in. "1was floored," he says now. "I'd never seenany turfgrass make that big of a turnaround insuch a short time. So when my bosses decidedthat we were going to re-do the football fieldat the stadium that summer, I knew what I wasgoing to do. 1 told Turfgrass America to cutmy sod out of that same TifSport field.

"TifSport is a slow starter," Harris contin-ues. "It needs a lot of heat before it will getgoing, especially in Atlanta. If your soil tem-perature's not where it needs to be, you've justgot to play with it. When 1 start cutting it, I'mlow, low, low. And I go down from there.When you keep it low, it's got no place else togo. It can't grow up. All it can do is gruw out.We star! mowing daily around here the first ofMay, and there's nul much grass to cut then.we're basically jUSl running the mowers overit. It's the same for an of my fields, my practice

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FACILITY & OPERATIONSI KNOW I WENT OUT ON A LIMB WHEN I DECIDED TOTAKE IT LOW. BUT I FOUND OUT THE LOWER IT GETS

THE TIGHTER IT GETS. AND THE MORE IT GROWSLATERALLY,THE FASTER MY DIVOTS FILL IN.

fields, my footballfield, my baseball field. Butonce T start, I do everything I can to gel mybermuda up and growing. I'm aerifying at leastevery two weeks, and every ten days when thetemperature gds above 80 degrees.

"I also pound it as heavy as I call with fer-tilizer for 12 to 15 weeks. I noticed that thisgrass will respond to different fertilizers at dif-ferent temperatures, so I started playing withthat," he says. "I kind of go by daytime-night-time temperatures. Between 85 and 90 degrees,it responds greal to ammonium sulfate. It justtakes off. We catch our grass clippings everytime we mow, and I noticed we were fillingup three or four buckets with clippings every

couple of days the week we'd fertilize withammonium sulfate. Then we'd go with ammo-nium nitrate the next week and our dippingswould start to level off. And the next week,back with the ammonium sulfate and it wouldhe blown away. But gueas what? Once you startto get those YO-degree days, it's just the oppo-site. Ammonium nitrate makes it rock and roll,and it doesn't really have much response toammonium sulfate. Once I figured all of thatout and the fact that TtlSport likes to be low,which T think is probably the most importantthing, T haven't had any major problems since.

"You can't manage TifSpon like your old419,M Harris says. "I can only tell you what

works for me here at Georgia Tech. 1 know Jwent out on a limb when I decided to take itlow. But I found out the lower it gets thetighter it gets. And the more it grows laterally,the faster my divots fin in."

Keeping it lowIt's early September, a week away from hishome opener, and Kris's height of cut is usu-ally up to 1/2-inch by now. But not this year."I decided that this year I'm going to try to

keep it at or below 3/~ of an inch all seasonlong," Kris tells me. He knows there couldbe drawbacks with this strategy. "At 3/8 ofan inch you can't hide a thing. If you've got

40 January 2007

Harris sprays his field in early September.

www.greenmediaonline.com

a little divot out there, it's there for every-body to sec, because there's no taller grassaround to hide it

"I know r can always go back up to 1/2inch if 1have to. But I'm going to try to keepil at 3/8. This past week during practice itreally held up well. vVe only had 3 divots.There might have been a few other placeswhere it was sheared a little bit where some-body slid. But bottom line, I've still gol all ofmy leaf tissue out there. So it greened righlback up.

"Evervthmg I'm doing g'oes directlyagainst what 1 learned in college. Even myequipment dealers are scratching their heads.My new 322.'iC is a fairway unil, but it actu-ally has S-inch !,'1-eensmower reels."

Krls will tell vou that one of the smartestthings he's done for his career is to figure oma way to stay in contact with the GeorgiaTech coaches. 'There are no two ways aboutit. H you're not in direct contact with thecoach, you're putting somebody elsebetween you and him. And more than likelythat person can't explain to the coach whatyou just explained 10 them. Or answer ques-tions. Because they JUSl don't know, As agroundskeeper you're the only one who canreally explain what's going on. So 1 made it apoint to get to know George O'Leary. If hewanted to chew me out, J got to defendmyself with him face to face, not throughsomebody else. 1 also really respect ChanGailey. He is by far the best coach a turf man-ager ever had. He's like another father to me.He and my boss, Shawn Teske, leave mealone most of the lime. They give me all therope J need, and they trust me nor to hangmyself."

Kris makes it work. "Maybe I'm just in theright spot. J don't seem to have any seriousproblems. J don't have the disease pressuresthat some people have. My 'water is good. Mysoil is almost perfect now, five and a half.Maybe I'm in the perfect spot for this grass,"he says.

"You have to be crazy to be in this busi-ness. If you aren't talking to your grass likean idiot you're in the wrong business."

Sam Williams provided litis article. He can berCIH;ltedat Igw@alltel.rr.ct .•

www.sportsturfmanager.org

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-- --------------------------------

FACILITY & OPERATIONSGetting it right:

where turfBy Mary Helen Sprecher meets

.~.'(.... "

'" """'77:~~~""""----'--'Vestavia Hills (Al) High School complex, built by Sports Turf Company, Whitesburg, GA

ne of the biggest challenges facing a sports field main-tenance crew is the area where the field meets the edgeof the track or where one type of field, grass or syn-thetic turf, meets the other.

On natural grass fields, problems can be caused byoverzealous use of weeders, mowers, or edgers. This

equipment can easily damage the track surfacing system. Granularmaterials that wind up on the track may cause problems, too, whenthey are ground into the surface, contributing to early wear.

That's not all, say industry members. There are maintenance chal-lenges inherent in synthetic turf fields, too, at the junction of the trackand field.

Robert Delmonico of R.'\.D Sports in Andover, MA says that prop-erly addressing this problem for synthetic turf fields starts from theground up, literally, "When constructing a track surrounding a syn-thetic turf field, one of the main issues is damage to the turf when the

42 January 2007

contractor is paving the track. In some cases, the synthetic turf isalready in place before the top course of paving is placed."

This, according to Delmonico, is where the problem starts. "Theissue is the confined ~pace between the paving equipment and the edgeof the tnrf. Often, the raker is stepping Oil the asphalt and can inadver-tently step on the turf causing asphalt to end up on the turf, which caneither burn or stain it. One way to prevent this damage is to require aperson on the paving crew to stand on the lnrf side of the edge alongthe inside lane of the track and the field side of the D-areas during theentire paving process. As time-consuming and tedious as that might be,this simple step can prevent turf damage. Such damage is serious; oncethe turf is burned, it is extremely difficult to repair if il can be repairedat all."

Once the track is in place, says Sum Fisher of Fisher Tracks, Boone, IAit is more likely that the sports field will need maintenance than [he track.Planning for field maintenance in the design phase, therefore, is key.

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FACILITY & OPERATIONS

"THE RECYCLED TIMBERS ARE FAIRLY EASY TO INSTALLAND THEY DO MAKE A NICE EDGE DETAIL. BUT EVEN

INSTALLED PROPERLY,THEY TEND TO MOVE OVER TIMEAND THEY DO NOT TAKE PAINT VERY WELL."

"One area that 1 think is overlooked on most installations is anaccess ramp on and off the edges of the track for infield maintenancework. \\Te've always known that natural grass fields need regular main-tenance, but as evclyone is now learning, these synthetic turf fieldsneed considerable maintenance as well. They need to be groomedoften. These groomers are no different than a decent-sized lawnmower"

Driving, dragging or pushing maintenance equipment over thetrack, says Fisher, not only can contribute to early wear of the track, itcan also cause damage that might not be visible at first.

"At some facilities, the turf continues right up to the edge of the tracksurface. The constant on and off with a vehicle for grooming tends tocompact the rock at that area. That creates a depression at the edge that

becomes so deep the machinery is actually catching on the edge of thetrack. In addition to the depression, eventually mud can be generatedby the traffic and wear. It would he a very small task to install anasphalt ramp on borh the inside and the outside for the crossing ofmaintenance equipment," says Fisher.

Creating a physical barrier between the track and the field, such asa flush curb, is one of the most effective v'..-aysof avoiding problems. EdNorton, RLI\, of Holcombe Norton Partners, Birmingham, AL saysthat the delineation will help keep maintenance equipment and theoccasional person who uses it with perhaps more enthusiasm thanfinesse, from coming into contact with the track.

"In addition to providing the track paver an edge to work to whenbuilding the track, it establishes a maintenance line that keeps the

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46 January 2007

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FACILITY & OPERATIONSIT IS CRUCIAL THAT THIS AREA IS CLOSELY REVIEWED

PRIOR TO GRASSING TO INSURE THAT POSITIVE DRAINAGEAND A SMOOTH TRANSITION IS MAINTAINED."

mower or string edger from gouging the tracksurfacing."

John Huard, Jr. of the South Portland,Maine-based Northeast Turf, Hue Inc., advisesclients to use a curb in order to divide thetrack and the synthetic turf or natural grasssurface. The materials most often used (0 cre-ate that curbing are recycled plastic timbers,concrete, pressure-treated wood, the so-called'U' drain, and a 'rope tuck.' Each, Huardpoints out, has its pros and cons.

"The recycled timbers are fairly easy toinstall and they do make a nice edge detail.But even installed properly, they tend to moveover time and they do not take paint very well.Concrete is nice, but the drawbacks are thatthe shelf anchor is not consistent (very little toglue to, and the height varies, giving differentexposed fiber heights) and there tend to hevoids in the shelf. Since the glues that are usedto anchor the turf are fairly expensive andbecome "fillers" for the voids ill the concrete,this can get costly. Pressure-treated wood iseasy to work with, but is on the lighter side forturf anchoring. The pros are in the ease ofhandling and installing, the cons are it tendsto splinter if nUl over by field maintenanceequipment and if unpainted; the faded colorcan look 'moldy'."

The typical 'U' drain, Huard says, "does anice job of collecting water run off from thetrack before going onto the field, although thecomposites used to make them are fragile dur-ing handling and installation. Some peoplefail to realize or don't correctly calculate theamount of water draining off a track or com-ing off surrounding grandstands. All thatwater eventually makes its way to the field;the 'V' drain addresses this by not allowingthe water to reach the field. In terms of main-tenance, these drains are easy to dean withtops that come off and can be replaced if theybreak or bend,"

The final method mentioned by Huard isthe "rope tuck" method of curbing. This, heexplains, "gives the flexibility to remove theturf without causing any harm to it, but this

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area tends to fill in with debris, trash, leaves,pine needles and so forth. That debris is dif-ficult to remove. \Ve have only done one ofthese installs but we maintain this field on aregular basis. The edge detail takes the mosttime to clean because of the rope tuck."

It is important to think through thedrainage issues of the field before choosing acurb type. Norton believes that thoughtfulconsideration of drainage issues can spare themaintenance crew and the facility users a lotof grief down the line.

"A channel or trench drain around theinside perimeter of the track solves a lot ofproblems. This allows the builder to utilize

laser technology right "P to the drain whenfinish grading the field. The drain also pro-vides a field maintenance edge away fromthe synthetic surfacing of the track," Nortonsays.

Of course, Norton says, the ever-impor-tant bottom line has to be taken into consid-eration, since a channel drain system is oneof the more costly installations. "The ultet-na-tive to a channel drain," Norton says, "is aseries of drain inlets around the outside of thefield. The builder can laser-grade the fielditself, but will have to hand work around theinlets and up to the edge of the track. It is cru-cial that this area is closely reviewed prior (0

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SportsTurf 47

FACILITY & OPERATIONSIMPROBABLE THOUGH IT MAY SOUND. THE SEED OFTENTAKES ROOT IN THE INFILL OF THE FIELD. CREATING ANADDITIONAL CHALLENGE TO THE MAINTENANCE STAFF.

grassing to insure that positive drainage and a smooth transition ismaintained."

How the surrounding surfaces are maintained, says Huard, andwhat effect maintenance has on the turf has to be considered closely."The number one maintenance issue r see from in connection withsynthetic turf fields surrounded by natural gTUSS areas is the directionof the mower discharge. If the synthetic field is separated from a nat-ural 6'T<iSSarea by only the curbing, the maintenance staff mowingthe lawns tends to blow the discharge onto the rurf introducingunnecessary foreign debris that needs to be removed. By simply dis-charging the mower away from the synthetic field, the maintenancestaff can reduce the amount of debris they need to remove from theplaying surface."

Huard also sees problems in cases where freshly spread grass seedfinds its way into the edges of a synthetic field. Improbable though itmay sound, the seed often takes root in the infil! of the Held, creatingan additional challenge to the maintenance staff.

John Mascaro's Photo Quiz

Water, either from irrigation systems or from rain, can carry seedand other contaminants onto a synthetic turf field or onto a track,according to Sam Fisher. It happens naturally, but there is no reasonto tempt fate by carrying watering to extremes.

"One of the biggest problems we see across the country with thenatural grass fields is the desire to water (and in some cases almostflood) the grass to the very edge of the track. The drainage is not ade-quate to handle all of this water and asphalt stripping begins to takeplace. It is nearly impossible to design a sprinkler head that is goingto hold a perfect edge when spraying water and, of course, wind willmove that water such that the track is inundated on a consistentbasis."

With proper placement of irrigation equipment, says Ed Norton,the potential for problems can be minimized.

Mary Helen Sprecher wrote litis article 011 hehalf of the Americall SportsBuilders Association. See www.sportsbllilders.org .•

swer:frotlll\ page 28

tween field and common area of. new sod sports complex was actually plas-

b landsc J3"i:l ·ng. This edging was insertedbetween the bennudagrass athletic field and the St.Augustine grass common area as a barrier to keepthe bermudagrass from invading the $1. Augustinegrass. The original plan for this area was 1.0 have thesidewalk intersect these two areas creating a walkingpath and also a barrier for the different varieties ofgrass. In an attempt to save money, the city decidedto eliminate the sidewalk. In its place, a contractorinserted the plastic landscape edging to keep the dif-ferent grass varieties separate. This is a good exam-ple of how changing one small detail on paper doesnot necessarily translate well on turf. Interestinglyenough, the city eventually ended up installing thesidewalk that was in the original plans, which solvedthe problem of keeping the two varieties of grassfrom encroaching and continued the walking patharound the ball fields.

Thank you to Loren Matthews, Director Parksand Recreation Department at the Village ofPinecrest, for allowing me to take this photograph .•

If you would like to submit a photograph for John Mascaro's Photo Quiz please send it to Turf-TeeInternational, John Mascaro, 1471. Capital Circle NW, Suite # 1.3,Tallahassee. FL 32303 or email tojohn®turf-tec.com.1f your photograph Is selected, you will receive full credit All photos submitted becomeproperty of SportsTurf Magazine.

48 January 2007 www.greenmediaonline.com