by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
The biggest golf green is town is at Alltel Stadium, 2.3 acres of nurtured grass that its master says could be converted to a smooth putting surface if needed.
Right now, the field at Alltel Stadium is as lush as any fairway in the area. If need be (and it won’t,) it could match any green.
“The field is built according to United States Golf Association standards for greens,” said Mark Clay, who supervises the crew of 10 who keep Alltel in shape for football games and other events. “We work it just like the guys do at golf courses.”
In other words, a lowered mower is not much more than it would take to prepare for a U. S. Open stop. To walk on it, it’s as smooth as any fairway you’ll find. The turf is as solid as the rug in your home.
Does it matter to the players?
“Heck, yes,” said defensive line star Marcus Stroud. “I need a firm, consistent field so I can dig in and get the leverage I need to attack.
“Not all NFL fields are good. There are some that are lousy. But this one is good, just what the players want. They do a good job.”
The Alltel field is recognized by others and consistently is in the top five in surveys conducted by the National Football League Players Association.
“And two of the fields ahead of us are artificial turf,” said Clay, indicating that anything with no maintenance requirements shouldn’t count.
Clay and assistant Nick Fedewa are both trained in turf management — Clay at the prestigious Lake City Community College program and Fedewa through the equally-regarded turfgrass program at Michigan State University — and their treatment is almost identical to those used by their peers at area clubs.
The grass is Tifton 419, which is used on fairways at high-end clubs and throughout at others. It’s a tough strain of Bermudagrass which withstands hot weather and bounces back after going dormant in the cold months.
When it goes dormant, the staff overseeds with ryegrass, which can handle colder weather. When spring returns, they kill out the rye so the bermudagrass can return from its winter’s sleep.
“We aerify about six times a year, more if we need it,” said Clay. “A golf course does it about three times.”
Aerification is a process which enables air and water to get to the grass roots. It’s necessary on high-use areas because the turf gets compacted — in this case, due to big football players running on it and stomping the turf down, squeezing the turf and making life difficult for the roots, which need air and water.
A machine punctures the turf with tines which pull out plugs of dirt and leaves holes, and then the surface is covered with sand. A roller pushes the sand into the holes.
It’s mostly the same sod, too.
“We don’t re-sod the place,” said Fedewa. “We patch if we need it, maybe in the middle of the field but mostly around the bench area and the lanes to the tunnels which get a lot of traffic. The grass will come back.”
The entire field covers 2.3 acres and is shaped, using laser beams to insure it’s to a near-perfect alignment of having the center exactly 12 inches higher than each sideline.
It gets a complete makeover every six or seven years. It was done in 1999 and again before the 2005 Super Bowl.
“When we aerate, we cover the field with a half-inch of sand, and over the years that builds up,” he said. “The NFL crews came for the Super Bowl and actually lowered the field a few inches — it had built up.”
Clay’s staff also cares for the practice fields just outside the stadium and tries to keep the two grass fields as near to the stadium field as possible.
“The stadium field is better,” said Stroud, and Clay agreed: “The practice fields get a lot more punishment.”
The practice fields look like a golf fairway. After practice, workers go over the field and “sand” divots to encourage regrowth, just as you’ll see on your fairway.
Clay and his staff are usually the last to leave Alltel Stadium after a game.
“We first walk the field to see if there are any trouble spots and to replace grass which has been torn up — in golf, that’s divots,” he said. “Those 300-pound guys banging on the turf with half-inch cleats can leave some holes.
“We then roll the field with a one-ton roller and then we sweep up the debris. After that, we mow it with baskets to catch the clippings. Finally, we walk it again.”
The main challenge? Like any other person with a big lawn, Clay and his staff are at the mercy of the weather. “Too much rain, too little rain,” he said. “Just what everyone goes through.”
Is weather more of a challenge than the monster truck show, a February staple?
“Oh, sure,” he said. “That show hardly hurts the field. They put down a big tarp and then cover it with a foot of dirt. When they take out the tarp and pull up the dirt, the field is pretty intact.
“There may be a dent somewhere. Those trucks are really, really heavy.”
The field is brought back to shape with normal maintenance. Sand is placed on the field and shaped to bring back the perfect contour.
“They prepare the field on Thursday for the Saturday show, then the cleanup starts. If we had to, we could play a game on Monday,” said Clay.