Mississippi State University: kI's B~

operating as part of the Department of Land- scape Architecture to operating as an arm of the Department of Physical Plant. "I think it boils down to admitting what you are really interested in, engineering or landscaping," Scoggins explains. "The phys- ical plant manager sees a stadium with seats, track, parking, concessions, score- board and field. We see a turf surface which must be carefully designed to withstand 30 games per season, heavy rains and hot, hu- mid summers-surrounded by a stadium. By concentrating on the areas we are most interested in, the university gets the best results." In fact, the arrangement between the land- scape staff and the physical plant depart- ment started with sports turf at MSU. For years, MSU has fielded great baseball teams. In 1985, not only did the Bulldogs under coach Ron Polk lead the nation in attendance, they finished third in the Col- lege World Series. The team in 1971 was equally talented, Scott Stadium has served as an important site for the evaluation of the PAT System in southern but the baseball stadium turf, like much of climates. For more than 12 years it has stood the test of 30 games per season. the campus landscape at that time, was on't look for it in "The Guiness Book of is performed by 35 technicians employed showing signs of fatigue. "Baseball coaches World Records." Even Ripley might by the department. This unique arrange- like to practice on the same field they play Dnot believe it if he were still around. ment, evolved over the past 12 years, has their games," says Scoggins. "It takes special But count on it anyway: Mississippi State attracted students from across the nation knowledge of the turf and infield to keep University (MSU) has the world's biggest and resulted in important advancements in a field in collegiate condition when all prac- classroom. sports turf and landscape technology. tices and games are on the same field." That's because all 1,000 acres of the MSU The concept is being expanded to other Scoggins had just joined MSU's physi- campus are the real classroom - and the departments within the university. This fall cal plant staff as a maintenance foreman lab as well- for its Department of Landscape the university's Business School launched after completing his bachelor's degree in Arch itectu re. a new program for golf professionals. On- turfgrass management there. "Everyone on Teaching and research at most univer- ly one other college in the country has such campus shared MSU President William sities are confined to the classrooms, labora- a curriculum. Nearly 100 students from 35 Giles' concern over the condition of the tories and libraries. Rarely do professors states have already enrolled. university's turf and landscape," Scoggins or instructors use the campus as a teach- The reason for the instant popularity of reflects. "Giles was an agronomist by training ing tool or take part in the operation or main- the program is credited to the way MSU put and was exploring ways to solve the school's tenance of the campus. the program together. Not only did they first landscape problems. His first step was to This is unfortunate, because if they did, seek and receive the endorsement of the establish an office of campus landscape wi- they might be able to accomplish some of Professional Golf Association (PGA), they thin the physical plant department." the wonders the faculty at MSU has are rebuilding the school's 18-hole "pasture The first faculty member to volunteer his achieved. course" into a championship one for the stu- expertise to the campus landscape problem Working in conjunction with the Athletic dents to study course operations. was Dr. Coleman Ward in the agronomy Department and the Department of Physi- The maintenance of the course, the stadi- department, one of Scoggins' professors cal Plant, the faculty of the Department of um, practice fields and campus grounds, when he was a student. With the president's Landscape Architecture is deeply involved is the responsibility of Charles Scoggins, support, Ward set up a meeting with the in campus design, construction and main- campus landscape coordinator and mem- athletic director Charles Shira, Scoggins and tenance. Instructors involve the students ber of the Landscape Architecture Depart- Bob Callaway, a person who would later lead in campus landscaping as a method of ment. Since he joined the university in 1970, the campus landscape department from the teaching, but the vast majority of the work Scoggins is able to compare the results of Physical Plant Department, to the Depart- 12 sportsTURF ment of Horticulture and finally to the Depart- ment of Landscape Architecture. The meeting went well. It was agreed that the campus landscape staff, with Ward's help, would rebuild the baseball field with the campus labor force. When the job was complete, Dudy Noble Baseball Field looked better than all the other fields in the con- ference and held up game after game af- ter game. The department of campus land- scape had impressed everyone. But they had impressed Shira the most. Scott Stadium, MSU's football stadium, had been constructed in the '30s. Each year it was harder to restore a solid stand of turf before the next season. Even a short rain caused puddles to form on the field and turned the common bermuda into mud. The final blow was the last home game of the '73 season. The Bulldogs suffered a defeat on their home field with water nearly up to their ankles. Shira, Ward, Callaway and Scoggins watched the game and felt as hu- miliated as the players, soaking wet and co- Dudy Noble Baseball Field was the first test of the campus landscape department and paved vered with mud, walking back to the lock- the way for renovation of other sports turf facilities at MSU. er room after the game. There was little choice, the field had to healthy medium for turfgrass roots. Com- control moisture on the field, he could re- be rebuilt. The most popular surface in the pacted soils also rut easily and are very hard move the 18-inch crown needed to drain conference was artificial turf. As much as upon impact, both factors in sports injuries. conventional fields. Quarterbacks could see Shira respected his campus turf experts, If it drains too well, an excessive amount and hit their crossfield receivers better and his sports colleagues thought he should of water and fertilizer must be applied to fans and television crews could get a bet- make a splash with artificial turf. It was up meet the needs of the turf. But, a sports ter view of the game. In other words, natural to Ward, Scoggins and Calloway to over- field must drain fast enough to remove an turf could do everything artificial could do. come this pressure and to recommend a average rainfall occurring during or before "At the time, an artificial surface would field that would allow Shira to maintain his a game. have cost more than $400,000 and the PAT stature in the conference. Since the late '50s, Daniel had ex- field was $120,000," says Scoggins. "But, In retrospect, their recommendation not perimented with the use of sand in golf an artificial surface was much easier to un- only made Shira and MSU leaders instead greens. To keep moisture levels under con- derstand than some of the aspects of a PAT of followers, it turned out to be the greatest trol in sand greens, golf course architects field." Ward carefully explained the PAT sys- alternative to artificial turf in collegiate and used layers of materials underneath the sand tem to the athletic director and the univer- professional sports today, the Prescription to create a "perched" condition. Daniel in- sity administration and answered their ques- Athletic Turf (PAT) System. vented a system for greens that contained tions. Shira and President Giles decided to At that time, no existing fields in the South the water with a plastic barrier at the bot- stick with their own turf experts and the PAT were built to PAT specifications. Three PAT tom of the sand layer. Daniel, after confer- field was approved. fields had been installed up North under ring with sod growers and sports turf A contractor from Louisville actually did the direction of agronomist/inventor Dr. Wil- managers about decent drainage for foot- the work. The first step was to remove the liam Daniel, of Purdue University in ball and soccer fields, speculated that the crown and the next 15 inches of soil. Plas- Lafayette, IN. Ward knew Daniel and un- same techniques used to make golf greens tic film was laid across the entire field to derstood his theories behind the PAT grow deep, healthy turf under heavy traffic, make it into a "large bathtub." Dividing the System. would also work for larger areas. field in two lengthwise, two networks of per- Drainage and soil moisture are critical fac- That meant taking specifications intended forated drainage tubing were laid flat on the tors in management of natural sports turf. for the typical 5,000 square foot green and plastic and fed into two main drain lines. If the soil does not drain well, it compacts enlarging them to serve a 60,000 square These drain lines led into a subsurface, co- easily under traffic and will not serve as foot field. If he succeeded, he could not only continued on page 14 October 1986 13 Mississippi State "The MSU staff has contributed greatly iron. Over the years, this iron leached down continued from page 13 to the PAT system, especially for its region to the drain lines and collected on the slits. vered concrete reservoir at one end of the of the country," says Daniel. "We've taken Both drainage and subirrigation had been field. From the reservoir, a main line was some of the information learned at MSU and effected. connected to a pump station off the field. applied it to the Orange Bowl in Miami. 'They The plugged drains were flushed or Valves in the pumphouse enabled the have helped ease some of the concerns replaced. Six inches of new sand, tested pumps either to suck water out of the field about sand rootzones and proven that it for size and iron content, were spread on and into a storm drain, or take water from maintains its benefits for years." the field. A reduced amount of peat was a water main and pump it into the field. Since The first adjustment MSU made was the carefully and uniformly mixed with the top the field drain system was in half, pump- addition of a surface irrigation system. "We four inches of sand. The field was sprigged ing or suction could be applied to either side felt we needed surface irrigation to get with Tifway again. of the field. granular fertilizers into the rootzone," says "The infiltration rate was back to five inches and has stayed there for the past four years," Scoggins points out. "The dry areas have dissappeared and the system is working like the first daywe turned it on." The PAT field, completed most recently is at Findlay High School in Findlay, OH. This field reflects some of the refinements made in recent years. Instead of dividing the field into two halves lengthwise for the drainage/subirrigation system, Daniel has separated it into three sections lengthwise so the area between the hash marks can be managed separately. "Since the center section receives the most abuse," says Daniel, "we can now concentrate on its par- ticular needs while lowering the maintenance on the outer sections." The depth of the sand has also been decreased from 16 to 12 inches. "By cut- ting shallow trenches for the drainage net- work before laying the plastic, we have been able to eliminate a fourth of the sand," Daniel points out. "The cost of the sand usually represents half the entire materials budg- et for most fields. We determined we could save the customer money while preserving the effectiveness of the PAT system." The stadium and other athletic turf are the responsibility of (left to right) Charles Scoggins, The amount of peat has been reduced coordinator of campus landscaping, James Thompson, athletic supervisor, and Tommy Buckelue, athletic crewleader (on mower). and the method of mixing it with the sur- face sand has been changed to assure The entire field was then filled with 16 Scoggins. "We also use it to lightly moisten uniformity. Also, all new systems include inches of medium-size sand. Peat moss, the sandy surface before a game or to surface and subsurface irrigation. This ena- perlite and vermiculite were tilled into the syringe the turf in the summer to cool the bles the field to'be fertilized through the sur- top six inches of sand and the field was field down." Surface irrigation came in handy face irrigation system and gives the manager sprigged with Tifway bermudagrass. No sur- when Scoggins noticed that sections of the more control over surface moisture content. face irrigation was installed since it was be- field appeared to need more water than Finally, moisture sensors are installed in the lieved that subirrigation through the drain others. He was able to adjust the irrigation field and linked to the surface irrigation con- system would be adequate to meet all water cyles to compensate for the problem. "We troller. The moisture data can also be used needs. now know, thanks to MSU's help, that the to adjust the subirrigation system. The turf established well and was the talk original method of mixing the peat into the "There is no doubt the incidence of Pythi- of the conference during the '74 season. sand was uneven and caused some areas um is lower on PAT fields," Daniel states. "MSU now had a field it could use in any to hold more moisture than others," says "This is a valuable aspect for all fields with weather," says Scoggins. When wet weather Daniel. "But, it also told us that we added cool-season turfgrasses and southern fields forced the team off the conventional prac- more organic material to the sand than we when overseeded with ryegrass." tice field, they would move practice to the needed to." While only 16 PAT fields were installed PAT field. The equivalent of 40 games per In 1982, Scoggins noticed the infiltration between 1970 and 1985, three were installed year are played on the field every season. rate of the field had dropped considerably. this year and four more are being planned Daniel could not have asked for a better The original rate of 51f2 inches per hour had for 1987. The acceptance of the PAT sys- site for a southern PAT field. Both the depart- dropped down to an inch. Suspecting the tem as the standard for sand-based athletic ments of landscape architecture and agrono- peat again, the decision was made to re- fields in the U.S. is largely due to the feed- my were gifted with talent. The field has been move the top six inches of the field and back from the managers of existing instal- a huge research plot and any weaknesses replace it with new sand. What they found lations and the university-based principles in its design have been observed and surprised them. The slits in the plastic drain used to design it. researched. The MSU staff has helped lines were plugged with rust. The MSU staff "Maintenance of the field at Scott Stadi- Daniel adapt the system over the past 12 studied the lines and discovered that the um is not significantly different than main- years into the product it is today. original sand contained a large amount of continued on page 16 14 sJJortsTURF Mississippi State continued from page 14 taining our other fields," says Scoggins. "Our campus landscape crew takes care of mow- ing and fertilizing. Once a year we verticut, aerify and topdress with sand. We've dis- covered that the water level in the reser- voir is not as critical as we first thought. As long as it's within a range the root depth is excellent. "It is clear that we need to use surface irrigation much less on Scott field than we need to for our conventional fields. We al- so use the pumps frequently to suction off excess moisture from rains falling during or before games. It takes a tornado to stop a game now." Surprisingly, Scott field is not usually over- seeded for the football season. This month, however, Scott Field will be one of the stars of a nationally televised game. "To make the field sparkle for television viewers, the Mississippi Federation of Cooperatives do- nated Palmer perennial ryegrass to over- seed the field," says Scoggins. But, the dressing up of the stadium doesn't end there. Campus landscape architect Sam Hogue has added a berm at the end of the Fifteen inches of sand were spread over the plastic moisture barrier and network of perforat- field that will be planted with shrubs and ed drainage pipe. continued on page 1E

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16 sportsTURF Circle 126 on Reader Service Card Circle 127 on Reader Service Card Mississippi State a major role in campus landscaping dur- continued from page 16 ing the past 15 years, recently left the univer- annuals. The colorful berm will be balanced sity. As campus landscape coordinator and on the other end of the field by rows of "Some of the schools assistant professor of landscape contract- southern magnolias. The Bulldog logo will ing, Callaway was instrumental in moving be displayed on a cantilever roof which con- encouraging MSU to the campus landscape department from the ceals the pumphouse. "These kinds of physical plant department to the Department touches simply would not be considered by install artificial turf in of Landscape Architecture. He also gained most physical plant directors," says Hogue. support for and set up a landscape manage- "It's ironic that some of the schools en- ment curriculum at MSU. Graduates of his couraging MSU to install artificial turf in 1974, 1974, are now asking program never lacked a job when they are now asking lots of questions about our graduated. PAT field," says Scoggins. "It's too bad Shira questions about our Callaway labored for three years to es- is not alive to see the switch." tablish the new golf professional program. The sports field responsibility of the cam- PAT field." He contacted the PGA and negotiated with pus landscape department was expanded them to set up a program that fit their needs. even further in 1980 when it designed and Soon MSU will be able to supply golf profes- installed a four-field practice area for foot- campus design. The volume of design work sionals from its PGA program in addition ball. The fields are conventional with 18- reached a point where he was forced to give to golf course superintendents it already inch crowns. They are also aerified and up teaching. "We are working on improve- trains in its turf management program. maintained to a level as close to Scott Field ments to Scott Stadium, a new baseball "For 15 years Bob Callaway did not let as practical. The design work for the prac- stadium, the golf course, and many projects anyone forget the importance of landscape tice complex was also done by Hogue. "I on campus," says Hogue. "It's important that design and maintenance on this campus," don't hesitate to call specialists when faced we continue the landscape themes we've says Scoggins. "As his assistant, it was my with a design problem," says Hogue. "Usual- established in the past ten years. Charlie job to take his ideas and apply them to cam- ly, alii have to do is call someone on cam- Scoggins and I make a good team and MSU pus maintenance." The result is a one-of- pus. In the case of the golf course, we con- supports us all the way. It's important to con- a-kind arrangement for campus landscape tacted a golf course architect at the very tinue the tradition so many MSU faculty management, many awards, and a faculty beginning of planning." worked to establish." involvement rarely found on other univer- Until recently Hogue both taught and did Bob Callaway, another person that played sity campuses. ·e.

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18 sporfsTURF Circle 122 on Reader Service Card Circle 123 on Reader Service Card