Athletic field playing quality encompasses both aesthetics as well as athlete‐to‐surface interactions that can affect injury incidence. Legislation restricting the use of herbicides on athletic fields may lead to increases in problematic weeds, such as large crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis L.) and white clover (Trifolium repens L.), which could reduce athletic field playing quality and potentially increase potential for athletic injuries. Research was conducted at the University of Tennessee Center for Athletic Field Safety (Knoxville, TN) during 2012 to 2013 to evaluate the playing quality of large crabgrass and white clover compared with weed‐free hybrid bermudagrass (C. dactylon ⋅ C. transvaalensis Burtt‐Davy, ‘Tifway’). All plots (3 by 3 m) were maintained as monostands and subjected to 18 simulated traffic events with a Cady traffic simulator each autumn over 2 yr. Large crabgrass and white clover lost green cover approximately 12 times faster than hybrid bermudagrass in this study. Consequently, surface hardness values on large crabgrass and white clover plots were ∼48 to 52% higher than those measured on hybrid bermudagrass after 18 simulated traffic events were applied. Changes in both surface hardness and rotational resistance were significantly correlated (P < 0.0001) to changes in green cover following simulated traffic. Our findings indicate that groundcover domination by weeds, such as large crabgrass and white clover, compromises the aesthetics and safety of natural grass athletic fields. Additional research is needed to evaluate athletic field playing quality on polystands of hybrid bermudagrass, large crabgrass, and white clover to determine acceptable thresholds of weed cover for player safety. Information of this nature would be useful for justifying various weed control measures such as herbicide applications.
Soil water content (SWC) influences the consistency and performance of athletic field surfaces. Two studies were conducted at the University of Tennessee Center for Athletic Field Safety, Knoxville, TN, to determine how SWC affects wear tolerance of hybrid bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × C. transvaalensis Burtt‐Davy, ‘Tifway’] on root zones composed of either silt loam (cohesive) or sand meeting US Golf Association specifications (noncohesive). Soil water content treatments for cohesive root zones averaged low (0.06–0.13 m3 m−3), medium (0.14–0.21 m3 m−3), medium‐high (0.22–0.29 m3 m−3), and high (0.30–0.37 m3 m−3); comparatively, SWC on noncohesive averaged low (0.05–0.11 m3 m−3), medium (0.12–0.19 m3 m−3), and high (0.20–0.27 m3 m−3). Differences in the amount of ranges between root zones were due to plant available water of the soil texture. Plots were subjected to 50 traffic events for 5 wk each fall over a 2‐yr period. Green turfgrass cover was reduced four times faster at high SWC than the low and medium SWC treatments on cohesive soil. All SWC treatments on noncohesive soil lost green turfgrass cover at a predictable rate. Surface hardness increased as SWC decreased for both root zones. Turfgrass shear strength decreased with traffic for all treatments on cohesive soils. Soil water content of noncohesive soils did not compound the effect of traffic on turfgrass shear strength. The optimal mean SWC ranges to maximize hybrid bermudagrass wear tolerance on cohesive soils were low to medium, and low to medium on noncohesive soils.
Creeping bentrgrass putting greens require intense management due to stoloniferous growth (thatch accumulation) and excessive wear and traffic by equipment and golfers. Increases in thatch and soil compaction are often managed with cultivation practices, which lead to downtime for golfers. Field research was conducted in Knoxville, TN, and Elizabethtown, KY, to compare new and traditional cultivation methods for their impact on playability on creeping bentgrass putting greens. Treatments included air injection, dry sand injection, solid tine cultivation topdressed with sand, hollow tine cultivation topdressed with sand, and non-treated control. Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design replicated three times at two locations. As determined 15 minutes after treatments, air injection resulted in the least reduction of green turfgrass cover, no ball roll reduction from the control, and lower reductions in surface firmness compared to other methods tested. Hollow tine had the greatest reduction in green turfgrass cover, lowest ball roll distance, and greatest reductions in surface firmness. Air injection had a lower impact on surface characteristics than hollow or solid cultivation. Because turf cover, ball roll, and firmness can all affect putting green playability, these findings indicate that air injection cultivation has the smallest impact on golfers immediately after a cultivation event.
Cynodon spp. (bermudagrass) golf courses and athletic fields in warm‐humid and warm‐arid regions are often annually overseeded with a cool‐season grass to improve turf performance during autumn and winter. Previous research has shown that preplant cultivation treatments to the C. dactylon base typically results in improved overseed establishment. Fraze mowing is a relatively new turf maintenance technique in which thatch and grass verdure is aggressively removed by blades attached to a revolving rotor. Because fraze mowers can significantly reduce C. dactylon competition for the overseed, a study was devised to determine the effectiveness of fraze mowing as a preplant technique prior to overseeding. The study was conducted in Lexington, KY, and Knoxville, TN, during the fall and winter of 2015–2016. Treatments were applied on 17 September and consisted of an untreated control, vertical mowing (one direction, 7.5 mm deep, 2.5‐cm spacing), and fraze mowing at 0.6‐, 1.2‐, and 2.5‐cm depths. Response variables included percentage cover, germination rating, surface hardness, and percentage cover the following spring and summer. Results showed no differences between preplant treatments for germination and percentage cover the following year. However, the fraze mowing treatments resulted in reduced percentage cover for 2 to 3 wk after treatment (WAT) compared with vertical mowing and the untreated control. By 3 WAT, the overseed had established and all plots had >90% cover. Surface hardness was only slightly affected by preplant treatment at just one location, and results were not consistent.
Shade from athletic stadium structures can be a significant detriment to turfgrass performance. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of shade on rooting and playing surface stability, measured as traction, on overseeded or non‐overseeded bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) turf. An experiment was established in 2013 on a mature bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. cv. Riviera] turf that was either overseeded with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) or non‐overseeded. Shade structures were installed to create four light level treatments, including 0%, 30%, 60%, or 90% light‐reducing shade cloth. The light treatments resulted in average daily light integrals (DLI) of 40.8, 26.2, 14.8, and 3.3 mol m–2 d–1, respectively. Data were collected on rooting characteristics, species composition, and two forms of traction measurements. Moderate levels of shading (30%) caused a significant decline in rooting characteristics in non‐overseeded turf, while rooting of overseeded turf was not significantly affected until a 60% light reduction. Rotational resistance and peak horizontal force, measurements of athlete traction, were affected by increasing shade in both overseeded and non‐overseeded turf, but the association between traction and a minimum DLI was not conclusive. The persistence of bermudagrass in overseeded turf was significantly reduced at all shade levels studied. This study clearly demonstrates that rooting, bermudagrass persistence and traction of overseeded and non‐overseeded bermudagrass athletic fields are negatively affected by even modest levels of shade.
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