bluedogok
2/4/2009, 11:31 PM
I know that OU doesn't play down here but it looks like Bevo won't be able to graze at DKR......
Statesman.com - UT's home field again will have synthetic turf (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/02/05/0205texturf.html)
Royal-Memorial Stadium will say goodbye to natural grass.
By John Maher
AMERICAN STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, February 05, 2009
When Texas played Texas A&M at Royal-Memorial Stadium this past November, players from both football teams slipped on the grass field, which also started flying up in clumps.
Now, after a dozen years, grass will be getting the boot from UT's home field.
At a meeting of the men's athletics council on Wednesday, DeLoss Dodds, UT's men's athletic director, said part of the $27 million south end zone construction project will include the replacement of the stadium's natural grass field with a synthetic turf.
Dodds acknowledged that some considered a grass field an advantage in recruiting, but said there were problems with growing the Bermuda grass and that an artificial field could withstand more use.
Later, at a news conference, Longhorns coach Mack Brown said his team will play on an artificial surface next season after the grass is used for spring practice. Brown said a turf company had not yet been selected.
"We have agreed that we will go with whatever the department feels is best," Brown said.
The price of a synthetic field can run from $400,000 to a couple of million dollars. This past summer, a $1.2 million renovation of House Park included the installation of an artificial turf field, along with upgrades of lighting, locker rooms and the press box.
Artificial turf fields are no longer as hard and unforgiving as the original AstroTurf, which was installed in the Astrodome in 1966 . Many artificial turf fields now use rubber pellets from ground-up tires as a filler in the synthetic grass, and the surface has become increasingly popular with professional, college and high school sports teams.
"It's safe. It's really, really good," Brown said. "It's much better than what we remember as AstroTurf."
Texas played its home football games on grass through 1968. In the summer of 1969, UT installed AstroTurf inside Royal-Memorial. The cost for the turf and a new Tartan track was $575,000.
After decades of using artificial turf and running through five fields, UT switched to natural grass in 1996 at a cost of $1.25 million. Texas A&M had ripped up its artificial turf and switched to grass at Kyle Field a few months earlier.
At UT, a sophisticated drainage and watering system was supposed to make the grass field able to withstand the extremes of Texas weather. In 1999, the field at Royal-Memorial was lowered by seven feet to create more stadium seating, and in 2002 the original Prescription Athletic Turf was replaced with Bermuda grass. That Bermuda is over-seeded with rye, which Brown said has a tendency to "sweat" and become slippery.
The last time UT switched from natural grass to an artificial surface, in 1969, the Longhorns won a national championship.
Statesman.com - UT's home field again will have synthetic turf (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/02/05/0205texturf.html)
Royal-Memorial Stadium will say goodbye to natural grass.
By John Maher
AMERICAN STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, February 05, 2009
When Texas played Texas A&M at Royal-Memorial Stadium this past November, players from both football teams slipped on the grass field, which also started flying up in clumps.
Now, after a dozen years, grass will be getting the boot from UT's home field.
At a meeting of the men's athletics council on Wednesday, DeLoss Dodds, UT's men's athletic director, said part of the $27 million south end zone construction project will include the replacement of the stadium's natural grass field with a synthetic turf.
Dodds acknowledged that some considered a grass field an advantage in recruiting, but said there were problems with growing the Bermuda grass and that an artificial field could withstand more use.
Later, at a news conference, Longhorns coach Mack Brown said his team will play on an artificial surface next season after the grass is used for spring practice. Brown said a turf company had not yet been selected.
"We have agreed that we will go with whatever the department feels is best," Brown said.
The price of a synthetic field can run from $400,000 to a couple of million dollars. This past summer, a $1.2 million renovation of House Park included the installation of an artificial turf field, along with upgrades of lighting, locker rooms and the press box.
Artificial turf fields are no longer as hard and unforgiving as the original AstroTurf, which was installed in the Astrodome in 1966 . Many artificial turf fields now use rubber pellets from ground-up tires as a filler in the synthetic grass, and the surface has become increasingly popular with professional, college and high school sports teams.
"It's safe. It's really, really good," Brown said. "It's much better than what we remember as AstroTurf."
Texas played its home football games on grass through 1968. In the summer of 1969, UT installed AstroTurf inside Royal-Memorial. The cost for the turf and a new Tartan track was $575,000.
After decades of using artificial turf and running through five fields, UT switched to natural grass in 1996 at a cost of $1.25 million. Texas A&M had ripped up its artificial turf and switched to grass at Kyle Field a few months earlier.
At UT, a sophisticated drainage and watering system was supposed to make the grass field able to withstand the extremes of Texas weather. In 1999, the field at Royal-Memorial was lowered by seven feet to create more stadium seating, and in 2002 the original Prescription Athletic Turf was replaced with Bermuda grass. That Bermuda is over-seeded with rye, which Brown said has a tendency to "sweat" and become slippery.
The last time UT switched from natural grass to an artificial surface, in 1969, the Longhorns won a national championship.