How University of Kentucky’s head sports field manager ensures top-tier turf
A lot of effort and planning goes into managing a football field, and much of that happens before players even hit the turf. We had a conversation with Marcus Elswick, head sports turf manager at the University of Kentucky, to get the details on how he and his team get the university’s bermudagrass fields ready for play.
What does your typical weekly routine look like during preseason prep?
“Our typical preseason weekly routine involves mowing every other day, staying on top of our Foliar-Pak sprays and fertilizer applications, keeping the facility clean from trash, and edging around the turf,” said Elswick.
Players start their training camps during June, so Elswick and his team alternate between fertilizing and spraying from spring until then. “So, it’s usually two weeks of fertilizer and two weeks of spray, trying to push that grass to be ready for camp,” said Elswick.
What cultural practices do you use?
Elswick and his crew will aerate the fields three or four times—at least once a month—between early May and mid-July. They aim to pull deep cores twice and short cores once, each variation helping with drainage and thatch reduction, respectively. “We also tend to topdress between 200 and 250 tons of sand each summer to help with drainage and smoothing out the playing surface,” said Elswick.
All of this takes place around the schedules of camps and workouts, so coordination with coaches is key. The preseason begins around mid-July, and by then, the turf is ready for game time.
How do you monitor and maintain soil health and turf density?
“Soil health is something we analyze once a year to see if we need to switch what we are spraying or keep it the same,” said Elswick. “We tend to really push the roots and grass all summer so we can have a healthy, dense grass for when fall practice starts.”
Elswick and his team also use moisture meters and spray foliar products. They use quite a few Foliar-Pak products, including Amperage, Foundation Forty, Micros Plus, and Grow-In. They also use 22-0-4 for nitrogen. “We’ll put down a soil spray once a month, which will be like Armament K, Armament P, and Armament Concentrate,” said Elswick.
These products have had a very beneficial and noticeable effect on the health and resiliency of the turf, according to Elswick: “We’re able to get away with sodding less than 2,000 square feet per year on a 144,000 square foot surface.” With traffic being so heavy from April to December, Elswick says that’s “pretty impressive.”
Can you share some tips on how you prioritize and schedule tasks?
“We prioritize our practice football field by making sure we are hitting our windows around camps and summer workouts, so usually it’s all hands on deck for those days,” said Elswick. They work quickly, pulling a core and cleaning up one day and then topdressing the next.
The best way to get the job done, according to Elswick, is to plan with the coaches and staff. “We’ll work around what they’re doing, but they also give us windows and times or say ‘We’re going to stay off [of the field] for these two weeks just to let you all grow this,’” said Elswick. “Communication is the biggest key and gaining trust from those people, too.”
Time is finite—especially so when you’re racing against the clock—so making sure everything is ready to go the day before is vital. Being proactive is the name of the game.
How do you manage irrigation during the preseason?
“We use irrigation cannons, so we have to remove them for any practice or walkthrough that is going on. Sometimes it is a pain, but I like it better than raising 100 plus irrigation heads,” said Elswick.
That may sound complicated, but the cannons only take about 15 minutes to install and another 15 to remove when players need to hit the field. They can also provide much more water than irrigation—and in less time.
When players are out practicing, how do you address high-traffic areas that experience more wear and tear, such as sidelines?
“During the season, we overseed with ryegrass, usually in mid-September,” said Elswick. “And we might throw down a little extra seed on the middle of the fields just to hold it so they [players] have some footing there, so it’s not dirt or sand.” Once April rolls around, they’ll kill off the ryegrass with an herbicide.
Hitting high-traffic areas with extra fertilizer or foliar applications is common, too. Communication is key during this time, with Elswick noting that “the coaches are pretty good at moving around” to avoid excessive wear and accommodate any maintenance needs.
Once they reach a certain point in the year, Elswick and his team will cover the practice fields with lightweight blankets. “We have inflatable tubes and we’ll put them out over the practice fields, and that tends to help get us a lot of recovery from that Friday after practice to Monday morning, so we’ve been very fortunate there.”
What adjustments do you make during the transition between seasons?
Elswick and his team will raise or lower their mowing heights as the seasons change. “We tend to mow our bermudagrass at .675 to .75 inch and our rye at one inch,” said Elswick. “This allows the ryegrass to outcompete the bermudagrass during that September to October transition.”
How do you plan for the long-term health and usability of the field?
“We always try to be proactive in what we are doing,” said Elswick. “I tend to look ahead by a few years and see how things are going to react.” For long-term health, the team will monitor soil test results and ensure everything is on track with where it needs to be.
Elswick and his team’s only downtime during the growing season is May, so they will analyze what grass they need to replace once the season is over, and then reevaluate once they take field blankets off the turf in early March.
“It’s almost a guessing game, but being able to track heavy wear areas during the fall season has made it to where we are efficient in ordering sod and know where we need to replace at,” said Elswick.
The university’s football field is relatively new, renovated in 2015. Elswick mentioned that at some point, an upgrade will be necessary. Communicating effectively and proactively with his boss, they’re able to come up with future game plans. “I can go to him and say ‘Hey, these are the things on my radar. Just wanted to put it on your radar,’” said Elswick.
Being able to stay out ahead of major maintenance items, whether they’re a year or ten years down the road, gives peace of mind and plenty of time to put a plan in place.
The amount of time and effort it takes to maintain a sports field—let alone multiple fields—is massive, but it’s the foundation of a successful season. The efforts of Elswick and his team, though they may be behind the scenes, are what allow players and fans to enjoy the game. A beautiful, healthy, and safe field may be the end result, but getting there starts long before the first whistle sounds.
