AMES, Iowa - Mike Andresen has been there. Iowa State’s manager of athletics grounds came to ISU in 1996 as athletics turf manager to oversee implementation and maintenance of Jack Trice Stadium’s all-natural grass football field. It should come as no surprise that with Andresen’s care, a field that was slated to last in top condition between four and six years, lasted 12 seasons.
Iowa State’s field has been recognized nationally several times as one of the best football gridirons in the country. But even the best fields have a finite life span.
“We played on (the field) for 12 years, which is phenomenal,” Andresen said. “Over a period of a dozen years you build up a thatch layer. Our thatch layer got to be four to five inches thick. We have a sand-based field and the sand will drain water as fast as you can put it in. However, the five-inch layer of thatch holds up water, so we were due for a rain, mud disaster game.”
While no such game occurred, in addition to the sod itself there were other challenges. The biggest battle was against an annual type of blue grass that was penetrating the original field grass. Its annual growth was difficult to deal with because it was essentially a weed without roots. Chunks of grass began flying up during games last season. By the time of the spring game, brown spots that had developed during a harsh winter left random patches of no grass on the field.
Andresen’s crew went to work. A milling machine grinded off and twice carried two inches of thatch from the field last week.
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