Today we were up at Carter Finley Stadium to see the progress being made as NC State has decided to remove the outdated crown and replace it with a golf course grade turf and drainage system. We snapped a few photos so you can see for yourself.“The entire field will be built to United States Golf Association specifications for new greens,” said Ray Brincefield, NC State’s assistant athletics director for outdoor facilities. “It’s the exact same drainage pipe, it’s the exact same gravel, it’s the exact same peat moss and sand mix. The USGA sets the specs for how they build well-draining greens, from the subsurface to the grass, and those are the specs we are using.”
This is good news, seeing as Carter Finley is the last ACC football field to still be using the crown system for drainage. What is the Crown system exactly? The idea was to have a slight hump in the middle of the field in order to alleviate puddling and excessive standing water on the field. While this method had always been standard procedure, it hasn't always been 100% effective. Which was just one reason NC State head coach Tom O'Brien wanted to get the field leveled.
“We go from our own practice fields, which are level, and then go play our home games on a field with a huge crown on it,” O’Brien said. “That’s one of the reasons we wanted to get it done. The field is also 30-some years
old. Plus, the drainage is something that is important for us, after two of our home games were affected last season by heavy rains.”The renovation to field will cost over $1 million , which will come from the approved spending for the football program which was voted on earlier this year, and thanks to the extra loot the students will be forced to shell out to attend NC State.
“At a school like NC State, the premier field on our campus should be built the premier way,” Brincefield said.
Quotes extracted from gopack.com article
comments
1 Response to "Carter Finley: Down With the Crown"Thank God the hump is going to be gone! How many out routes and fly patterns have we all seen sailing over receivers' heads at home games? I saw at least two by Glennon is the Spring Game!
I just wonder how the quick the new turf is going to recover, and just how frail it will be. I have faith in those turf management guys over at CF, and I'm sure they wouldn't put it down if they didn't feel confident that it would hold up. But, these aren't golfers and divots we're talking about here. It'll be interesting, and no doubt, a level playing field. I've been waiting for this for a long time. Thanks Tom. You are the man.
Post a Comment