By Delaney Osbourn
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – This season is the first season that Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium has a grass field in over ten years. The field transition was a part of the Chad Morris era. Morris believes in grass fields based off of studies that have been done to show the decrease in lower body injury in athletes.
According to Pat Berger, head of facilities at the University of Arkansas, Morris openly voiced his opinion on turf field. “Coach came, and he said ‘You know? The thing is with all the research that’s been done,’” Berger said. “A lot of it is a lot of injuries from waist down, especially the knees and lower extremities.” The fact Morris was upfront with what he likes, made the decision to go back to grass much easier.
The grass installation began in early April with the removal of the old synthetic turf. From there, the new Bermuda grass strand Tahoma 31 was transported in refrigerated trucks to campus. This was done so the grass wouldn’t experience shock before being installed. From there, the installation took months with a team Berger assembled. The installation later finished on August 10th.
The matrix system that was installed onto the field is a development from the company Evergreen out of Australia. “It’s flat on one side, they’ll put sand on it,” Berger said. Then they put the sprigs, and then a little sand on top and then they grow it.” From there, Berger explained the process to be simple. Water, mow, paint and then play.
DONALD W REYNOLDS RAZORBACK STADIUM GOES BACK TO GRASS