Tiger Stadium received a new playing surface earlier this summer, and Friday it withstood its first test.
LSU hosted the 69th Louisiana High School Coaches Association/Coca-Cola All-Star Football Game in Tiger Stadium over the weekend where over 100 athletes played on Death Valley’s new surface. “[The field] performed very well,” said Ronnie Haliburton, director of athletic facilities and grounds. “It’s still not where we would like it to be, but I think the field did great Friday.” Haliburton said the field held up like expected and still went through the normal procedures of a football game. There were no divots in the playing surface and even the band performed before and during half-time. The field was not entirely painted because paint kills the grass. Field crews chose to water the surface just before the game to keep the underlining sand gelled together. “When you build a sand castle, you can’t build it with dry sand,” Haliburton said. “So we watered the surface before the game so the sand would stick together and make a stronger, more durable grass surface.” The only problem Haliburton said was that seems were visible on the playing surface and had not yet grown in. When field crews rolled out the new surface, it left seems and gaps between each roll of grass. Those seems were both visible and could be felt when running across its surface. Haliburton was attracted to the special engineered MS Choice Grass – developed by Mississippi State – because it is so aggressive. When divots do occur in the surface, the grass will replenish itself. “We chose this grass because of how aggressive it is,” Haliburton said. “It is self-repairing, which is what you want your grass to do.” In early summer, field management and crews repaired the entire playing surface in Tiger Stadium by uprooting and laying down new turf costing $147,000. The new grass surface is 90 percent sand, 10 percent organic mix and is approximately 10 inches deep to withstand poor weather conditions. This past season, Tiger Stadium hosted six LSU games, four Saints games and a contest between Tulane University and Southeastern Louisiana University. The extra events added stress to the playing surface and torrential downpours made the situation worse. In response, the level of the field was altered to improve drainage. The field can now drain twice as much water as it previously did. To be sure the surface will be ready for LSU’s Sept. 2 contest against UL-Lafayette, field crews will bring in a five ton roller to roll the surface.
—–Contact Brennan David at [email protected]