The Turf at Dolphin Stadium

[Disgustipated]

Unintended consequence of the new roof it would appear

 

[GenericYesMan]

[TWEET]922217139481858048[/TWEET]

 

[Dingaan1828]

Unbelievable that in 2017 they can’t put down a playable field.

 

[simplycanes]

The field just isn't drying properly due to the roof.

They either need to come up with a better method for drying it, or just replace it with artificial turf as a last resort.

In this kind of condition it just increases our risk of injury.

I figured the drainage system was flawed or something, but the roof explanation makes sense. Thanks for the perspective.

This seems to be the most common belief. Turf not getting enough sun in the heat of the day due to the roof.


I loathe artificial turf but I can't see any other option. Its going to be like this the rest of the season.

This is correct, Bermuda grass requires a lot more sunlight than it's getting. This is actually a pretty serious oversight/design flaw.

 

[fincane]

was the field this bad last year? I don't feel like it was

I went back and watched highlights from last year because I had the same question. It was **** near perfect for the FSU game
and held up well against UNC the next week. It rained during the Pitt game and was fine too. Just alot of factors contributing to making it a mess this season.

 

[fincane]

Unbelievable that in 2017 they can’t put down a playable field.

They laid the sod down Tuesday. This was always gonna be the outcome. The Dolphins got lucky it didn't rain heavily before the game. It would've been even worse.

 

[GenericYesMan]

The field just isn't drying properly due to the roof.

They either need to come up with a better method for drying it, or just replace it with artificial turf as a last resort.

In this kind of condition it just increases our risk of injury.

I figured the drainage system was flawed or something, but the roof explanation makes sense. Thanks for the perspective.

This seems to be the most common belief. Turf not getting enough sun in the heat of the day due to the roof.


I loathe artificial turf but I can't see any other option. Its going to be like this the rest of the season.

This is correct, Bermuda grass requires a lot more sunlight than it's getting. This is actually a pretty serious oversight/design flaw.

Hard Rock isn't Bermuda grass, it's Platinum TE Paspalum, same grass as Marlins Park.

 

[simplycanes]

The field just isn't drying properly due to the roof.

They either need to come up with a better method for drying it, or just replace it with artificial turf as a last resort.

In this kind of condition it just increases our risk of injury.

I figured the drainage system was flawed or something, but the roof explanation makes sense. Thanks for the perspective.

This seems to be the most common belief. Turf not getting enough sun in the heat of the day due to the roof.


I loathe artificial turf but I can't see any other option. Its going to be like this the rest of the season.

This is correct, Bermuda grass requires a lot more sunlight than it's getting. This is actually a pretty serious oversight/design flaw.

Hard Rock isn't Bermuda grass, it's Platinum TE Paspalum, same grass as Marlins Park.

Well there goes that

 

[GenericYesMan]

I figured the drainage system was flawed or something, but the roof explanation makes sense. Thanks for the perspective.

This seems to be the most common belief. Turf not getting enough sun in the heat of the day due to the roof.


I loathe artificial turf but I can't see any other option. Its going to be like this the rest of the season.

This is correct, Bermuda grass requires a lot more sunlight than it's getting. This is actually a pretty serious oversight/design flaw.

Hard Rock isn't Bermuda grass, it's Platinum TE Paspalum, same grass as Marlins Park.

Well there goes that

The Platinum TE strain of Paspalum, more expensive than the Bermuda grass, was developed to tolerate shade and withstand the traffic of sports activity.

Available for less than 10 years, it has been most widely applied to golf courses throughout the world. It has been used successfully at Marlins Park since 2014 after two varieties of Bermuda grass didn't cut it, so to speak, due to light limitations with the retractable roof.

"For us it's been by far the most successful one," Claude Delorme, Marlins executive vice president of operations and events, said of the switch to Paspalum. "It's been a significant change since we did that. The first two years it was our No. 1 issue with the ballpark, the condition of the sod and adapting to the shade resistance."

Football is tougher on any grass field than baseball or golf, particularly in a stadium shared by the Dolphins and the University of Miami. The Dolphins' stadium will be the first in the NFL with Platinum TE.

Boyan's crew observed how the field at Marlins Park held up to the Miami Beach Bowl played there the past two years. The Paspalum grown for the Dolphins also passed safety tests mandated by the NFL for holding up to players making football moves.

"I think it's a quality grass. It's something that's firm enough for the players for traction and soft enough for safety," Boyan said.

The Dolphins' new field was trucked in from a sod farm in Alabama that has been supplying sod for the stadium for a number of years. It was grown on plastic through a process that was also used with the previous Bermuda grass turf, which creates a more dense root system that provides for firmer footing for players, even in the rain.

"You've seen in the old days where a lot of chunks of grass would come up. We don't have that," Boyan said.

The Dolphins already are practicing on Platinum TE Paspalum at their training facility in Davie. It is used for the field farthest away from the stands, while the nearer field has Bermuda grass.

Dolphins' new grass field designed to thrive while canopy keeps fans cool in shade - Sun Sentinel

 

[the storm]

Guess some of you weren't at the game yesterday. New grass in parking lots also saturated & messy in some places. Simply too much rain but not to worry. Dry season is upon us & problem will be resolved.

 

[MovingZen]

I wonder if they'll give Celebration Bermuda a try. I've seen it growing in heavy shade but it didn't have the pressure of football games. Hard to say if it could handle the combination.

 

[Canesfan1899]

They got 2 weeks to get it ready for VT and next Dolphins home game!

Tear that crap up after game get the new sod laid tomorrow give it 2 weeks to take root!

This, it was ******* terrible yesterday and worse today during the dolphins game.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ray52]

Dolphins: Field was safe for football, but not ‘up to the standard we expect’

Two games in as many days may have been one too many for Hard Rock Stadium’s playing surface.

The field, re-sodded in recent days and chewed up by the end of the Syracuse-Miami Saturday night, was a mess Sunday. So much so that Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan called it “not suitable” for football during Fox’s halftime show Sunday.

However that is simply not true, the NFL suggested when it told the Miami Herald late Sunday that “the field was tested both during the week and again this morning, as per NFL policy, and was certified as in compliance with league standards.”

The common criticism inside the Dolphins’ locker room was that, outside of the numbers, the field was “trash.” Jay Ajayi slipped a number of times trying to cut.

“The field today was safe to play on, but was not up to the standard we expect from a playability standpoint,” the team said in a statement. “It was a new field for this game that was put in earlier in the week. We’re working to rectify the situation and expect better conditions moving forward.”

Hard Rock Stadium’s field has been criticized for weeks now; while this was only the Dolphins’ second home game of the season, the Miami Hurricanes have played here three times. The field was in bad shape by the end of UM-Georgia Tech on Oct. 14, and a particularly wet month has not helped matters.

Plus, it is really difficult to grow grass in the shade, with the grass getting direct sunlight just a few hours a day — if that.

The team is aware the turf is not holding as well as it did in the past and plans to spend the money it takes to fix the problem.

The structural integrity of the field was likely better than how it looked aesthetically, as evidenced by the fact that no one got injured because of the playing surface Sunday.

The Canes and Dolphins play on consecutive days two more times this season — the weekends of Nov. 4-5 and Nov. 18-19.

Now that its had an impact on the Dolphins, i'm sure they will now put in overtime to make sure its right for their next home game (which is the day after the VTech game).

 

[borncane]

Roof. Doesn’t get enough sun light these days.

 

[rok]

I have been complaining about this since the Toledo game.

 

[Torocane]

Roof. Doesn’t get enough sun light these days.

Did it not rain as much last year? I don't remember having this problem last year.

 

[calinative umstudent]

Yall tripping. This kinda field situation isn't going to make someone tear their ACL or some ****. Like the worst that'll happen is you'll slip. Artificial Turf is worse than even this.

And I think that the field is an advantage for us. How many teams practice/play on real grass? How many practice/play on grass that is hella wet due to constant downpours? Cause we have a lot of experience in this type of turf, even if it isn't perfect.

 

[SayWhat]

Two weeks on a new turf will help, but that still won't be enough time to properly set. It's going to be like this the rest of the season unfortunately, but anyone with a lick of sense knew a week wouldn't be enough time for the last new turf. They had to try it though as it was shot.

 

[AdrianP]

The field softens hits and if you can't plant your feet to make cuts, you lessen your chances of tearing a ligament. The slippery conditions helped neutralize gt's option and syracuse's passing attack. It's a definite home field advantage.

 

[zipcode]

As I type, the turf is being removed.