July 7, 2011
When the Commodores open the season Sept. 3 in Vanderbilt Stadium, they’ll likely to be competing on one of the top grass surfaces in the nation.
For the first time since the university switched Dudley Field in Vanderbilt Stadium from artificial turf to natural grass in 1999, crews are in the process of putting a new layer of Bermuda grass on the playing surface.
allowfullscreen>Vanderbilt Sports Turf Manager Bill Randles said the new surface of Bermuda 419 grass should be installed to the entire Dudley Field playing surface early next week. A local crew is expected to finish removing a two-inch layer of the old turf on Friday.
Randles said the Dudley Field resurfacing project was the result of the U2 concert on July 2 when nearly 50,000 spectators jammed the stadium to watch the show. The grass surface needed to be replaced after U2 crews used heavy equipment to construct a massive circular performance stage in the middle of the football field.
Randles said the playing surface should be ideal when the Commodores host Elon in the season opener on Sept. 3.
