# Why no love for athletic fields?



## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

I have had a lot of neighbors stop and tell me my lawn looks nice, and several that don't even live in our neighborhood. Almost all of them say that it looks like a golf course. Why not a pro football field, baseball field or soccer field? In most cases the pro athletic fields look a million times better than a golf course. Most golf courses aren't even as good as college fields with the exception of the greens. Just a thought I had while mowing after being stopped earlier.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Golf course is probably the first thing that comes to their mind. It would've been for me prior to being interested in lawn care.


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## Rockinar (Jul 21, 2017)

When was the last time you stepped on an NFL field and been able to compare it to anything? Neither has anyone else...


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Also, I think a lot of folks assume many athletic fields are artificial turf.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@Rockinar Some of the local high school fields (football, soccer, baseball) have really nice fields that are kept really nice. No need to go to an NFL stadium.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

@Rockinar I have never stepped foot on a golf course. Never even been near one until I was an adult and that's only because I was working on houses that were on a course. But I have seen more athletic fields in person than I can count.

@g-man yup, the Midwest and southern states are big on football and some of those fields are really nice.


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## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

We have a really good minor league baseball field that I feel is pretty admirable. The groundskeeper has declined offers to go to Wrigley. Honestly, I would rather my yards look like an outfield than a golf course.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Maybe they're referring more to the putting green when referring to your yard. The fairways on the courses near me are acceptable at best but the putting greens almost always look nice.


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Even the high schools around here have artificial turf. #spoiled


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

dfw_pilot said:


> Even the high schools around here have artificial turf. #spoiled


That's a high school?! That's crazy. Is that the one I read about something like $60 million to build?


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

That's the one, @pennstater2005

The Frisco ISD shares their stadium with the Cowboys practice facility. It's incredible.

Just up the road in Prosper is the $48 million dollar venture:

[media]https://vimeo.com/225915809[/media]

They don't mess around down here.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

dfw_pilot said:


> That's the one, @pennstater2005
> 
> The Frisco ISD shares their stadium with the Cowboys practice facility. It's incredible.
> 
> ...


I imagine that's taxpayer funded? Wonder what ticket prices are?


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Tickets aren't bad. I haven't been. But there is a *LOT* of tax revenue coming in from cities like Allen, Frisco, Prosper, Southlake, and so forth.


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## Brackin4au (Jun 13, 2018)

Cory said:


> I have had a lot of neighbors stop and tell me my lawn looks nice, and several that don't even live in our neighborhood. Almost all of them say that it looks like a golf course. Why not a pro football field, baseball field or soccer field? In most cases the pro athletic fields look a million times better than a golf course. Most golf courses aren't even as good as college fields with the exception of the greens. Just a thought I had while mowing after being stopped earlier.


You know, that is a great question. I play a lot of golf, but I would much rather my yard look like a well manicured athletic field. I remember growing up wanting to be an MLB groundskeeper instead of a fireman etc. haha. If somebody told me my yard looked like any of the fairways around here, I would be offended haha.


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

Brackin4au said:


> If somebody told me my yard looked like any of the fairways around here, I would be offended haha.


Drove around a couple neighborhoods around me the other day to look at the fairways and greens, they aren't that great. Our community baseball and soccer fields put those golf courses to shame :lol:


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Cory said:


> Brackin4au said:
> 
> 
> > If somebody told me my yard looked like any of the fairways around here, I would be offended haha.
> ...


Yeah the courses near me seem to just put a mower deck on and then proceed to mow *everything* one length! No real rough or secondary rough.


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## Rockinar (Jul 21, 2017)

My local high school's $70 million stadium. When I was in hight school, we had aluminum bleachers. My my school had more students than this one. 
http://abc13.com/sports/the-crown-jewel-katy-isd-unveils-new-$70m-stadium-/2319218/


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## Turfguy93 (Aug 30, 2017)

Cory said:


> Brackin4au said:
> 
> 
> > If somebody told me my yard looked like any of the fairways around here, I would be offended haha.
> ...


Mowing grass at 1/8 to 1/2 inch is a bit tougher than mowing grass at 2 1/2 inches


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

@Turfguy93 I would say that it has more to do with the cost of maintaining it more so than the difficulty. Most nice football and soccer fields get mowed daily with triplexes and cut below 1"


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## Turfguy93 (Aug 30, 2017)

@Cory that's more like professional sports fields with unlimited budgets. They just re sod the field every couple of years. Golf courses get shafted with the budgets


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

Turfguy93 said:


> @Cory that's more like professional sports fields with unlimited budgets. They just re sod the field every couple of years. Golf courses get shafted with the budgets


Re sod every couple of years? It seems like Wrigley has been doing it multiple times a year lately. I have love for athletic fields, but have to agree with Turfguy, what a golf course super does with all those acres with limited resources is impressive. Managing a smaller area ~2 acres with lots of resources and the ability to re sod on a moment's notice would be a dream!


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## Turfguy93 (Aug 30, 2017)

Pete1313 said:


> Turfguy93 said:
> 
> 
> > @Cory that's more like professional sports fields with unlimited budgets. They just re sod the field every couple of years. Golf courses get shafted with the budgets
> ...


Thank you Pete! Golf supers always take the heat haha


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## MSLiechty (Apr 23, 2017)

pennstater2005 said:


> Also, I think a lot of folks assume many athletic fields are artificial turf.


Unfortunately a lot of athletic fields are going to artificial

MSL


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

dfw_pilot said:


> Even the high schools around here have artificial turf. #spoiled


Dang man. I watched Allen play a game back around '05 and they definitely weren't playing there!


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Turfguy93 said:


> @Cory that's more like professional sports fields with unlimited budgets. They just re sod the field every couple of years. Golf courses get shafted with the budgets


Truth. And while some of the athletic fields look incredible, how much does a bare spot or slight depression really affect play?

Golf is literally a different game, and the quality of the surfaces has a significant, and measurable impact to the game. In turn, that affects the business. I know first hand what happens when a course's maintenance budget gets cut. You can get away with a lot for a year or two, and then things really get ugly.


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## Bunnysarefat (May 4, 2017)

dfw_pilot said:


> Tickets aren't bad. I haven't been. But there is a *LOT* of tax revenue coming in from cities like Allen, Frisco, Prosper, Southlake, and so forth.


Tickets aren't bad but don't look at the balance sheets of these school districts. Ours is about $1 billion in debt. I tell my friends they're shocked, nobody knows how much all these schools have borrowed. Sad!

Even our local youth baseball park has artificial infield's and pitchers mounds! Only the outfield is real grass and it's so-so maintained. Dissapointing. I guess it's cheaper in the long run (maybe) but that's probably because they can't find people to take care of it the right way.


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Bunnysarefat said:


>


Nice seats!


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

Never had any complete strangers stop and talk to me in, none! This is the 4th person that has stopped and asked me about my lawn as they were driving by that don't live on my street. So crazy! And yes, he said it looked like a golf course :lol: :thumbup:


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Cory said:


> Never had any complete strangers stop and talk to me in, none! This is the 4th person that has stopped and asked me about my lawn as they were driving buy that don't live on my street. So crazy! And yes, he said it looked like a golf course :lol: :thumbup:


It's great. :thumbup:


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