Tifway 419 Plus Ph.D Ryegrass Super Bowl Demands Super West Coast Turf

t's one thing to look at the Super Bowl on television. It's another to be on that field playing for all the marbles. Only the players know for certain, and they don't hesitate to pass their thoughts onto the turf manager.

ust ask Steve Wightman, former turf manager at Denver Mile High Stadium, and now the turf man at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium, site of this year's Super Bowl. Or, if you want more background, ask George Toma, the man who helped create the extravaganza that is the Super Bowl, starting with Super Bowl I. He's been in San Diego since Christmas, representing the National Football League with Wightman. Gathered in Wightman's modest office underneath the stands, you will find the gurus of groundskeeping. George Toma, Ed Mangan from the Atlanta Falcons, Trevor Vance from the Kansas City Royals, and following the Chief's disappointing loss this past week, Toma's highly experienced son, Chip, head of Arrowhead Stadium turf operations and second generation consultant to the NFL.

All listen closely as Wightman and Toma talk about their reliance on West Coast Turf when the chips are down. The proof is in this year's field in San Diego, Tifway 419 overseeded with Ph.D perennial ryegrass, grown under the exacting eye of West Coast Turf's Joe Foster in Indio, CA. One hundred five thousand (105,000) square feet of hybrid bermudagrass originated in Tifton, GA, by Dr. Glenn Burton at the Georgia Experiment Station. Nearly two inches thick, cut in "Big Rolls," and laid artfully by a national turf team consisting of the crews from San Diego, Kansas City, and West Coast Turf, the Tifway provides a tight, yet resilient base while the ryegrass delivers the deep green for the lenses of television cameras.

"We used to rely more on paint," says George Toma, "but that's pretty much restricted to the logos and end zones today because the turf is so perfect. Players and coaches know today that we can deliver a field better than artificial turf in nearly any weather. They come up and tell me what they like and don't like. I respect their opinions and work to give them what they want. They have liked the fields from previous Super Bowls and Rose Bowls. That turf has come from the Foster brothers and their great team at West Coast Turf."

"I'm rooting for the Broncos," says Wightman. They played in the last Super Bowl in San Diego ten years ago against the Redskins when Wightman was at Mile High. This could be the quarterback contest of the decade and that means the turf has to be the best. Every turf manager in Wightman's office at Qualcomm knows that and they are there to learn. Good thing that West Coast Turf sod is on the field.