ATS Customer Wins 2023 SFMA Field of the Year
The town of Brownsburg, IN is home to around 30,000 residents and is located just a few miles west of Indianapolis. Its claims to fame include having some stunning parks and being a famous former football player’s hometown. It’s also the home of the Brownsburg Championship Cross Country Course, which won the 2023 Sports Field Management Association (SFMA) Field of the Year award in the schools and parks sporting grounds division.
Advanced Turf Solutions is proud to have not only helped build the course, but to continue providing top-quality products to the sports turf professionals that keep the course vibrant and playable. Drawing teams from around the state, the course is used at the middle and high school level for meets all cross-country season—and hosted the state regional competition in 2023.
We spoke with Matt Dudley, owner and operator of Fields Turfgrass Management, who has overseen the Brownsburg Community School Corporation’s athletic fields for nearly ten years, to learn more about the course and the road to Field of the Year status.
Q: What type of turfgrass does the cross-country course feature?
A: It’s mostly tall fescue. There are some other types of turfgrass out there as well, but the majority of it is turf-type tall fescue (TTTF).
Q: What challenges do you face when managing the course?
A: It’s not irrigated. So, trying to put a good product down and also trying to navigate Mother Nature in terms of coordinating when to do applications, mow, and those types of activities can be a challenge. Working around all the people out there, too. The course is open to the public, so people from the community come there to walk their dogs or go for a run so we have to be mindful and work around them.
Q: What products do you use on the course?
A: Probably the main product out there that helps out the most is the 25-3-10 fertilizer with Armament. The 25-3-10 really helps since it’s a slow-release product and because the course isn’t irrigated. We apply it twice per year. Whenever the rain has slowed, it releases some out to the grass and helps give us a nice consistent green color, and whenever we get a big growth flush or anything.
Matt said that they also apply ATS 34-0-4 in the fall.
Q: What herbicides do you use?
A: We spray the liquid Dimension (Dimension 2EW) on the course in the spring as our pre-emergent for summer annuals. In the fall, we treat [the course] for broadleaf weeds, so we use ArmorTech Threesome and Boulder 6.3.
Matt then mentioned that thistle had crept onto the course from the native areas.
We also sprayed some GameOn and it worked well to take care of the thistle that we had some problems with this year.
Q: How did it feel to win field of the year?
A: It was cool. It’s good for the community and the school is really proud of the course.
We were able to host regionals out there for the first time this year, so the school was really proud of the course. Being able to host that event and get Field of the Year on top of it just goes to show that the investment in the course is paying off. I was glad we were able to pull it off and it’s good to get rewarded for that at the end of the year.
Congratulations!
Advanced Turf Solutions congratulates Matt and Brownsburg Schools for their incredible achievement! Winning Field of the Year is quite an accomplishment, and we’re proud to supply them with the best seed, fertilizer, and herbicides. Want to learn more about how we can assist you in maintaining your sports turf? Drop us a line and we’ll reach out.
