b'Tahoma 31 bermudagrass combines several desirable attrib-utes including high turfgrass qualities (fine texture, high density, dark green color and uniformity), excellent freeze tolerance, top-tier traffic tolerance, exceptional divot recovery, outstanding spring green-up and improved water use efficiency, Wu lists with obvious pride. The grass also offers good shade tolerance rela-tive to other bermudagrass cultivars, though bermudagrass inDrought resistance is a top priority trait we have general has poorer shade tolerance than other turfgrass species. Tahoma 31 also features very short internodes of its stolonsfocused on in turf bermudagrass cultivar development and stems, which allows it to perform especially well under lowsince 2010. Our breeding and testing pipeline is full of mowing heights (5-15mm). This compatibility with low mowing makes it popular for fairways and tees of golf courses andyouexperimental lines with improved drought resistance.guessed it - professional sports turfs including football fields. Dr. Yanqi WuThere are many good turfgrass cultivars available in the industry. A major step forward with Tahoma 31 is that it pack-ages multiple desirable traits with several outstanding ones: cold hardiness, injury recovery, spring greenup, water use efficiency, and low mowing tolerance. This package of desirable traits prob-ably has better capabilities to meet more consumer needs than some others, says Wu. Since its commercial rollout in 2018, Tahoma 31 has beenThis kind of phenomena is not new to turfgrass professionals embraced widely by the industry for use on golf courses, sportsas it has happened before, says Wu. How to remove moisture fields and, increasingly, on high-end home lawns too.from leaf surfaces in the field or how to prepare the turfgrass Super Bowl LVII was not Tahoma 31s first brush with ashould be addressed. It may need some focused research. professional sport. In fact, prior to the Super Bowl, Tahoma 31Football fans expect high-quality turfgrass surfaces for football had been successfully used on the gaming fields and/or train- games, especially Super Bowl.ing facilities of at least five NFL teams. It has even won awards:Martin says there were issues beyond moistureissues that Tahoma 31 has been grown since 2019 on the Frank Broyles Fieldno turfgrass cultivar could have withstood. He points to damning at the University of Arkansas, which was recognized as the 2022and furious comments made by George Toma, who has been and 2023 College Football Field of the Year by the Sports Fieldhead groundskeeper or served in a turf advisory management Management Association, says Wu.role for every Superbowl event since 1960.Mr. Toma in interviews widely reported on the internet What went wrong at the Super Bowl? indicated that he believed the field was in a state of decay as After having proved so successful at so many major events prior,indicated by its smell prior to the game event. In review of these what went wrong for Tahoma 31 at the Super Bowl? interviews, it appears that he indicated that he felt the field was Grass experts and laymen alike blamed overwatering, toowatered heavily mid-week prior to the game event and was little sun on the field, too little sanding and too much pre-gamenot allowed to dry out prior to the field being moved into the tarping in the days leading up to the game. They also blamed thestadium. Furthermore, the field was tarped while in the stadium turf variety itself. during the rehearsals for the half-time show, he says.The slipperiness of the turf at the recent Super Bowl hasTogether, these factors contributed to a playing surface that received some criticism, says Wu. Some blamed Tahoma 31 forwas highly compromised before the Super Bowl began. Martin its newness and new use for football fields, which shocked us.speculates that the bermudagrass actually in use for the Super Both the blames are not true. Tahoma 31 was created in 2007,Bowl was irrelevant since the event was a one-off. has been tested in many environments and used on multipleFrom my perspective as a co-inventor of Tahoma 31, I football fields. strongly feel that any high-quality ryegrass-overseeded bermu-Martin says the gaming surface of the Super Bowl was con- dagrass properly marked and decorated with paint would have structed by overseeding perennial ryegrass on the bermudag- been suitable for the game and entertainment event, but the rass while still out in the sod production field.proper management of whatever surface is chosen largely deter-This is, in fact, old technology with respect to the techniquesmines the suitability of the surface for the game and half-time being used. The thick sod, like other bermudagrasses, is installedevent, he says. only weeks before game events, says Martin. Furthermore, fansUnfounded accusations about Tahoma 31s role in a slippery saw Tahoma 31 overseeded with ryegrass and properly paintedSuper Bowl are unlikely to impact its commercial success or its when they watched the NFC Championship game played justpopularity on sports fields. two weeks before at Lincoln Financial field in Philadelphia. Anyone who knows about turfgrass knows Tahoma 31 is Unfortunately, when the leaf surface of ryegrass is damp, itpreferred option, say Wu. I am confident it will stay a preferred becomes slippery.option.SW12/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2023'