The Georgia Bulldogs open preseason football camp later this afternoon, but they won’t be able to practice on the grass fields right next to the football complex.
Poor growing conditions after a re-sod project earlier this summer left portions of the upper Bermuda grass fields unworthy of withstanding the wear-and-tear it will have to endure from the Bulldogs’ practices the next four months. So UGA is bringing in 18 truckloads of “lay-and-play” sod over the next two days. Athletic Director Greg McGarity said Georgia should be able to practice on the new grass by Monday.
“We tested the root system and decided to just go ahead and do it now,” McGarity said. “The way this process works, they’ll be able to practice on them next week, no problem.”
In the meantime, the Bulldogs have two newly re-done field turf practice fields on the lower end of the Butts-Mehre football complex that they will utilize over the next three days.
The areas inside the hash marks on the three 70-yard natural grass fields was re-sodded after summer camps and are ready for practice. Georgia considered waiting until the off week after the season opener against Clemson but decided to go ahead and do it now. UGA says the “lay-and-play” system uses deep cuts of sod and is the same used for BCA National Championship Games and Super Bowls.
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