It takes a magnet and blow torch to maintain CCU’s teal field. How the SC school does it

Like most professionals, CCU Sports Turf Superintendent Ed Bailey and Assistant Superintendent Scott Grinter take pride in their work.

College athletes’ efforts are visible to the masses, and their actions sometimes scrutinized mere seconds after they occur.

Bailey and Grinter’s work is behind the scenes, but anyone can see their effort.

They and their team won’t be the stars of Coastal Carolina University’s first Sun Belt Conference football game against Old Dominion University Saturday at Brooks Stadium. The main characters will be the football players fighting for dominance atop the SBC in Conway, S.C.

However, the setting where the Chanticleers and Monarchs will battle is a colorful character in its own right. This teal, black and gold backdrop represents the turf team to the public and college football fans.

Coastal introduced its teal field before the 2015 season , and it soon became a critical part of Coastal’s football identity.

It was Bailey, Grinter and their eight-person team’s task Sept. 30, 2024, to manicure and prepare for each home game the turf field that is made from a combination of rubber, sand and plastic.

Coastal faces Old Dominion at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, 2024.

To fans in the stadium or watching on television, the field seems uniform from endzone to endzone.

Even on the sidelines, it’s hard to see variations in the field except for the occasional spray of black rubber pellets caused by football’s natural action. This uniform appearance dissipates, though, once one walks on the field. The teal turf underneath the Sun Belt Conference logo is newer than the rest of the field and appears brighter due to the sun removing some of the turf’s original color.

Grinter and Bailey’s job is to see every little detail and fix the field so it’s ready to play its role for Coastal’s football. Sweeping the fields with brooms, walking the field before games and searching for hidden holes that could injure a player are all part of the process.

“The biggest thing is safety for the players, the playability of the field and the whole appearance,” Grinter said.

That process also involves blowing the black rubber pellets and teal turf fibers so there’s an even distribution across the field and ensuring it stays compact. Bailey added that picking up small things like leaves and other debris is essential because these contaminants will damage the field’s structural integrity over time.

The grounds crew uses a 4-foot wide magnet attached to the back of a golf cart to pick objects off the teal surface. It’s a strong magnet, as it captured a golden cross earring during The Sun News’ visit to the field. Grinter said they’ve found diamond earrings, parts of cleats and other items before.

Grinter added that keeping up appearances includes making the teal turf fibers the same height across the field. Previously, he’s employed fire via a handheld blowtorch to ensure Brooks Stadium’s field maintains that.

“We had one little brand new piece (of turf) because we had to redo it. And, of course, the fibers are just too tall,” Grinter said. “So instead of trying to clip them or burn them, we just kind of singe them down a little bit.”

How heavy rainfall can cause ‘air bubbles’ on Coastal’s teal turf field

Bailey has worked on all of Coastal’s fields for 24 years and previously worked at golf courses across the South Carolina Lowcountry, such as the now-closed Deer Track Golf Club and Winyah Bay.

He wasn’t a fan of removing Brooks Stadium’s original grass field; Grinter added he was nearly teary when it was dug up. However, the new field had its benefits. It came permanently painted and removed that responsibility from Bailey’s duties. Aside from painting an occasional logo or preparing the field for the lacrosse season, the turf’s efficiency couples with its inherent spectacle.

“It saves me a ton of work,” Bailey said. “It’s like three days for me to set this field up for a game just painting it.”

That efficiency benefits the coastal area, as the salt water and ocean air of Myrtle Beach hamper the growth of grass. Bailey said the sea air has a tremendous effect.

However, the field is also sensitive, like a natural grass field. Water can cause holes in the field, and the Myrtle Beach area gets heavy rain during storm season. Unfortunately for Coastal’s groundskeepers, storm season often coincides with the start of football season. When rain falls on the field in large quantities, the air underneath the field gets pushed up toward the surface, creating temporary giant bubbles in the turf.

Bailey said the bubbles go away due to the field’s irrigation system, but the sight previously was panic-inducing. One day, after a heavy rain, he nearly called for help due to the massive air bubbles, but the field shrank back to its regular size.

“I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Bailey added. “Different areas of the field were just lifted up; I’m talking about three feet. It’s just big air pockets underneath the turf, everywhere.”

However, the field that hosted many CCU triumphs, like the football teams’ attention-grabbing 2020-21 seasons, will not remain a fixture forever. Bailey said replacing the field with another turf surface will occur in the next couple years, another teal stage for the Chanticleers to play.

“Its life will run its course, and then we’ll freshen it back up,” He added.