Sports Turf Company Inc. (Sports Turf) has been turning the sports field visions of project owners, schools and landscape architects into reality since 1991. In that time Sports Turf’s team of experienced and certified professionals has completed over 600 sports field renovation and construction projects throughout the southeastern United States.
The company satisfies clients across Georgia and into Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Mississippi by performing as a licensed general contractor. However, the team’s capabilities don’t end there. Sports Turf can also perform as a subcontractor for the sports field and/or track portion of a larger general contractor’s new school or park development.
The Whitesburg, Ga.-based company’s core values and extensive experience allow the team of 50 to construct longlasting, award-winning facilities in addition to long-term relationships. Sports Turf can design, construct or renovate any field, track or tennis court in need, as the team is up for a challenge. “We specialize in quality and service,” says Dan Wright, vice president of Sports Turf.
Having Certified Field Builders and Certified Track Builders approved through the American Sports Builders Association (ASBA) allows the company to offer a vast array of sports complex development services. Sports Turf is one of the most trusted companies in the industry with a team capable of constructing athletic fields and tracks, as well as tennis courts. The Sports Turf team’s knowledge and talent ensures the company can provide an overall better product for every client. The team’s capabilities include planning and design, construction, renovation and repair aided by laser grading and GPS technology, as well as irrigation, grassing, synthetic surfaces and grow-in services.
Humble Beginnings
Aaron McWhorter, founder and current president of Sports Turf, began his venture with a sod farm in 1985. According to Wright, McWhorter was taking on small field maintenance and performing local sodding three years later. “The company started out doing just all natural grass sports fields, and then in 2002 we started doing base work for synthetic turf installations,” explains Wright, who joined Sports Turf in 1995.
“In late 1994 we got the contract to do the Olympic softball complex in Columbus, Ga., for the 1996 games,” says Wright proudly. “That was a six-field complex. That really got us moving and got our name out there. People were able to recognize who we were and the quality of work that we provided.” The company soon took off with a bang.
With the additional exposure and earned support, Sports Turf grew rapidly. The confident team pioneered the use of specialized laser technology and applied it to sports field design. Sports Turf’s innovative, relentless drive helped the industry bring uniformity to the design, grading and finishing of sports fields, regardless of the shape or size. Sports Turf’s management, in addition to the team’s mentality, is what has garnered the company as a recognized industry leader in sports field renovation and construction.
Today Sports Turf does 80 percent of its business on natural grass fields (drawing from the company’s 2,000-acre sod farm), supplementing that with synthetic turf, tracks and tennis courts. Although the company has completed numerous prominent projects, Sports Turf doesn’t do only showcase complexes. The company believes in taking on every project, no matter the size, and the team’s commitment to delivering quality work on time and within budget extends to each client.
Sports Turf’s know-how has touched multiple professional sports teams, various colleges and universities, as well as high schools, middle schools, elementary schools, municipalities, parks and recreational facilities. Tractors, dozers, skid steer loaders, excavators, earth movers, rubber tire loaders, turf laying tractors, laser control systems, GPS control systems and various other specialty pieces of equipment assist the Sports Turf team in its role as the general contractor coordinating site development and all required specialty trades. 
Capable of Anything
The company’s continued success led to the integration of Sports Turf’s sports track division, Sports Track Company Inc., in 2004. The team incorporated the same principles that originally established Sports Turf and expanded the company’s reach to construct and/or renovate sports tracks and build tennis courts. According to Wright, the company formed strong partnerships with Plexitrac and Advanced Polymer Technology in order to provide clients with the highest quality track surfacing materials available today. The company’s product line includes high-quality latex and urethane track surfacing systems such as Rekortan and Spurtan, which can be installed in various colors.
Though the company doesn’t manufacture or install synthetic turf or carpet, choosing instead to subcontract that facet of the business to trusted strategic partners, Sports Turf is a team player that works to coordinate the right team and materials for the job. “We don’t really push a particular product; we just do the base work for it,” explains Wright. “We let the owner or architects specify the certain product they want.”
The team’s commitment to open communication and preservation of natural resources has garnered Sports Turf a solid reputation. In addition, the company is a member of both national and state-recognized associations, which include the ASBA, Sports Turf Managers Association of America (STMA), Georgia Parks and Recreation Association (GRPA) and the Associated General Contractors of Georgia (AGCG).
All in all, Sports Turf is capable of offering a wide variety of sports complex development services, proudly providing each client with an “easy route” through every competed project, no matter how complex. The team’s background and unique history allows Sports Turf Company Inc. to build dreams, one field at a time.
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