Lohmann Companies

College sports seasons underway with the help of Lohmann Sports Fields

It’s nearly September and we all know what that means: The beginning of another fall season on the collegiate sports scene. It also means high visibility for two projects from our team at Lohmann Sports Fields (LSF).


The first is the newly renovated soccer field at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, which hosted the first match on the new field Aug. 18 (that was the opener for both teams; since when do fall sports seasons begin in mid-August?). In any case, Wisconsin (alma mater of LSF founder and principal, Badger Bob Lohmann) defeated Notre Dame, 1-0, and a video report from match — including some sweet, low-angle shots of that beautiful new field — can be seen here.

Notre Dame student-athletes are well familiar with the work of LSF, which reconditioned the soil profile and regrassed the football field at Notre Dame Stadium in 2008, after building the all-new softball field in South Bend the year before.

Notre Dame’s football team opens the season this weekend — in Ireland of all places, against Navy — but the home opener in South Bend is scheduled for Sept. 8 against Purdue. All of Notre Dame’s football games are televised, so think of LSF when you see some tailback cut hard off tackle and maintain sure-footing, thanks to the expertly installed, super healthy turf.

For the record, LSF stripped the entire playing surface using a Koro Field Topmaker, roto-tilling in an assortment of soil amendments, laser-grading the field, then resodding with bluegrass imported from Colorado. Jim Lohmann oversaw that job and did the entire deal in 10 days. He worked side by side with George Toma, famed grounds keeper at several NFL stadia, whom Notre Dame had hired to consult on the project.

We’re proud of LSF’s association with major universities, but LSF gained their business thanks to a diverse list of happy clients, from tiny Marengo High School in suburban Chicago (multi-field complex) to the Dow Diamond in Midland, Mich., home to the Great Lakes Loons, the Single A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers — Ballpark Digest named Dow Diamond its 2007 “New Ballpark of the Year”, and The Midwest League named Dow Diamond its 2007 “Field of the Year”.

After all, no job is too big or small to be done exactly right.