Jacobsen® A Textron Company

Karla R. Cuculi

Jacobsen

704-504-6668

Angela B. Jamison

Communicopia

919-371-2730

Charlotte, NC (June 6, 2007) — To prepare his facility for national television exposure and the championship-caliber competition of this year's NCAA Women's Softball College World Series, Rick Newville, sports turf superintendent at the Softball Hall of Fame complex in Oklahoma City, OK, relies on turf equipment from Jacobsen®, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company.

Newville has been a professional sports turf manager for many years. He managed his high school baseball and softball fields, assisted at a minor league baseball facility, and maintained the 2004 Olympic softball complex in Athens, Greece, before accepting his current position in January of 2005.

After Newville took over, the facility replaced some of their older equipment with a Jacobsen SLF-1880™ mower with Turf Groomers® from Rod Luber, vice president of sales and warranty with Luber Bros. in Oklahoma City.

"The Softball Hall of Fame has been a client of ours for over 10 years, and we have always done everything we can to take care of them," Luber said. "The Jacobsen SLF-1880 is a mower that fits their needs very well, providing the kind of consistency they need to host championship events like the College World Series."

With the SLF-1880 mowing almost daily in 2005, Newville and the Softball Hall of Fame won the Softball Field of the Year award from the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA).

"The SLF-1880 with Turf Groomers has made a huge impact on our facilities," Newville said. "With the sport of softball growing like it is and with the numbers that we get back from ESPN, there is a big spotlight on those fields out there. Since I've been here, we've gotten a lot of good feedback from college coaches, and they have had great things to say about the quality of the turf we have been able to maintain."

The Jacobsen SLF-1880 mower helps
Rick Newville prepare his fields
for the College World Series

One of the qualities Newville liked best about the mower was its ease-of-operation. "I am the only full-time employee here year-round. The rest of our help is seasonal with a peak of about 12 crew members for big tournaments," he said. "Most of the time it takes a while to train a guy on how to use a mower and mow straight with it, but I can train someone in a day on this mower, it's very user-friendly."

"The smaller reels provide a greater reel speed, and I think that helps us get a better quality-of-cut. Also our machine has Groomers on it, and that tightens up the turf a little bit, providing a good playing surface for big tournaments like the College World Series," he said.

Another reason Newville cited for choosing the Jacobsen SLF-1880 was the service Luber Bros. was able to provide. "Locally, other manufacturers don't offer the kind of service that we need," he said. "Luber Bros. has been great, providing us with everything we could ask for."

Through years of experience at all levels of the turf industry, Newville has had the chance to use a variety of equipment in different situations. "I've had opportunities to use equipment from the biggest names in the turf industry, and by far, this particular mower has provided the most consistency and best quality-of-cut that I've seen," he said. "When the spotlight of the College World Series gets put on my fields every year, I need to have a reliable mower with that consistency," he said.

Newville said the switch to the SLF-1880 was working out well for him and for the Hall of Fame, "We'll definitely continue to use Jacobsen equipment on these fields in the future."

For more information on the SLF-1880 or other Jacobsen equipment, visit www.jacobsen.com
or call 888-922-TURF.