Council parks and cemetery manager Scott MacLean said the city's grass sports fields were closed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, following heavy rain which forced some codes to cancel fixtures.
Restrictions remained in place yesterday, limiting training to designated grounds only, but the situation was being reviewed daily. Grass fields had previously closed on May 16 and 17 and on August 5. Restrictions were put in place on August 1.
Football South chief executive Chris Wright said his organisation made the decision to cancel some fixtures because of the need to manage playing surfaces through the season.
However, the availability of the new artificial turfs at Logan Park meant some fixtures and training sessions had been able to be moved, avoiding damage to grass fields and reducing weather-related disruption, he said.
"Without the turf this season we'd have to do a combination of playing on grounds when they are not ideal, and deferring games and risking running past our season window and impacting on other sports."
Sport Otago chief executive John Brimble said he felt the grass sports fields had "actually stood up pretty well this season", helped by the mild, dry winter weather.
At Logan Park, the contrast between the "pristine" artificial playing fields and the "mud bath" of a grass sports field next to it was obvious, he said.
"It certainly does emphasis the benefits of having the twin artificial turfs in there ... those artificial turfs are going to be a real asset for the city."
