Summer Sports - Tennis
Wimbledon ranks as one of the most iconic sporting venues in the world. Just a mention of
‘The Championships’ has every tennis fan buzzing with excitement.
Later this year, there will be a new man in charge of the hallowed turf, as Neil Stubley takes over the reins, but not before the outgoing Eddie Seaward notches his twenty-second year in charge.
As well as Wimbledon fortnight, the duo are also tasked with
preparing the venue for the 2012 Olympics tennis tournament - which begins just three weeks after The Championships have finished.
Laurence Gale MSc reports
Double servings!
his will be a remarkable year for everyone at Wimbledon, especially the groundstaff, who will face some unique challenges when they have a double header of world class tennis, beginning with the All England Lawn Tennis Championships from 25th June until 8th July and, just three weeks later, providing the venue for the 2012 Olympics Tennis Event. This summer’s events will also be the swan song of Eddie Seaward who, after a very long and distinguished career as Head Groundsman, finally heads off for a well earned retirement at the end of the summer. Neil has worked with Eddie for seventeen years, and both have been 48 PC JUNE/JULY 2012
T
instrumental in developing and improving this iconic venue in terms of meeting the demands of modern day tennis tournaments.
The Olympic Games tennis starts on
Saturday 28th July, just twenty days after the final ball has been hit in The Championships.
I caught up with Neil at the beginning of May to find out more about their preparations and how the groundstaff intend to get the courts back up to standard in such a short space of time. “Most of the wear will be on the base lines and through the centre,” explained Neil. “So, it will be all about getting grass cover back on the courts as quickly as possible. Eddie and I have, for the last
two years, been trialing a number of grass seed cultivars and perfecting renovation and repair techniques to find the best combination to meet our requirements.” “We’ve been using a Limagrain dwarf ryegrass seed mixture of Venice, Pontiac and Melbourne for the past two seasons, which gave us the desired results in terms of good winter colour, quick germination and good vigour.” “As with any natural turf playing surface, its performance will be influenced by our own experiences. By that, I mean that Eddie and I know our surfaces and how they react in any given situation, but this double header will test our skills.”
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