Equestrian
Peter's Trimax rotary cutting a handsome mid-season swathe W
indsor Great Park is a Royal Park, and the only one that’s actually managed by the Crown Estate, HM The Queen’s property portfolio.
Even on a March day that is more like winter than early spring, there are plenty of visitors enjoying this vast unspoiled outdoor amenity. More than two and half million go there each year to walk, run or ride through its wooded avenues. This year, the sap of its fauna was definitely slow to rise. Not so at the Park’s sporting gem, Smith’s Lawn, home of Guards Polo Club where the 2013 season was fast approaching. Wentworth, Sunningdale and Ascot are all big name neighbours, but none of them are open to the public like Smith’s Lawn is. Yet, it is a revered venue and known the world over as a polo club par excellence.
The club was founded in 1955 with HRH Prince Philip, himself an accomplished player, its President. Fifty- eight years on, keen as ever, he remains President, attending many matches. It was originally called the Household Brigade Polo Club, but changed to its present title in 1969. Today, there are about 160 playing members and 1,000 non-playing members. Why Smith’s Lawn? Apparently, Smith was the name of a Park gamekeeper back in the 17th century. Peter Svoboda has been at the club eight years and he’s now in his third season as its Grounds Manager. Peter’s not a horse person, still less a polo player. His sporting background is actually football. In his native Slovakia he signed as a professional at eighteen for the club now known as AS Trencin who play in the country’s top league. He tells me the club has 130 acres of
grounds. As I look out of the window of the clubhouse, it stretches as far as I can see. There are ten pitches in all, though not all of them full size or, for what is called high goal polo, the highest standard. Ground One, right in front of us as we talk, and Ground Two are where all the
main finals are played, and they are 300 yards long and 160 yards wide. Put into perspective, that’s enough turf for twelve football pitches. These are the required dimensions for top-level polo and they represent the largest playing area for any organised sport. Something like 370 matches a season
are played on the club’s pitches, so Peter has his work cut out keeping them playable, the more so because, being an integral part of Great Windsor Park, they are open to the public pretty much all of the time. Park visitors are free to walk across its pitches - even with dogs - except on match days. It’s not ideal for turf care, but Peter says he gets used to it. Most people cause no problem whatsoever. A bit of stick collecting - and the occasional black plastic bag with scooped contents - are minor chores. There are signs asking people to keep dogs under control and not to use the pitch areas when play is in progress, but it is a very definitely a public amenity. In its way, it is no different to park football, though the upkeep and repair issues differ vastly. Peter has eight groundstaff working for
“A bit of stick collecting - and the
contents - are minor chores”
occasional black plastic bag with scooped
him, six of them full time and two for the April to September playing season. One of their biggest regular jobs is installing and dismantling ground boards, which are 30cm high and 3.6 metres long, before and after matches, so that the whole area is quickly returned to park appearance. These boards mark the outer boundary of a pitch and keep the white, hard, plastic balls, similar in appearance and size to those used in cricket’s one-day game, within the playing area. The boards, together with fencing, installed pre-season and dismantled at the end that mark the perimeter of the club’s grounds, are stacked on pallets when not in use out of season. Pretty well all necessary machinery belongs to the club. Only fertiliser and weed control spraying is conducted by outside sources. Peter has everything on site he needs for aeration, sand spreading, irrigation and, of course, mowing.
Cutting is a year round job, and it’s a big one. Just trimming one of the main pitches takes getting on for two hours. A trailed 6-metre wide Trimax Pegasus S3 rotary machine is his tried and tested workhorse for this. Over winter cutting heights are generally 34-35mm. During the playing season, it is down to 21mm and maybe 19-20mm on Grounds One and Two. These are the recognised and preferred heights in the sport. A sweeper-collector tidies up the cuttings. A Toro 7-gang cylinder mower is used to trim Grounds One and Two to give them the finished look on match days. Cuts are from goal to goal, zero degrees and 90 degrees, so that the line of play is emphasised.
Soil conditions are sandy, though topsoil depths do vary, and the grounds are generally well-drained. Peter uses the services of agronomist Steve Gingell to advise on appropriate fertiliser and herbicide programmes. The main annual spray application by a local contractor gets done each April just prior to the new season. Steve makes regular visits to Smith's Lawn, before and after the
APRIL/MAY 2013 PC 115
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