Summer Sports - Tennis
The Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in Eastbourne hosts one of this country’s biggest tennis tournaments, The Aegon International. Neville Johnson went to the south coast complex to talk to their head groundsman, Roy Charman, ahead of this year’s June event
testing. It’s definitely not a day for playing tennis. In the shelter of Roy Charman’s office, overlooking the delightful club and its tournament show courts, he concedes the venue does have a bit of a reputation, and I notice that one of his colleagues aboard a Toro Triple is clad more for winter than late spring as he trims some of the outer club court area. There are no other problems to speak of being so close to the sea, he tells me. The seagulls and pigeons are a nuisance, especially at renovation time in September and October, swiping the seed, but otherwise turf care and playing tennis thrive in their different ways just a little bit more than a pebble's throw from the beach. A finely tuned grass tennis court is as handsome as any golf or bowls green, yet the custodians are groundsmen, not greenkeepers. Roy reminds me that it’s because the ball is played to strike the surface rather than move across it. Roy actually switched disciplines about twenty years ago after time as a greenkeeper at nearby Willingdon Golf Club and a period of self-employment, which included golf course construction and bowls green upkeep. He applied for a job at Devonshire Park in 1995 looking after the show and club courts and has been there ever since.
S “
ussex-by-the-sea, there’s nothing quite like it. Sea air and a bracing breeze freshens the mind and body. Except, this May morning, it’s a howling gale and extremely
When Roy was first at Devonshire Park the
idea was that he worked in tandem with Andy Bacon but, in time, he took sole responsibility for all of the playing surfaces, as head groundsman, and Andy, as Grounds and Tournament Manager, took on the mantle of looking after the Park’s overall ornamental appearance and responsible for tournament logistics. It works well, and they have the support of two other experienced groundsmen, Dan Negus and Henry Dunn. Roy emphasises how essential it is that they can each do all of the jobs, and month after month they do just that. Looking across the complex it would tempt
anyone with an ounce of tennis in them. Devonshire Park was about to undergo its main annual changeover from club to major tournament venue. The Aegon, as it’s come to be known, is just four weeks away and the Lawn Tennis Association will soon be calling the tune. Things are already gearing up for the annual week of world-class professional tennis, this year from June 14-21. The four or five courts alongside the Centre Court - yes it’s just like Wimbledon, with a Number One as well - will soon be beneath a temporary stand. Roy hates what this does to these playing surfaces, but knows he can lick them back into top order once the stand is dismantled. The LTA has, over the years, ploughed lots of money into Devonshire Park, as it has into other top venues around the country. This gives them exclusive rights at certain times, like the Aegon tournament, which takes
The LTA has, over the years, ploughed lots of money into Devonshire Park, as it has into other top venues around the country. This gives them exclusive rights at certain times, like the Aegon tournament
A courtside view of 2013 Aegon International play PC JUNE/JULY 2014 I 75
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156