Summer Sports - Tennis “
For the uninitiated, the donut challenge involves everyone having a sugared donut placed in front of them. Everyone starts at the same time - no using hands and no licking lips - the winner being the first to finish!
Looking ridiculous eating donuts - our court covering team do their best to enjoy themselves at work!
year, we were certainly in that position, which hopefully was reflected in the quality of the surfaces we produced. As we’ve said previously, we firmly believe
that our season starts the previous autumn, and the quality of the courts is dictated by how well the previous year’s renovation went. Last autumn we hit the courts hard, using our Graden GB1200 to remove a huge amount of the surface, taking us back virtually to soil in places. Once we were happy the courts were ‘clean’ of any undesirable matter, they were all sown with Limagrain’s MM50 grass seed, dressed with GOSTD Surrey Loam, and then luted and dragged for levels. We also carry out a treatment programme of ethothumesate to reduce the incidence of Annual Meadow Grass, or Poa Annua. The result of all this, roughly nine months
Mowing and marking in full swing during the Aegon Classic Birmingham
Courts are checked for accuracy by the WTA referee and, with us having Hawk-Eye this year also, there is massive pressure to ensure measurements are accurate and lines are straight
60 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 ”
later, is the grass courts used for the Aegon Classic Birmingham. Obviously, there is more maintenance along the way, aeration in the winter, with plenty of mowing and rolling through the spring and carefully tailored nutrient inputs all the way through this. However, autumn renovation is definitely the most influential time of year in terms of the quality of our courts. And so, for this year’s tournament, it is fair
to say we were extremely pleased with what we produced. That said though, the hard work wasn’t over. Every court gets double mown and marked every day, regardless even of whether it is scheduled to be used for play or not (we mow and mark regardless, so that the overall presentation of the site is maintained - the courts always look better freshly cut and with crisp white lines). This obviously requires an early start; normally the full time staff will be out working between five and six in the morning. Depending on the overnight weather, we may decide to inflate, re-inflate or deflate our inflatable court covers. By starting this early, we can ensure that (weather permitting) when the temporary staff start work at six in the morning, covers can come straight off. Every court is then dew-brushed
to help disperse any surface moisture. Whilst the covers, in theory, keep the courts dry, they do draw some moisture up out of the surface, so this needs to be removed prior to mowing. By seven, mowers will be at courts ready and the mowing team will get into full swing. We operate three Dennis FT610 cassette cylinder mowers. These are cleaned and set the night before, and always by the same member of the team to ensure consistency from one machine to another, and from one day to the next. As soon as the courts are completed, the marking team will then get into action. On a good morning, it takes around twenty to twenty-five minutes to mark in a grass tennis court. We re-string every line, every day to ensure accuracy. To give some context to the accuracy
required, if a court is off by any more then 3mm, then it can’t be used for tournament play. Courts are checked for accuracy by the WTA referee and, with us having Hawk-Eye this year also, there is massive pressure to ensure measurements are accurate and lines are straight!
Assuming the weather has played its part, and things have gone to plan, mowing and marking will be complete by 8.30am on the practice court, and 10.00am on the match courts, one hour before play is due to start (9.30am for practice and 11.00am for match courts). This hour gives us time to fine tune everything. Courts are dressed and we’re obsessive about making sure everything is exactly where it should be and looks just right.
We’ll have a team going round wiping down any ‘ghosting’ (where the mower has transferred some paint residue from the lines via the rear roller) so that the courts look clean, making sure that any wiping goes with the stripes. Nets and posts go up early, so we can check from the top of the stands to make sure singles sticks and centre bands are positioned straight. We even make sure that players’ chairs are all in line from court to court, and the same distance apart! If everything runs as it should, matches
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