The club prepare twelve grass courts for the Women’s championships, six for competition and six for practice
Roy Charman, Turf Manager Danny Negus, Groundsman Andy Bacon, Grounds & Tournament Manager Danny Garbett, Groundsman
the late1800s, and were formed on some old reclaimed land. There is approximately 300mm of natural soil overlying a bedrock of sandstone and, for this reason, the courts drain very well. No formal drainage systems have ever been installed at Devonshire Park. Preparations for the tournament begin
Wimbledon Women’s Championships
Centre Court at Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park during the pre
late 1970s when he began his career in groundsmanship, and the second when he returned from a life of travelling around the world in 1995. Roy still enjoys travelling and usually finds time to travel during the winter months when the courts are closed.
This year the championships are being staged between 14th and 21st of June. It is a one-week lawn tennis tournament, which always precedes Wimbledon, giving players the opportunity to experience grass court play.
The staff maintain twenty grass courts, eight of which are temporarily redundant during the championships when parts of the grounds are used for stands. The courts are very old, dating back to
towards the end of the previous year’s playing season with end of season renovations in early September. The club prepares twelve grass courts for the championships, six for competition and six for practice. During Roy’s time at the club they have been using Surrey Loams graded organic sports turf dressing (GOSTD) clay loam for topdressing, building up a decent 150mm topsoil profile. The clay content of the current loam being used is around 18%. Roy is toying with the idea of reducing it to 15% in the coming years to combat the effects of climate change, it will enable him to control the rate of cracking on the courts.
End of season renovations
Roy aims to complete the renovation within a six week period to make good use of the favourable weather and soil temperatures in September.
The courts are cut to 4mm, and heavily scarified, taking out as much debris as possible, in four to six passes using a Graden tractor mounted scarifier down in stages to a depth of 7mm. All debris is then cleared away and the courts are cut down to 4.5mm.
Aeration follows, going as deep as they
can, around 100mm, using a Ryan GA30 solid tine spiker. About 30 tonnes of Surrey loam is then applied. The courts are then overseeded with a mix of Perennial Rye and Slender Creeping red grasses at recommended rates using a Charterhouse Disc seeder and SISIS variseeder. The mix is 30% Perennial Rye Greenflash, 25% Perennial Rye Greenfair, 20% Perennial Rye Ace, 15% Slender creeping red Helena and 10% Slender creeping red Lanai.
Germination is usually quite quick; about 5-7 days as soil and air temperatures are generally good in September. Once the grass is established it is maintained at a height of 8mm throughout the winter months using a cylinder mower. Weather permitting the courts are aerated at least twice a month using the vertidrain and pedestrian aerators to a depth of 15/25cm and a combination of tine sizes.
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The Eastbourne team (l-r
r):
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