County South of England week in full flow
The pre-season works starts with an application of spring fertiliser in April using an assortment of Headland products based on the results of a soil analysis. Over the years Roy has worked closely with his supplier, to develop a successful feeding programme for the courts.
A combination of growth regulators, wetting agents, seaweed extracts, humic acids and traditional NK fertiliser products are applied during the course of the growing season. All are applied in liquid form for greater flexibility. The height of the sward is gradually
reduced, in 1mm increments, to their summer playing height of 7.5mm.The staff complement the mowing regimes with fortnightly verticutting. This helps keep the sward open and standing up. A fully automated Rainbird pop up
irrigation system is used to water the courts. It proves very useful when applying fertilisers and wetting agents, which is carried out on a monthly basis. Roy will generally apply the water in several cycles to ensure watering to depth of at least 150mm. Roy’s first priority at the start of a new season is to get the five practice courts up and ready for April 20th when the club members playing season starts. Work is then focussed on the match play courts ready for the championships.
Tournament preparations
This involves a lot of additional work for the staff. As well preparing the courts, they have to oversee, and help position,
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cameras, canvas, cables, staging and seating for over 2,000 people. The council draft in an additional thirteen temporary staff to help with the movement of covers and other duties.
Court preparation
Rolling begins two weeks prior to the tournament, using a 1.5 tonne roller, for up to ten hours per court. The optimal conditions are when the ground is moist, but not too wet.
The verticutting is continued and mowing is done on a daily basis, with the height reduced to 7mm for the tournament. To ensure the courts are not too green and lush the last fertiliser application is at least two weeks before the event begins. Last year they applied a liquid mix containing Turf Complex, Seamac ProTurf and N-sure with chelated iron and manganese to stimulate colour and growth. Hover covers are used for the centre court and court number one, and flat sheet covers, similar to the ones seen at Wimbledon, for the remaining courts. The daily maintenance routine begins at 7.00am during the tournament. Covers are removed and the courts are then mown and marked out. It takes about 45 minutes to mow each court, and 15 minutes to mark out. A dimple wheel- to-wheel transfer marker is used to produce the 100mm wide base lines and the 50mm tramlines. Nets and posts are finally set up ready for play. At the end of the day’s play, between 7.00-8.00pm the staff strip down the nets
and posts and put the covers back on. Once the tournament is over the courts
are soaked heavily to open them up for repairs, which consists of a very light scarification, a light application of top dressing and overseeding. All being well the courts will be back in good condition for the next tournament, in three weeks time. Finally, once the season comes to a close it is a case of starting the whole process again beginning with the end of season renovations which, in turn, will dictate the quality of the courts for next year’s championships.
What’s in the shed?
Kubota B2400 X2 Tractor Toro 3250D Triple Mower
Toro 3100 Triple Mower complete with verti-cut units.
Jacobsen 522 GreensKing pedestrian mowers x 3
Ransomes Mastiff Graden GBS 1200 Scarifier SISIS Trio Rotorake Charterhouse Vari-Seed 804 SISIS Variseeder Turfco Mete-r-matic F15B Topdresser Turfco Mete-r-matic F11 Topdresser Ryan GA30 Aerator VertiDrain 7212 SISIS Slitter Techneat SPPS-80 Sprayers x 2 Techneat SPPS-120 Sprayer Ryan Junior Sod Cutter SISIS Litimina
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