Artificial Surfaces
Although it sounds bizarre, our artificial pitches get watered. That creates that slick effect. We water them for about ten minutes prior to every game, weather conditions permitting
”
On the quality of the WetPro surface, Mark said: “It’s all about the ball roll for hockey. The reason they’re water‐based is that it retains the water from the surface, like excellent drainage. So, it speeds the ball up lots. It’s not quite as useful for football, because the ball bounces a little more than you’d like, but hockey is all about speed.” “Our previous carpet on the equivalent surfaces was by AstroTurf, which was quite an old‐fashioned product in the context of modern synthetics and how much water they can retain.”
“The original thinking behind these newer constructions is to conserve water in countries like India, where hockey is absolutely massive in terms of its scope and coverage, and water is at a premium due to
the heat and large population.” “So, although it sounds bizarre, our artificial pitches get watered. That creates that slick effect. They are watered for about ten minutes prior to every game, weather conditions permitting. Midsummer, they may even be popped on at half‐time. During winter, they might not need to at all.” “These pitches are used for over fifty hours per week, so we do that watering quite often.”
To stay within warranty on such pitches requires a level of work approaching that of a natural pitch, and significantly more than the previous equivalent surface required when installed around eight years ago. Due to this extra workload, the university requested that some maintenance
equipment be included as part of the package, which Tiger Turf supplied. “The technology has moved on a lot too,” he said. “We went to Charterhouse, and they both sold us some equipment and modified ours. We got some useful kit.” Before getting into groundsmanship, Mark was a greenkeeper, starting as a casual worker at the iconic Belfry during the construction of its PGA National Course. Looking back on his time at the famous club, he said it set him up with his standards and insistence on quality, and that his staff would attest to his determination to, for example, maintain all equipment at the same cutting heights.
When preparing for even minor tournaments, the Belfry’s staff were
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