Grass Clippings
Around our grounds
Finally, it’s good to see a bout of good weather and it happily coincides with various key activities that are scheduled for April around the club grounds. The spring preparation for the grass tennis courts starts in earnest now and the surface that sowed last autumn will now be conditioned to enable play from the beginning of May.
Although the grass is considered the main attribute to creating a good court, it’s actually the soil beneath which produces the best surface characteristics for tennis. Tennis lawns are more akin to cricket wickets than golf greens, as the clay content of the courts is what gives the bounce.
Structurally, the grass and especially the root mass creates the support mechanism which keeps the soil surface intact. On the surface, the grass type and how it is conditioned gives the ball pace and speed. Over the last five months or so, it has been the priority to grow a healthy and uniformed grass surface and we now increase the process of reducing the height of cut as well as thinning out the sward. Later in the month, rolling of the courts and moisture content of the soil will be monitored very closely to firm the surfaces and either dry them out or add moisture if too dry.
Experience plays a key part in the preparation of the courts, and we are very fortunate to have the skills of Grounds and Workshop Manager Chris Hughes and Head Groundsman Simon Bailey who have been managing the courts at the Club now for over three decades combined.
On the golf course at the moment David Howe and his team are equally busy with the course renovations. The spring works are a crucial part of the process of transitioning the greens from winter mode back into full growth. During the winter period, the grass is usually in a more or less dormant state, so managing grass which is actively growing and yet still trying to keep them in playing mode is a balancing act.
We will now conduct a sequence of physical laboratory tests on the greens to understand the nutrient status of the plant and to gauge how much organic matter under the greens surface has built up. Year on year we monitor organic matter levels as this plays a significant role in the performance of the greens. This material, made up of partially decomposed elements of the leaf, sheaf and the rest of the grass plant can be friend and foe also.
A small amount of material can create a shock absorber that allows the ball to impact the green without plugging. Too much organic material and the risk of a layer build up in the green will cause other complications for a softer surface. We have seen a trend indicating there is a slight rise in the amount of material being accumulated in the last few years which relates to the fact that we have used smaller diameter tines for greens renovations to reduce the impact on playing the greens post renovation works.
Unfortunately, the percentage of material being removed using the smaller tines isn’t great enough to equalize the amount of material the grass plant lays down in the season. Therefore, we have had to revert back to the slightly larger tine to achieve the task. The positive aspect is that we are heading into the main growing season of the year and so recovery times should be short, given the amount of growth we experience from April onwards.
