Turf management
Turf management or pitchcare describes the work
needed to keep a sporting pitch ready for use. This ar-
ticle looks at the various types of sporting pitches and the qualities help limit injuries. However they are not rec-
type of challenges which they present.
The skills needed vary considerably dependent upon the
sport and whether or not articial surfaces are used. Spe- 27,000 and replacement turf every 9 years at a further
cial sets of skills are also needed to care for either sand-
based athletic elds or native soil elds.
1 Tennis courts
There are two main types of tennis court, grass and clay.
The clay courts can then be divided into natural clay, hard
courts and fast/dry courts.
All tennis courts should ideally be a little west of true
north to ensure minimum problems from sunlight.
Grass courts. Historically very popular, they are
now slowly being replaced by clay courts which of-
fer the opportunity of year-round usage and lower
maintenance.
The skills needed to maintain a grass court are consider-
able. Traditionally the court is split into the foundations
and drainage, the soil or binding layer, and the grass. All
three must work together to provide the best playing sur-
face. Maintenance of grass courts is typically split into
the following areas:
Mowing, 6 to 8 mm.
Fertilisers.
Scarication: mechanically raising the surface turf
to prevent compaction.
Rolling. Usually done in springtime to correct any
problems from the winter weather.
Aeration. Winter work to remedy compaction over
the summer. It will encourage deep rooting as well
as assisting in drainage.
Seeding of worn areas after the season has ended.
Top dressing at the end of the season to maintain
turf quality.
Articial grass courts are a popular option at club level
as they are weather resistant and their shock absorbing
ommended for high skill levels and are expensive to main-
tain. The Lawn Tennis Association prices a basic court at
11,000.
Clay courts require water to keep from cracking.
This limits their use in both very dry regions. At
the other extreme, in countries like the United King-
dom with very wet seasons, a clay court may be un-
playable for long periods and may also give rise to
expensive maintenance at the start of the season.
Normal maintenance is basically regular watering
and rolling, to prevent the surface turning into dust.
Clay courts can have both sub-surface and above sur-
face irrigation. They provide a good training surface
with a medium to slow pace and consistent bounce.
The Lawn Tennis Association prices the courts at
between 34,000 and 60,000 to construct.
Hard courts are typically made from asphalt or
concrete with an acrylic covering. They are also
called synthetic granular courts. These courts typ-
ically provide a fast game, which means the tennis
ball will bounce with a low angle. The speed of the
court can be changed by varying the amount of sand
present in the covering. If a layer of cushioning ma-
terial is added to a hard court then the performance
increases and this is typical of an all-weather court.
However, the cost of the cushioning can be substan-
tial.
An interesting problem with asphalt courts
arises in very hot environments. The asphalt
absorbs heat very quickly, but the painted
lines will reect the heat and this dierential
in temperature can lead to surface cracking.
These courts are generally low-maintenance
but they need to be recoated every 5 to 10
years. Most maintenance involves keeping the
surface clean. There is generally little move-
ment in the surface which means added strain
on ankles and knee joints.
The Lawn Tennis Association prices a porous
macadam court at 20,000, which should last
10 to 12 years with low maintenance costs. An
acrylic court would cost around 25,000 and is
long lasting with low maintenance.
1
2 3 FOOTBALL PITCHES

Fast/dry courts are a relatively new innovation
from America. These are generally made from
basalt taken from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Vir-
ginia, which is then nely crushed and used as the
top layer over either a purpose built sub-layer or
just placed on top of an existing clay or asphalt sur-
face. This type of surface is promoted as allowing
more sliding by the players and therefore it helps
to limit tennis injuries to the lower parts of the body.
These courts are typically slower than grass. They
can dry very quickly and do not have the heat re-
ection problems of clay courts. Porosity is low and
often these courts have a slight slope to aid water
run o. They are similar to the basic clay courts de-
scribed above.
Rolling, though excessive rolling will compact the
grass.
Topdressing helps with consistency and reduces
thatch buildup.
Frequency of mowing. During the growing season
daily mowing is required. For faster speeds and pro-
fessional tournaments greens may be cut twice a day
or even double cut (two cuts in two directions, one
immediately following the other).
Verticutting to remove excessive thatch, force the
grass blades to stand upright, thin out excessive
growth and speed up greens.
Scarication to remove moss and stop the collection
of moisture on the green.

2 Golf courses Grooming to reduce the thickness of clumps.

Aerating to remove excessive organic matter, mod-

ify the rootzone composition, improve rooting and
drainage.[1]

3 Football pitches
Historically football pitches have had natural grass cover.
The stresses on a pitch, combined with winter weather,
can often mean that the pitch has to be returfed on a reg-
ular basis. Essentially the existing turf is removed to a
depth of typically 40 mm turf and 110 mm of soil. The
replacement turf is ideally purpose grown to ensure con-
sistency and freedom from weeds. A pitch can usually be
Bunkers at Filton Golf Club, Bristol, England returfed within four days and would typically involve re-
moving and relaying 400 cubic metres of turf and soil.
The growth in the popularity of golf, combined with the The FA lists four main characteristics of a good grass
large sums of money invested in a golf course, has led pitch:
to the development of turf management, which is a term
used to refer to the skills of maintaining a golf course. Adequate grass coverage
The green, as opposed to the rough, is the principal area Low level of weeds
of concern. Many golf courses are now built in environ-
ments which would be hostile to natural grass cover and Flat
essentially the grass grows in a hydroponic or sterile en-
vironment with very fast drainage. This means that it has Good drainage
to be fed and watered regularly.
Football pitch technology has moved forward tremen-
The key characteristics of a good green are speed and
dously since the 1970s/1980s, when it was found that by
consistency. Faster greens are preferred and for tourna-
December almost all pitches were turned into mud baths.
ment play the greens should be as fast as possible. To
Todays technology includes the use of drainage pipe at
measure speed a stimpmeter is used. The main factors
5m centres, a gravel raft, a sand (suspended water table)
inuencing green speed are:
rooting zone, undersoil heating and supplementary light-
ing on the surface that encourages growth. Management
Mowing height, which today is 3 to 6 mm. Due to techniques have also advanced, with more emphasis on
the demand for faster greens, top courses are striving soil and plant biology, morphology,and the zoology and
for even lower cutting heights. In the 1960s, green physiology being introduced into the management of a
mowers were not capable of cutting below 6 mm; grass sward. There are also a number of materials and
today they can cut below 3 mm. methods to reinforce a natural grass playing surface.
 3

As stadiums have been developed, and are generally now
nearly sealed constructions, meaning there is less light and
air movement on the playing surface, new processes and
procedures have been introduced to counterbalance the
eects of this.
Articial grass oers an alternative to natural grass for
football stadia. There has been considerable development
of this type of surface from the early days, when it was
similar to tufted carpet. The performance of this surface
has generally been questioned as not being truly natu-
ral. However, there are denite advantages with articial
grass, particularly when a stadium has heavy or multi-use
requirements. Articial grass also has an advantage in
environments hostile to natural grass, for instance, low
sunlight or a paucity of water.
Baseball eld
7 References
[1] Golf Course Maintenance, Retrieved on 2008-07-21
8 Further reading
Turf award winners named: Stevenson, Parrott, Ta-
nis, Hall are classication winners. Florida State
League ocial website. Minor League Baseball.
November 21, 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-01. [T]he
STMA [Sports Turf Managers Association] began
recognizing sports turf managers in 2001.

4 Athletics tracks Baseball: Hawks Field at Haymarket Park. Ne-

braska Huskers. Retrieved 2012-01-01. Hawks
Field at Haymarket Park ... won the Baseball Field
of the Year Award in the College/University division
by the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA)
for the second time.
Pitchcare - Serving The Turfcare Industry. Online
Resource For Groundsman, Greenkeepers and Turf-
care Professionals. Pitchcare. April 27, 2012. Re-
trieved 2012-01-01. Pitchcare oers an online mag-
azine packed full (over 10,000) of working diaries,
interviews and advice from many of the countrys
top Groundsmen, Greenkeepers and specialists.

Typical outdoor red rubber track

See also: All-weather running track

Modern athletics tracks use polymeric surfaces. Be-

cause of their hardwearing and porous nature they allow
the facility to look attractive and well-kept at all times,
although actual maintenance is low.

5 Education
Many schools and universities oer either four-year pro-
grams in turf management, or certicates which take less
time to complete. Students go on to become sports turf
managers, head groundskeepers, golf course superinten-
dents or work at a variety of other turf-related jobs.

6 See also
Sports turf
4 9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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