Fall Work After Closing

The club is closed for tennis for the season, but there is still a lot to do for the grounds crew. All 44 nets, grass posts, windscreens, benches etc. have to be put away for the winter.

Tons of topdressing is taken off the clay courts to give us a head start on next season. Even the lines on the clay are taken up.

A big fall job is getting all the water out of the clubs water systems so they don't freeze and break. A large air compressor is rented and pipes and valves are blown out. We have 9 separate irrigation systems, 2 wells, 2 connections to Brookline water, one to Newton water, the pool and various drinking water pipes.

The grass courts also need work before the upcoming winter. 4000 lbs of lime, fungide for snow mold and any repairs we can do before the cold is here.

All the usual fall landscaping is also done - leaves, pruning, flower pots emptied and gardens cleaned.

First Cricket in 75 Years!

The first cricket match in 75 years was played at Longwood on October 18, 2008. It was an extremely successful and exciting day, with over 200 spectators watching and learning.

Cricket Finally Back At The Cricket Club!

The crew was approached a few weeks ago about the possibility of hosting a cricket match at Longwood. The match will take place between Newport and Cambridge/Oxford on Saturday, October 18. To prepare for this event, the crew needed to make some adjustments to the tennis areas. The fences on the porch and pool rows, as well as all the nets, were taken down. The pitch was marked roughly in the center of the two rows, and then rolled with our two-ton roller. NPR even came by this week to interview Mike Buras about the event.

Extreme Field Makeover

The New England Sports Turf Managers Association has performed an extreme field makeover each of the last three years. They take a beat up field and convert it into a brand new, state of the art playing surface - all in just one week. This years field was in Oak Square in Brighton/Boston Massachusetts. The $100,000 conversion is free to the winning applicant. It includes new soil, grading, sod and irrigation - all installed by volunteer experts. Turf vendors donate the products and NESTMA members donate lots of time, including the Longwood grounds staff. Ben, Andrew, Tim, Neil, Wilson and Mike all took turns working at the field while the rest of the crew covered for them at Longwood. The field was dedicated right in the middle of the conversion by Mayor Menino!

New Club

This is the Boathouse on Martha's Vineyard. Former LCC grounds employee Nate Salmore is the grounds superintendent at this new tennis club. You can see more of Nate's work by clicking on Boathouse in this blogs links section.

Topdressing

Topdressing of grass courts at Wimbledon and LCC. They look very much alike in coverage.

The same soil that is below ground is spread on top. This helps thatch breakdown, smoothes the court and helps with drainage. About an 1/8 of an inch of soil is added each topdressing event. Most of the courts at LCC have had this done twice this September.

Outing Week

There was an outing every day this week using the 13 grass courts in front of the clubhouse. The courts are wearing well with the large amount of play they have been getting from these events and member play.

Pictures

Wimbledon

I am back from Wimbledon- a great trip! Learned about so much it can't all be put on the blog. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to share all my pictures and stories to the membership. Above are pictures of Centre Court and the renovation of a court with Neil, the Deputy Groundsman.

Meet John Gallagher

While head groundskeeper Mike Buras was away in London visiting the All England Club, the grounds crew took some time to sit down with former Longwood president and grounds enthusiast John Gallagher to see how we were managing without our boss-

2nd Annual Grounds Crew Classic

The grounds crew and special guests held their annual tennis tournament on the terrace grass courts. The "Kickserves" were captained by Larry and the "Kickbutts" captained by Magnus. Each team had seven players - picked by the captains in a pretournament draft. After 72 games the tournament ended in a tie. In an "Around the World" tiebreaker the Kickserves triumphed.

It was great fun! Thanks to all the guest players and Larry and Magnus for setting up the tournament.
























Larry and Josh getting ready to play Mike and Magnus.

When We Can't Get On The Courts...

When we can't get on the courts (to perform routine maintenance) due to rain or other circumstances, the grounds department is always finding ways to stay busy and improve the club.

Overseeding the baselines to increase grass cover-

Here we use an aerator to pound seed into holes to promote better germination.

Clearing brush from around the club,and reusing the chips as mulch-

We pruned the grounds aggressively the weeks leading up to the day we rented the shredder. You may have noticed the cleared areas in the parking lot and the area adjacent to the lower clay courts.

Weeding the (never ending) walkways-

One of the most labor intensive jobs, weeding the brick walkways is a tedious but important job in improving the aesthetics of the club.

Couple of Movies

Father/Daughter Grass Court Championship

This year's Father/Daugher Grass Court Championship was a challenge for the grounds crew. Because of the timing of various rain storms both grass and clay courts needed to be prepared for tournament play each morning. (Monday's rain shortened clay matches were finished on clay on Tuesday. The players then moved to grass.)

Early mornings and flexiblilty by the crew were essential. Today, the crew shifted back and forth between the two surfaces so that the clay was ready for the championship at 9:00 am and the grass at 10:30 am.

Silence

Tim found this sign while going through some old stuff. We are not sure how old it is, but it is old! It was used by the clubhouse court today - for the Father/Daughter matches.

Here we go again!

July Rain

In July we average 2.6 inches of rain in the Boston area. So far in July 2008 we have had over 6 inches of rain. It has rained 16 out of the 31 days and more thunderstorms are expected today with up to two more inches of water. Over double the average rainfall with it raining on half the days! This has made it difficult to not just open the grass courts, but also difficult to perform standard maintenance.



The grounds crew has done a wonderful job dealing with the wet conditions. Wear, fungi and lack of soil oxygen all put a great strain on the grass plants. Care is taken performing the simplest of tasks so that the grass does not have to be subjected to another stress. Mowing, line marking and fertilization have all been affected by all this water. One more stress could put it over the edge and we could lose a lot of turfgrass.



For more information please check out this update from the USGA. It is a thorough explanation of what we have been dealing with at Longwood.



http://www.usga.org/turf/regional_updates/regional_reports/northeast/07-25-2008.html



The water table is up to the surface, so any further rain we get has no where to go. Let's hope this is the end of the daily thunderstorm cycle.



Here are some pictures from July 24, when it rained over two inches in just a short time.

Sunrise

5:00 am mowing - Sunrise!

More Father/Son Pictures

Due to rain the champioship was played on three surfaces - grass, clay and indoor hard court.

Natinal Father/Son Grass Court Championship

Heavy rain on Sunday (1 1/2 inches) forced the move to clay for opening day of the tournament.

13 grass courts were ready for Tuesday's matches.

Paul wants to know when the rain is going to stop!

Typical Early Morning

June 24, 2008

A typical early morning. All the clay courts are ready to go with some open at 6:30 am. All the grass courts are cut and sprayed with fertilizer before any members arrive.

A new sidewalk is also being installed on Dunster Road.

HEAT!

It is Monday June 9, 2008 and we are in the third day of a Massachusetts heat wave - 3 consecutive days over 90!

At Longwood we are all dealing with it different ways.

Charlie is taking care of the grass with precise watering. On 95 degree days this means hand watering pretty much all day.

Tim and Andrew taking a leisurely 6 hour walk, marking the courts. Notice Tim's built in cup holder on the marker handle.

And Magnus. The hotter it gets, the more tennis clothes he puts on!