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!