More On Grass Court Lines

We have spent a lot of time on improving the grass court lines. Straight and bright. The pictures show the crew following the string in a triple tandem, the perfect alignment of base and service lines and the new line marker just in from England.

We're Taking Requests!

It's fun to see that people have checked out the blog from all over the world! If you have any questions or requests we'd be happy to oblige. Are you interested in pictures of the club house, garage, equipment, gardens, etc...? Would you like more specifics on our agronomic practices? If so, respond through the blog or email Mike at grounds@longwoodcricket.com. If you do email, we'd be interested in knowing what your connection to tennis is.

Early Morning Play

Thanks to Jose, Wilson and Victor for their hard work in preparing the clay courts for early morning play. Jose and Victor arrive at Longwood at around 4:45 am to brush, patch, water and roll the clay courts. Wilson arrives at 6:00 am and does most of the hand watering. Jose also cleans the courts - trash, balls, towels. Victor is the fastidious one and takes care of all the water coolers. We have been having lots of members take advantage of the early morning court availability. Just this morning three groups and one lesson were on the courts before 8:00 am, with one group starting at 6:00 am.

The clay courts open on the following schedule on non rain days.

Teaching Courts 6:30 am
Courts 5-8 8:00 am
All the rest 9:00 am

2009 Father/Son

Some pictures from the first day of the national Father & Son Grass Court Championships.

5:20 am

1937 National Doubles

Click on the title of this blog entry and 3/4 of the way down the linked web page is a video clip from the 1937 National Doubles here at Longwood.

All This Rain Promotes Fungus

With it raining for almost a straight month, fungus growing on the grass courts is an issue. Deputy groundsman, Tim Burns addresses this in the following movie production.

All We Talk About Is The Weather

It is raining while I am writing this blog entry. It has rained on 23 of the last 29 days. Cloudy on 27 of the last 29 days. We barely have been able to cut the grass because it has been so wet. Fungus loves this weather so every day there is the threat of disease killing the grass. Worst of all, the crew's turf managers can't get on the grass and go to work, so they are trying to drive me crazy here in the clubhouse.