The Hallowed Grounds of Sport

The Hallowed Grounds of Sport One quarter of the Earth's surface is covered by grass. but not all grass is created equal. Some grass grows in the wild. Some grows in the backyard. And some forms the pedestals on which our most celebrated athletes and teams play our most beloved sports, enduring some of the greatest contests in history. And you can bet that grass gets a lot of attention. We're proud to present an inside look at groundskeeping traditions and technology responsible for that glowing green aura at the center of the most hallowed grounds in sport. AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB Home of the Masters Golf Tournament Augusta, GA +++ ++++ +++ Trees, shrubs, flowers and the greens are watered by hand, to conserve water. By far the largest playing surface on this list, Augusta occupies 345 acres of what used to be a 19th century nursery with trees and plants from around the world. Bermuda grass, over-seeded with rye in the fall. Little to no pesticides or A fertilizers are used on the course. Augusta has both a weather static and soil lab on-site. Parking areas remain r unpaved to maintain habitats for ground-nesting birds. LAMBEAU FIELD Home of the Green Bay Packers Green Bay, WI Kentucky Bluegrass, mixed with 20 million synthetic fibers that are stitched individually, less than an inch apart, each rooted 7 inches below the surface. Due to the stadium shape, some parts of field receive little to no natural light. Groundskeepers run giant grow light rigs on the field, around the clock, 7 days a week, from October to December. The lights are removed only for home games. A sub-soil heating system made of anti-freeze-filled tubes beneath the surface of the turf keeps the grass in uncharacteristically good JUUL condition given the local climate. SSS MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND Home to the Melbourne Cricket Club Melbourne, AU Other sports played at MCG: Soccer, rugby. Australian football With a seating capacity of 100,024, MCG is the 10th largest stadium in the world and maintains 20,000 square meters of turf using the same grow lighting rigs used at Lambeau Field. During a match, cricket players may request to have the pitch (central strip of the field where bowlers and batsmen face off) rolled with heavy rollers that The cricket field is mowed daily to 10mm, to make it a fast field. For other sports, grass is typically kept at 28mm. the flatten the surface and make ball bounce faster. CENTRE COURT, ALL ENGLAND CLUB Home of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships Centre Court is only used two weeks of the year, for the tournament. Wimbledon, London, UK wwww.w More than 100 varieties of rye are tested on a replica court surface, year-round, by physicists, chemists, agronomists, biologists and engineers at the Sports Turf Research Institute in Yorkshire, England. In 2015, Novak Djokovic celebrated his win over Roger Federer by plucking grass from the court and eating it in front of a cheering crowd. 100% ryegrass is mowed at least once and sometimes twice a day, to maintain a perfect 8mm height. Balls don't bounce as high on grass courts, requiring players to stay lower to the ground, making matches Tl on grass more physically demanding. WRIGLEY FIELD Home of the Chicago Cubs Chicago, IL Wrigley Field is also commonly used for rock concerts. In 2007, entire playing surface was removed and a 6,000-foot drainage system was installed, capable of holding 60,000 gallons of water. During re-surfacing, the infield was lowered 14 inches. Previously, because the infield was higher than parts of the outfield, coaches in the Cubs' dugout could only see right-fielders from the waist up. Kentucky Bluegrass grown at Graff's Turf Farms in Colorado. The famous ivy on the outfield walls is called Boston ivy or Japanese creeper. It's native to eastern Asia and the same ivy that adorns the buildings of Ivy League universities. GUARDS POLO CLUB Home of the Hurlingham Polo Association's International Day Windsor Great Park, Egham, UK Groundskeepers keep more than 88,000 Ibs of divot mixture on-hand each season, to repair divots left by horses. 100% ryegrass The playing grounds, as part of Great Windsor Park, are open to the publi at all times except during matches. It's not uncommon to see local people walking their dogs across the famous Smith's Lawn. across 130 acres of grounds. "Divot stomping" is a tradition where spectators walk out on the pitch during match breaks and help repair divots. THE SAPPORO DOME Home of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters Sapporo, Japan E BIRASAPPORO Built in 2001, The Dome features a revolutionary retractable playing surface that allows soccer games to be played on grass and baseball games on artificial turf. When natural grass is use it's stored outside the stadium to keep it alive and in The retractable soccer surface The process of switching the surfaces not in weighs 8,300 tons and features a pneumatic system that blows air underneath it to push the surface in and out of the stadium. takes about 5 good condition. hours. Image Sources: commons.wikimedia.org www.flickr.com/photos/sufw/5917585651 www.flickr.com/photos/eager/1321529763 www.flickr.com/photos/rexblog/9520871738 www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/3603547770 Pots (Planters +More Sources sportsgrass.com/tennis/ www.augusta.com/node/45 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapporo_Dome en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History of Wrigley Field en wikipedia.org/wiki/List_af_stadiums_by_capacily. Show off your green thumb! sgiconcept.com/en/projc eca cic tion htoul e-relaid ce pitcheae com/magarine/ouards-ooloaaperkerilchet-loredaqueen btml ollomanning com /beg/thenlejades lestadiumecfatbomonthasapoornurdome www.thequardian.com/football/2014/nov/10/wemblev-pitch-below-standard-nf www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/hallowed-turf-of-mca-gets-a-makeover/5776344 golfweek.com/news/2004/sep/26/2004-masters-masters-maintenance-practices-make-pe/?print www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/sports/tennis/wimbledons-quardians-of-grass-face-ohympics-too.html? r-0 www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/sports/football/tenderizing-the-packers-tundra-with-light-and-heat.htmitpagewanted-alla r-o www.smh.com.au/national/tony-gordan-prepares-the-melbourne-cricket-ground-for-pinnacle-of-the-icc-world-cup-201s0325-Im7nh4 html www.packers.com/news-and-events/artice spofford/article-1/The-10-coldest-games-in-Packers-history/a82541fa-2b09-468d-bdfd-5615d67917bc www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-3158476/Novak-Djokovic-reveals-truth-grass-eating-celebration-securing-Wimbledon-title-win-Roger-Federer.html