By Steve Landick in Bowls on 12th Jul 2012 6:00 This article appeared in Pitchcare Magazine Issue 43 - June / July 2012 In 1998, two new bowling greens were constructed at the Les CreuxMillennium Country Park in Jersey. The greens went on to host theMen's British Isles Championships, the European Championships and,in June 2009, the Ladies British Isles Championships. In addition,the greens host Bowls Jersey's Finals and, every other year, theChannel Islands Bowls Finals, not to mention other major localbowls tournaments. The greens were of a reasonable standard but, with a decline inclub members and no new young bowlers joining the club, they beganto be used less.
So much so that only one green was being used, andthe other was still being maintained, but hardly ever played onduring the season. This was causing unnecassary with extrascarification and brushing required to try and keep the speed up onthe green which was not in use. The green closest to the clubhousewas being used by the members for three sessions a day, seven daysa week, bowled quicker and had a much better draw because of itsusage. Jersey Bowls, the local governing body, and the States of JerseyEducation, Sport and Culture Department, who lease the greens to the Les Creux bowls club, decided that something had tobe done to put life back into the club and reverse the decline.Therefore, last year, it was decided to turn the two greens intoartificial surfaces, less than fourteen years after they wereturfed. Both parties invited tenders for the work and Dales Sports Surfaceswon the contract, worth nearly £150,000.
In January of thisyear, the turf was cut and sold, as was the rootzone. Once this had taken place, the contractor moved in and installednew ditches and green retaining kerbs. The old drainage layer andpipes were left in place after the existing drains and siltchambers were checked. This saved a considerable amount of money,thereby allowing the project to move forward.
To bring the greens up to the required levels, additional aggregateand a binding layer were added. A grading machine with twin laserswas used to put the final levels in. These levels were also checkedby World Bowls, the sport's international governing body to ensurethey complied to regulations. This year's dry spring helped with the timing of the construction;the greens underlay, a product called MatchPad 1250 which has aflat pile and made of mixed blends of polypropylene, beinginstalled during the second week of April.
By the end of April, the playing surface was put down over theunderlay. The playing surface is called Mastergreen, which is olivegreen in colour, and made of 100% UV light stabilised polypropylenereverse needled fibred carpet. After being pulled over the edges ofthe gree, the carpet was attached to the kerbs using standardcarpet grippers. The carpet came in rolls with the joints beingsewn together. Mastergreen is designed to allow surface water to drain through theholes on the back of the carpet and underlay.
With the exception ofperiods of extreme weather, the surface will be playable at all times. The ditches were also replaced, and the new ones were covered withcarpet over wooden battens on the back of the ditch wall. The ringend markers and numbers have velcro backs to attach to the ditchwall and for easy movement. The eggshell ditch matting from the oldgreens was reused, as it had only recently been purchased.
A few days after the greens were completed, Jersey Bowls hostedWales in an international Test match. Matches were played over thelast weekend of April and the teams reported the greens wereplaying well. As yet, the way the greens play should not be judged,as they will improve once the carpets have received a secondstretch. When the carpets were installed, even with the weather being dry,the temperature on the island had not reached the required 20OC.
Therefore, as soon as the weather improves, Dales will be back onthe island to stretch the carpets again and undertake any snaggingitems. Once this has been completed, the overall performance of thegreens should improve greatly. No artificial surface is completely maintenance free, so thesurfaces at Les Creux will have regular passes, with a minimumrequirement of once per week, with an electric suction cleaner andlight brushing to remove leaves and other organic debris. Pine needles have caused some problems as they seem to attachthemselves to the carpet, so a flicking action brush is going to belooked at to make their removal easier.
There are likely to be someongoing problems in keeping the greens clean as they are sited in acountry park. There are no overhanging trees, but debris from thesurrounding trees is easily blown in. Spraying for moss and algae will be carried out twice a year inMarch/ April and again in September/October. This is mainly as apreventative measure, but something that the club members shouldnot neglect. It may also be necessary to periodically carry out a powerwash/clean, but this is something that should be left to theinstallers to undertake, as well as an annual maintenance check.
The greens will now be looked after by club members, and the skillsof the greenkeeper from the nearby Sports complex at Les Quennevaiswill no longer be required. The machinery used on the old greenshas been relocated to other playing fields. Jersey Bowls and the States of Jersey Education, Sport and CultureDepartment will now need to start planning and investing for tenyears time. The artificial surface will wear and deteriorate overthis period, and the surface will have to be replaced.
These greens will add a new dimension to bowls in Jersey and maywell help the Island Bowls when they compete on the internationalscene, where this type of green is becoming increasingly common.They will also complement the indoor bowls centre at Grainvillewhich is well used in the winter months. With Jersey's mild climate, the bowls season at Les Creux will nowbe extended, and we might even see a roll up on Christmas Day. Thenext addition to the greens could well be floodlights, so games cango on until 10.00pm in the months of September and April. Could this be the start of a decline in grass greens for bowling,and will the sport of bowls follow that of hockey and movecompletely over to artificial? Read more articles in Bowls , by Steve Landick or from July 2012.
I am an expert from Carpet Artificial Grass, it usually analyzes various kinds of industry situation, such as Carpet Artificial Grass, and many more. Welcome to visit!
We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Carpet Artificial Grass , Synthetic Soccer Grass for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Garden Artificial Grass.
Related Articles -
Carpet Artificial Grass, Synthetic Soccer Grass,
|
