Author: Sarah

Caine James, Operations Manager – Recreation Works

Infrastructure & Works | Maitland City Council

My interest in the turf industry, particularly golf course maintenance was something I had a passion for from the age of around 10 years old. This is the age I started attending a golf clinic on Sunday mornings at Belmont Golf Club in the Lake Macquarie area south of Newcastle. I remember playing 9 holes on a Sunday morning and thinking how good it would be to be a greenkeeper. When an opportunity came in year 10 whilst attending Swansea High School to complete 2 weeks of work experience, I wasn’t going anywhere other than Belmont Golf Club to work on the golf course. This experience convinced me that this was the career I wanted.

I received a phone call from the Superintendent in December 1992 to ask if I was interested in a six-week casual position to join the green staff for the preparation of the Lake Macquarie Amateur Open, which at the time was the biggest amateur tournament in the Southern Hemisphere. Six weeks turned into two years full-time at Belmont Golf Club, which gave me a great start to my career working with an awesome crew.

Council Apprenticeship

I was looking for an opportunity to complete an apprenticeship as I wanted to become a qualified turf tradesperson, which Belmont Golf Club couldn’t offer at the time. I was lucky enough to apply and successfully gain an apprenticeship with Newcastle City Council (City of Newcastle) in 1994. Newcastle Council owned and maintained an 11-hole public golf course (Beresfield Golf Course) as well as maintaining regional and district-level sports facilities.

My time during my apprenticeship was spent mostly working on the council’s golf course, which consisted of Bent/Poa Greens, a blend of Kikuyu/Couch/Carpet Grass fairways and Kikuyu tees.

There was a staff of 3 consisting of a Superintendent, a groundsman, and an Apprentice (me). When I arrived, greens were being cut with Scott Bonnar petrol walk-behind mowers, tees were cut with an old Jacobsen Tri king and fairways were cut with an old set of gang mowers. It was a great opportunity to work in this environment as I was exposed to everything from spraying greens to machinery maintenance and course set-up for weekends from day one. During the 3 years I worked on the Council golf course we upgraded machinery to introduce a John Deere fairway mower, Toro surrounds mower and a Toro greens mower. These changes in machinery improved the surfaces immediately. Then we started applying fertiliser on fairways, constructing new tee boxes, reshaping fairways, and extending irrigation. All this work was completed by our team of 3 which gave me great exposure to all aspects of turf maintenance early in my career.

During my apprenticeship I had the opportunity to spend 6 months working at Newcastle Councils No.1 and No.2 Sportsgrounds, this gave me exposure to turf wicket preparation, maintenance, and renovation. This experience gave me an insight into turf maintenance from another perspective, especially cricket wicket preparation. This goes against everything you learn about growing healthy turf – grow grass in clay, water it, roll it with moisture in it to compact it, then dry it out, now roll it some more, mow it and it’s ready! Cricket wicket preparation made me open my mind to the turf industry and I realised there is so much to learn in this industry, and I knew I wanted to make a successful career of it.

Once I completed my apprenticeship, I was employed full-time at Newcastle Council as a Senior field worker at Newcastle No.1 Sportsground, working alongside Supervisor Peter Terry, who is still currently in this position. During my 6 years working at this facility, we prepared surfaces for first-class cricket matches including Sheffield Shield matches, ING One Day Matches and a One Day International Women’s Match Australia v England. I was also lucky enough to prepare the No.2 Sportsground Wicket for the Australia U/19s National Championships in 2008/09, this turned out to be a great tournament with the likes of Shaun Marsh, Cameron White, and Sean Tait to name a few going on to first-class careers. We also hosted numerous AFL Pre-season matches featuring the Swans against numerous AFL opponents.

I also had the opportunity to play a significant role in rebuilding the wicket square during the 2000 season. This project was delivered by our team, including the planning, construction and grow in, with the result being a quality first-class wicket.

2007 I was offered the opportunity to move into an office-based role as a Recreation Project Officer at Newcastle Council. Whilst in this position I designed and managed the installation of numerous irrigation projects, the reconstruction of turf wicket squares and the delivery of several playground and floodlight projects.

Nuturf Australia

In 2008 I was offered an opportunity to become a Territory Manager at Nuturf Australia, supplying products, services and agronomic advice to the turf industry. My territory was the Central Coast, Hunter Region, Mid North Coast and New England servicing Councils, Golf Clubs, Turf farms and any other turf facility along my travels. This was my dream job as I got to talk turf all day every day. During my time at Nuturf, I received the best education you could possibly ask for, we had great people in the business who shared the same passion for the turf industry as I have. Nuturf was acquired by C.K.Lifesciences who also owned Amgrow, this provided me with the opportunity to move into the wholesale market managing the sales, custom fertiliser development and distribution of specialty products into the turf market in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

I worked in the wholesale business for 3 years before moving back into the retail market with Nuturf. I spent over 14 years in the Nuturf/Amgrow business before moving to TurfCare Australia for an 8-month period as Business Manager.

Maitland City Council

In January 2019 I moved back into Local Government to take up the position of Operations Manager Recreation at Maitland City Council where I remain today. This is a very diverse role as I manage a department of 60+ staff with 4 direct reports and 13 Team Leaders, each with a crew of 3-4 staff who maintain trees, gardens, parks, playgrounds, landscape construction, open space, roadside mowing, weeds & Biosecurity. I have a very supportive management team above me who value my knowledge and experience which allows me to provide the resources required to achieve continual improvement in all areas of the Recreation space in Maitland LGA.

“We are lucky to have such a leader in the turf industry at Maitland City Council. When Caine joined us nearly 5 years ago, I believed (noting I am an engineer with absolutely no turf background) we had the makings of a good sports turf management crew, however, Caine has implemented significant change, training, and polish to all of our staff working in this area to ensure we have a great turf management team. This has resulted in not only significant improvements and outcomes at our regional facilities, but the improved work practices of our teams are making a huge difference to all our sports turf facilities across the LGA.” Ashley Kavanagh, Works Manager Maitland City Council.

I also have 2 specialised Turf Management Crews who maintain our sports turf surfaces. A team of 4 are full-time at Maitland Regional Sports Complex and a team of 6 who maintain over 60 hectares of sports grounds, of which 30 hectares are irrigated.

The Regional Sports complex consists of the Regional Sportsground, a 1.6 hectare multi-use facility with a grandstand capacity of 1100 which was rebuilt in 2017. The ground is currently the training base for the Newcastle Jets Men’s A-League team and the Maitland Pickers Rugby League Club. The surface was initially turfed with Grand Prix Couch in 2017, with sand slit drainage, sand grooving and irrigation installed.

In 2020 an IAAF standard synthetic athletics track with all supporting athletics infrastructure was constructed on the old outer fields. I was asked to provide input into the development of the specification for the construction of the 8,000m2 infield. The profile is 300mm deep local dune sand amended with organics. Irrigation and drainage were installed during construction and the surface has a 1% fall from the centre in an East/West direction. The grass type selected was TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda. The decision was made to use this grass after reviewing the data from several trials, it’s also the only turf variety with the Smart Approved Water Mark.

Turf producer Musturf completed the project for us supplying and installing the turf which was of exceptional quality. The establishment period was amazing with root development greater than 50mm in a 4 week period.

The surface has performed extremely well over the past 3 seasons. We have shaved the surface twice to soil surface using a topmaker, with full coverage back again within 4 weeks. Topdressing happens 2 weeks after the topmaker and the surface is cut at 12-15mm.

Due to the performance of the TifTuf on the athletics infield, I made the decision to change the turf variety of the Regional Sportsground from Grand Prix to TifTuf. We were having issues with the lateral growth of Grand Prix couch which was impacting the recovery from wear and transitioning from the ryegrass oversowing program back to the couch. With the support from my Manager Ashley Kavanagh who backed my reasoning for the change in turf species, “Caine’s technical knowledge and ability to demonstrate the reasoning for Council to invest in changing the grass variety that had only been down for 5 years over to TifTuf was a decision that was well worth the investment. The positive feedback from user groups, our community and most importantly our staff who maintain the facility is amazing. The results are speaking for themselves”. In October 2022 we sprayed out the surface and then removed 70mm from the surface of the Sportsground.

TifTuf vegetive material was supplied, which was spread and grooved rolled and then solid rolled into the surface. 12 weeks later we had a 100% cover of TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda which looked fantastic. We have oversowed ryegrass into the surface this season and the surface has been rated as one of the best surfaces played on by a number of visiting A League clubs as well as the Newcastle Jets. Adam Nial (Team Leader of the Turf Maintenance crew) is very happy with the amount of TifTuf he is seeing below the rye and in recovering divots.

The feedback from the users of both surfaces has been amazing, with the quality of the surfaces always a topic of conversation amongst them. We have several sports ground projects coming up in the next couple of years and the decision is to replicate the specification of the Athletics infield into these new fields including surfacing with TifTuf.

I feel blessed to have had the career I’ve had, and I feel privileged that Maitland City Council have given me an opportunity to bring my passion, knowledge, and experience to take their existing fields to the next level and develop new standards in the development of new fields.

Nestled between the bustling streets of Brisbane and the cruisy coastal towns of the Sunshine Coast lies the Go Turf farm.

With a sprawling 130 hectares of top-quality turf in the Glasshouse Mountains region, Go Turf is the largest turf farm on the Sunshine Coast. They proudly supply high-quality drought-tolerant turf to Queensland-based developers, builders, landscapers, and homeowners. The Beerburrum-based farm is owned and operated by the Heilig Family, with four generations of farming expertise under their belts; this is a family endeavour.

From mums and dads to large commercial projects and everyone in between, each turf order that comes their way will see the turf being harvested and delivered on the same day. It’s an early start for the Go Turf team as they harvest and deliver their premium turf in a tight timeframe across Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Logan, the Gold Coast, the Fraser Coast, Ipswich, and Toowoomba.

While high-quality turf is their bread and butter now, if you visited the Go Turf farm over 15 years ago, you would have found sugar cane and small crops growing there instead. Over the years, spearheaded by Anthony Heilig, the family has come to specialise solely in producing turf and coined the saying, “Great things happen on grass.”

The team knows that great family moments happen on grass, and they love helping Queensland families find the best turf variety for their yards. Priding themselves on their exceptional customer service, the team work hard to help people pick the perfect turf for their outdoor space, prepare, deliver and install it on-site, and love to provide expert advice on keeping the grass thriving. All in the hopes that everyone can continue to make those special memories with the ones they love.

Having such a large farm allows the team to grow all of the turf themselves, meaning they don’t have to source it from anywhere else and can keep a close eye on it and attend to it all year round. Customers can have peace of mind knowing that their grass has come straight from the Go Turf farm to their yard and nowhere in between.

Meeting their quality assurance and closely overseeing every order from paddock to yard may sound challenging when managing hundreds of acres of turf, running two offices, preparing yards, and delivering and installing turf across a substantial pocket of southeast Queensland. However, thanks to the business undergoing a digital transformation, the team have accurate information and real-time updates at their fingertips with their fully digital order management system.

From the office to the operations teams, all turf orders, including the delivery and installation requirements, can be placed, invoiced, paid, harvested, scheduled, delivered, fulfilled, and signed off online through the GoTurf platform. Whether on the Go Turf web app or iPad and iPhone applications, the business operations offer the team a 360 view of the business at any time from one spot. From harvesting quantities to delivery routes, the team can easily verify order information and stay updated with real-time updates from one place. While there’s no denying hard work is involved, it’s all carried out with a smile, a strong sense of pride and gratitude and the unified belief that there’s nowhere else they’d rather be than 434 Mekins Rd.

While using technology to improve their workflow and processes has been a game-changer, the team understands the importance of consultations and conversations when ordering turf. The Beerburrum farm doors have always been open, with Karlie and Denieka on hand to help with any questions or orders that come through the door, over the phone or online.

Nevertheless, this year marked the opening of their new Brendale office to provide a local service to North Brisbane, where turf is front and centre. The family is hopeful this will give more people a way to see, touch, and learn all about turf whilst benefiting from direct consultation with the preparation team to get the right advice and product. Turf is the store hero, and the team looks forward to sharing their knowledge of grass near and far to help Brisbane and beyond transform their green spaces.

Despite expanding down the coast, you’ll still find the same familiar faces on the Beerburrum farm. With the backdrop of the Glasshouse Mountains, the endless sunshine the region promises, and their genuine love for the outdoors, it’s safe to say the Go Turf farm is a great place to be. A visit to 434 Mekins Road will leave you with no doubt that this close-knit team is passionate about what they do and all things grass.

Simon Hutton, Managing Director of Tillers Turf

With extensive experience in the Sports Turf Industry, Simon Hutton dubbed the ‘UK Turf Master’ now has over 2,500 acres of sports turf in production. Simon’s operation supplies most of the turf and pitches for almost all the top stadiums and sports across the UK. Tillers Turf also owns several golf courses and has a strong focus on improving turf products for the industry. Simon’s turf farm and his approach to turf farming is one of the best you will ever see.

We recently caught up with Simon during his recent visit to Australia as a guest speaker for the Lawn Solutions Australia Global Turf Conference.

Simon Hutton – Born in Lincolnshire UK, in 1978

My father was PGA Head Professional Golfer at Sleaford Golf Club, Lincolnshire. His dream was always to build and run his own golf course. In 1986 a small pocket for land came up for sale, 8 miles up the road, in a small village called Carlton Scroop.  It comprised a farmyard, with 17 acres of pasture land attached.  We gang-mowed the field with a Massey Ferguson 135 and a set of Ransomes Gang Mowers. We mowed out 6 Greens with a Ransomes Certes, cut some holes, bought some cups, pins and flags, made some tee markers by filling coke cans with concrete and a 6-inch nail, added a couple of coats of paint and we were away.  The system Dad implemented was an honesty box at the entrance and the fee was £1 for a full day’s golf… After a successful 9 months, Dad was able to leave his Head Pro’s job and dedicate all his time to Carlton Scroop, teaching daily and carrying out course maintenance and development, while converting the stone barn in the farmyard to be the family home.

In 1990, Dad and Mum bought an additional 20 acres adjoining the existing 17 acres and that summer we constructed 9 greens, tees, and fairways. This was the start of Sudbrook Moor Golf Club as we know it today. During this construction period at age 11, I helped Dad with the earthworks, ploughing, cultivation, seeding and the ‘grow-in.’ In the summer of 1992, we opened a new layout of the course, renamed Sudbrook Moor.

My contracting started in 1993, aged 13, mowing lawns and selling firewood. At age 15 I grew my first field of turf, on one acre – approximately 4,000m2. My friends were doing a paper round 6 mornings a week for £4, while I was harvesting a pallet of turf with a Ryan Turf Cutter on a Saturday morning for £50.

I left school in 1995, already with loads of construction, turf care and turf production experience. A member of our golf club approached me, he wanted me to spray his greens at the local RAF base where he volunteered as a greenkeeper. I quoted him £350, won the job and that’s where the outside contracting began. A year later when I was 17, our local Sisis Rep, Jason Briggs, recommended me to Grimsby Town Football Club. It was a very wet winter and they needed 20 tonnes of sand spreading on the pitch. With our lightweight 16hp Massey Ferguson compact tractor and Sisis Powerspread, we carried out the work and everything went well. I charged £400, realising at this point that, there was probably some mileage in contracting, compared with only earning £55 per week working on the golf course at home.

I printed some flyers and mailed them out to every golf course in Lincolnshire. Within 3 weeks I had about a 10% response, which was really incredible. I then quickly invested in a Wiedenmann Terra Spike and an Ifor Williams trailer and expanded the turf production up to 10 acres – 40,000m2.

The contracting was steadily growing through Lincolnshire while expanding further afield.   In 1998 we were asked to hollow core and collect the outfield at Lords Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood, London. In 1999-2003 we were involved in the re-turfing of Manchester United, Old Trafford. Things were now starting to happen. In 2002 the Head Groundsman of Manchester United, Keith Porter, said to me, “If you buy a Koro Field Topmaker you can Fraize Mow all 18 pitches at Carrington Training Grounds.” I bought a Koro, and a 120hp Massey Ferguson, and had made two dump trailers by that time. In May 2003 we carried out these works on the 18 pitches. 20 years on, in 2023, we are still working for Manchester United, carrying out 100% of their end-of-season renovations and construction projects. This year, at Lords, 25 years on, after multiple projects, we are continuing to successfully carry out all their end-of-season renovations and, this Autumn, we are to reconstruct the Nursery Ground.

In 2005 we created Lakeland Specialist Earthworks, with Wayne Freeman, a well-respected golf course shaper. We started with one 14-tonne excavator and a dumper. With gradual growth, we now have a huge fleet of heavy plant and Lakeland compliments Tillers all over the UK. Lakeland is involved in all the UK contracting projects and also in our own home location infrastructure works.

In 2007 Fineturf Machinery Limited was born. We were finding that on our travels there were offers of good quality second-hand equipment for sale. In turn, we also had equipment to sell to our existing and new clients. A huge growth within this business came when the Ministry of Defence changed its Grounds Maintenance Contractor and we bought, refurbished and sold over 650 machines. In the golf world, John Deere was becoming very successful in some big fleet deals and we followed them around and bought most of the ex-service Toro Equipment from golf clubs at The Belfry, Woburn, Gleneagles, Wentworth and many more. This equipment was then refurbished and sent out globally. To this day, we call it “Second Life Equipment”, run by Tom Moor. Globally we are still prominent in the Second Life market for golf and landscape equipment.

In 2011, I bought Tillers Turf, which was a well-established 300-acre turf production site. It had a great reputation, supplying heavily into the Golf and Landscape market. In the last 12 years we have grown that business, and we are now in production of 26 different turf products and 6 mainstream Wildflower Turf Products. This equates to production of 2,200 acres – 10,000,000 m2. Heading up the turf production is Alan Whiteley, celebrating this summer 25 years’ service at Tillers. Alan is supported by our Golf and Technical Manager, Richard Owens, along with a well-oiled and dedicated Golf, Football, Landscape Production and Harvest Teams.

In the last 5 years at Tillers, we have developed HTPro our Hybrid Turf System. We were originally approached by Tottenham Football Club, close to the end of their new stadium construction project, enquiring about producing a Hybrid Turf Pitch for them. With a lot of research and hard work, we established a pitch in one of our fields. We grew it during the spring/ early summer, harvested it and transported it to the stadium at the end of July 2018. The hard work and dedication of the Specialist Football Team at Tillers had paid off, the pitch was a success. Over the past 4 years, this system has been laid in the Stadia at Swansea, Leeds, MK Dons, Principality and Oxford. Annually, we now produce for Tottenham, Liverpool, London Stadium and 3 per year for Wembley Stadium.

Fineturf, over 20 years, has constructed every UK Cricket Test Wicket and every UK Lawn Tennis Association grass court, including 29 grass courts for AELTC (Wimbledon). All these projects have been managed by Contracts Manager, Jim Coleman, and his Team. In Golf we have carried out successful construction and specialist maintenance projects at 100’s of Golf Courses.  Recently we constructed the new 18th green at The Belfry, four times venue of The Ryder Cup. Also, the Titleist Performance Centre at the world-famous Woburn Golf Club and tee reconstruction at Royal St George’s Golf Club (prior to the 2022 British Open), to name just a few. Football pitch construction and maintenance have also been a huge part of the growth of the business, carrying out multiple projects up and down the UK for numerous clients, large and small. Horse Racing contracts have been a lot of fun over the last 29 years, with multiple drainage, levelling and track reconstruction projects, for the likes of Sandown, Epsom, Cheltenham, Doncaster, Newmarket, Haydock, Nottingham, Market Rasen, Huntingdon, Warwick, Uttoxeter, Southwell, Hereford, Chepstow, Great Yarmouth and Leicester Racecourses.

The future is exciting across the group of companies. I am well supported by Co-directors Becky Watson and Wayne Billing. At Tillers, we are custom-growing turf for some new Golf Projects in the UK, including the new Trump Course in Aberdeen, Scotland. HTPro will continue to be developed and expand and we will persist in the innovation of new turf systems, complementing our existing range, for a wide range of clients. At Fineturf, we have much to look forward to – the AELTC Wimbledon is just going through planning permission to redevelop the old Wimbledon Park Golf Club into 29 new construction grass courts. This will include one Show Court and a Community Park, and this project duration is estimated to be 9 years.

Manchester United are also in the planning stages, to either move or redevelop its existing training ground, to produce approximately 34 new world-class pitches, over the next 7 years.

We have so much to look forward to and plenty of existing projects to keep us busy…….

The Australian Lawn Fanatics (AUSLF) Facebook Group teams up with Gotcha4Life

By Lenny Lawler, AUSLF

The Australian Lawn Fanatics Group began in February 2015 as the Southeast Queensland Lawn Fanatics, after a simple conversation between 2 blokes after renovating a lawn. The concept was to get a small network of like-minded people together to help each other out with the physical job of lawn renovations. That small group took a year to grow to 100, and then as the boundaries of SEQ blurred we took the leap and became the Qld Lawn Fanatics. The popularity of the fanatics group and lawns on social media saw a rapid increase in membership numbers and blurred the boundaries again, so in 2017 we expanded to become the Australia-wide group that we are today. We’ve always tried to keep the fanatics true to its original concept of being an independent source of information, a community that helps each other and somewhere you can spend some time ogling incredible lawns.

But with any online environment, unfortunately, there can be negativity and we have experienced individuals who engage in sending harmful messages and generally abusing the community we have created. We’ve learned over time that it’s not healthy to keep this negativity to ourselves, so we discuss it openly in our private chat group. It’s where we go to vent about things, lawn-related or not and there’s always someone to listen and have a chat with, we have each other’s backs with everything in life. Recently we discussed what good things we could do to make a difference with using our social media platform which now has almost 100,000 members. I put forward the suggestion of partnering with Gotchya4Life and it was a unanimous decision. For those who haven’t seen what Gotchya4life do, their goal is ‘Fostering Good Mental Health for a Better Tomorrow.’

In an increasingly fast-paced and demanding world, good mental health is a precious asset that often goes unnoticed until it’s compromised. Organisations like Gotcha4Life have emerged as beacons of hope, tirelessly working to promote mental wellness and resilience. It’s a grim reality that in Australia 7 men and 2 women who woke up this morning will take their own lives today, that’s every day and that’s a statistic that really shocked us as we researched how we could help. The goal is zero.

One of the most crucial aspects of Gotcha4Life’s mission is destigmatising mental health issues. Historically, discussing mental health problems has been surrounded by shame and secrecy. However, organisations like Gotcha4Life are breaking down these barriers by encouraging open conversations about mental well-being. This shift is essential because it encourages individuals to seek help when needed, reducing the likelihood of mental health issues worsening over time. Another cornerstone of Gotcha4Life’s work is building a sense of community and connection. We saw this in the Fanatics group, particularly during COVID-19 and the lockdowns most people endured. Our group was a place where people would go to try and mentally escape from the drudgery of being in lockdown.

Education plays a vital role in mental health awareness and Gotcha4Life is dedicated to spreading knowledge. The organisation collaborates with schools, workplaces, and communities to educate people about the importance of mental health and equip them with tools to support themselves and others. By doing so, Gotcha4Life empowers individuals to recognise early signs of mental health issues and take proactive steps to address them.

The link between good mental health and physical health is undeniable, but I also strongly believe that getting outside, getting dirt on your hands, and connecting with the earth has enormous benefits. Gotcha4Life recognises this connection and advocates for holistic well-being. Physical activities and a healthy lifestyle are promoted as integral components of maintaining good mental health. Through various programs, Gotcha4Life encourages individuals to adopt healthier habits that benefit both body and mind.

Where do the Fanatics and the turf community at large fit into this? We’ve started a campaign to raise awareness and funds for Gotchya4life to hold workshops that take away the stigma and let you examine your mental fitness. We reached out to our friends in the industry and Lawn Solutions Australia was the first to jump in and donate $1000, that’s what a mental fitness workshop costs to run. The challenge is to match that generous donation or host a workshop, so that’s what we’re hoping to achieve. To fund as many workshops as we can.

Over the last 8 years, we’ve been lucky enough to experience some amazing things. From being a groundsman for a day at the Rugby League State of Origin to attendance at events like the Lawn Solutions Australia Conference and Awards Night. We’ve met some fantastic people and made some lifelong friends and contacts that have allowed us to help a huge number of people. We’ve partnered with some very generous companies to give away everything from a new lawn to countless mowers, snippers, blowers and even a few irrigation systems along the way.

After answering thousands of “What weed is this” or “How do I do this” questions over the 8 years since starting the fanatics back in February 2015, this partnership with Gotchya4life is the thing I’m most proud of.

Those 9 Australians who wake up every morning deciding that today is their last day are just too many, the goal is zero, zero suicides. Please check out the Australian Lawn Fanatics Group on Facebook for more information on how you can become involved or visit the Gotchya4life website to donate today.

With Dr. Christian Spring, STRI

Through the work of Dr. Christian Spring, Principal Scientist at STRI Group, we’re going to share some valuable insights on the role of science in sport. To set the scene, STRI is a globally renowned consultancy and research business that services the turf and sports surface industry. Whilst STRI’s global headquarters can be found nestled in the countryside of Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, it also has a base in Australia, principally working out of Melbourne. The team at STRI works on a wide range of sports and projects in a wide range of sports facilities from planning, designing, building and maintaining, with all of this being built on the foundation of science, engineering and research. Science truly is at the core of STRI’s DNA.

As part of the wider STRI Group, it is joined by a host of other companies offering a range of services to both the sports and urban environments. These include The Environmental Protection Group, which specialises in integrated water management, SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems), green infrastructure, contaminated land and ground gas management, as well as building waterproofing. Another key STRI Group company is Carrick Sports Construction. As their name suggests, their primary area of operation is taking designs and making them a reality. They are involved with building all types of sports surface, but increasingly getting involved with landscaping and green infrastructure projects.

Now over to Dr. Spring….

So how did I become embedded in the turf and sports surface industry, on a path that has seen me working for STRI for the past 18 years? Well, like any good story, it all starts in childhood. As a boy I was always fascinated with nature, the environment and how the natural world works – I suspect this is the origin story for many scientists around the world! This meant that I had an interest and aptitude for science, which was spotted by teachers who fed this hunger for knowledge and understanding.

Growing up, through school and University, I have always had a passion for natural/life sciences such as biology, chemistry and physical geography. This culminated in doing a BSc degree in Environmental Science at the University of Stirling in Scotland. During this time, I got bitten by the bug, that bug being soil science. For some reason, what happens beneath our feet really spoke to my inner curiosity and I was hooked. It also meant I could indulge my natural interest in biology, chemistry and physical geography – all of which are key to understanding the soil ecosystem.  Soil science may not be seen by many scientists as sexy, but it is vital for those involved with industries growing crops, be they wheat, potatoes, grazing grass or sports turf.

This passion for what goes on under our feet is what pushed me to postgraduate studies. After completing my degree in Environmental Science, which gave me a broad understanding of global, regional and local natural and human-modified environments, I embarked on a Soil Science based PhD, again at the University of Stirling. I have to say, it is a tough call as to my favourite location to live, Scotland is a beautiful place with fantastic people and I spent a very happy nine years immersed in life there. However, just edging it is Yorkshire and in particular, North Yorkshire where I currently live and have done for the past 15 years. However, I am digressing so back to the task at hand, how did I find myself working at STRI?

The answer is simple, luck (some may call it fate). After completing my PhD and post-doctoral contract projects, I needed to find a career. I wanted to work in applied science where the outcome of my work could have direct impacts in the field. As it happened, whilst I was scouring the scientific press I saw a job advertised at the Sports Turf Research Institute based in West Yorkshire. The role was STRI Soil Scientist working in the Soil Physics department. I hadn’t even considered sports surfaces and their need for soil scientists, but the job description intrigued me and I applied. Fortunately for me, I had an interview and was lucky to be offered the job, which I did not hesitate to accept. Yorkshire here I come!

Starting at STRI opened my eyes and my imagination to the possibilities of using my scientific skills to help advance the understanding and design of sports surfaces. In my role, I was heavily involved in designing, running, and reporting on research projects that focussed on design and surface performance. This took me on a tour of all the sports surface types that STRI now works on, ranging from football, rugby, golf, tennis, cricket, horse racing and equestrian surfaces (turf and all weather), greyhound racing and Gaelic sports. As my knowledge of sports surfaces grew on how they were designed and built and the impact of this on their operation and performance, I wanted to understand the bigger picture of how these surfaces worked agronomically and what might we need to do differently in the future.

This set me on the path of building my understanding of surface management techniques, integrated turf management, pest/weed/disease issues, turf nutrition, the environmental impact of managing turf surfaces and how do turf and sport surface managers design, build and operate our surfaces in the most sustainable way. This entailed running over 100 research projects, and fascinating it was too. This has turned me into the passionate “sand and turf geek” I am today and drives me to understand how and why we do what we do and how can we make it as sustainable as possible.

At the heart of my 18 years at STRI has been the need to link what we do and how we understand our surfaces with science and research. Science is truth and enlightenment and with this powerful knowledge we can truly understand what we do, why we do it, and the impacts we have. Science allows us to understand the past and the present whilst shaping the future from a position of knowledge and understanding.

And this is where I find myself today, as STRI Group Principal Scientist. This means I help to provide scientific support to all aspects of the business. Looking at what we do now and how can we pull together the knowledge we have and use it to shape the design, build and operation of sports surfaces, built environments and green infrastructure in the most sustainable way. Key to this is bringing together science and knowledge and communicating that among colleagues and with the wider world. Not bad for a kid who liked to play with bugs in the dirt patch in the back garden!

Bryan Tolar
Tolar Capitol Partners, Inc.

Thousands of products flood consumer markets each year. Many of these innovations seek to replace those that have come before them. Science and technology stop for no one.

Telephones, for example, have been used across the globe over multiple generations. They seem simple enough but hand an old rotary phone to young folks and watch their reaction. Likewise, hand a new smartphone to a more “seasoned” generation and you’ll often witness an entertaining response. Familiarity makes all the difference.

A similar comparison can be made for homeowners caring for their lawns. Years of experience with a home lawn is important, but not always ideal for the new turf cultivars dominating the market. Science is taking a new approach to using fewer resources to achieve even higher results. While new turfgrasses do not require a steep learning curve, increased familiarity will benefit both the lawn and the end-user.

Reduced water use is among the focal points of some new grasses. Historically, irrigation has been synonymous with caring for a lawn…just like phones, times have changed. “Lawns need 25mm of water per week in the spring and autumn,” is a well-established rule of thumb for many homeowners, but this amounts to wasted water and a needless expense for an increasing number of lawns today.

University research programs have made reduced water use a priority. Decades of turf breeding have ushered in new options that are indeed better than the lawns familiar to most homeowners.

Case in point, TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda Grass is a product of turfgrass science, and it is the leader in landscapes to help conserve our water resources. It came from 20 years of research and, when compared to the most commonly used bermudagrass previously, it has a proven record of top aesthetics with less irrigation, maintaining high turf quality under drought stress, and providing outstanding durability for active pets and families. When it comes to bermudagrass, TifTuf is often referred to as the “Alpha Grass” because of such superior performance.

From the University of Georgia’s renowned turf breeding program, TifTuf has shown it can achieve a top-quality lawn with 38% less water use.

This is a great achievement. Having such a product available for homeowners, as well as golf courses, sports fields, parks, and commercial properties, is saving water everywhere bermudagrass thrives. Product marketing helps to promote the water conservation aspects of this wildly successful turfgrass, but water savings can be maximised by further engaging end users.

With a focus on water conservation, farms that grow and sell TifTuf in the US in the Atlanta and Georgia areas reached out to customers who planted TifTuf lawns in recent years. The communication served to remind them of the water conservation characteristics of their new landscape turf.

US Turf Producers Buy Sod, NG Turf, and Super Sod voluntarily took this extra step to help homeowners avoid wasting water on their TifTuf lawns while also saving them money through lower water bills.

A letter, coupled with a concise TifTuf Easy Care Guide, was mailed to each resident in this pilot initiative. The guide focused on the characteristics of TifTuf genetics along with tips on achieving the best results for their lawn. It tracked each season, spring through winter, with pointers on mow height, fertilisation, and weed control, while also encouraging less irrigation. Research findings show that once TifTuf is rooted in and established, its turf genetics dictate it will rarely need irrigation, even during a moderate drought. Homeowners and the environment benefit from this reminder. This is an important message in Australia also, with the very hot and dry conditions experienced so far this season and forecast to continue.

The care guide was developed to be a tool to help these homeowners best manage their new grass in comparison to what they may have been accustomed to in the past…out with the rotary phone and in with the smartphone. New technology needs education.

It’s important to note TifTuf is available only as blue tag-certified sod in the US and AusGAP Certified in Australia, which protects genetic purity. This assurance of quality is provided by each certifying agency with farm inspections of fields where it was grown. Genetics is the key to the water-saving success of TifTuf, but only if information and education are reaching the ones that control the water spigot. Marketing the benefits of any turfgrass cultivar is essential, but education on important characteristics such as reduced water use is imperative to achieve the best results.

When it comes to technology, consumers must trust science and be familiar with its benefits to achieve the most reward. For turfgrass, we can reduce water use, achieve better turf quality…and save money. With smartphones, we have access to information worldwide and countless cat videos…while still receiving phone calls. Rotary dial not included.

Keith McAuliffe, Managing Director Labosport Australia

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, jointly hosted by New Zealand and Australia was a resounding success for FIFA and football (soccer). The month-long Tournament was deemed by FIFA’s President, Gianni Infantino, to be the most successful Women’s Tournament yet, with match attendance figures and merchandise figures toppling expectations.

For a Tournament like the Women’s World Cup, there is a requirement for the playing surfaces to be of the highest quality.  Visiting teams from around the world now come to expect the surface, both for match-play and training, to be world-class.

This was the task facing Labosport’s Australian staff, who were commissioned by FIFA’s Pitches Overseer, Alan Ferguson, to ensure top-quality pitches across Australia (the same challenge was faced by Labosport’s New Zealand arm, the NZ Sports Turf Institute with venues in that country).

There were several challenges with this World Cup that would not normally arise, namely:

• The Tournament was held across a wide geographic and climate band, from the sub-tropical zone of Queensland to the cool season zones of the southern parts of NZ and Australia. Turf maintenance programs had to be customised for each region, and there was definitely no “one size fits all” approach.
• The Tournament was held in mid-winter, unlike most FIFA tournaments to date. This meant having to contend with poor growth/recovery during the Tournament and the greater likelihood of weather interference.
• Most venues were required for club usage in the months leading up to the Tournament, with only a few weeks scheduled for rest and recovery before tournament use.
• Several venues were multi-use and often subjected to intensive use. This was particularly applicable to the major venues, such as Brisbane and Sydney Football Stadiums.
• Playing surfaces were largely warm-season grass surfaces, which needed to be over-seeded with perennial ryegrass prior to the Tournament.

Our work officially got underway in August 2021, with visits to all potential match and training venues.  Approximately 70 venues were inspected and tested in Australia alone. Each venue was thoroughly assessed using Labosport’s Scoreplay system, with the resulting reports highlighting both current performance and any identified risks associated with the venue. This information was then used by the Cup Organising Committee to help derive a short list of training venues.

After the initial inspection, Labosport was requested by FIFA to provide periodic visits to each venue to monitor performance and progress and to help derive plans to mitigate any risks associated with the venue.  Poor drainage with resulting waterlogging was an obvious risk with many of the venues, which generally required more frequent deep soil aeration.

Visit frequency was intensified as we got closer to the Tournament, with FIFA requesting monthly visits to all venues in the latter few months. This frequency of visits certainly allowed us to build up a detailed database on the performance of each venue.

From the outset, we derived a set of playing performance targets for the Tournament, and we reported against these targets with each visit. It was rewarding to see the progress made and the interest shown by Turf Managers in the database produced.

Looking at the Tournament overall, and what we felt were determinants of a successful pitch, several key points come to mind. These are outlined below.

Starting early to ensure optimal turf performance by the start of the (2023) football season

To ensure the turf cover was dense and robust going into the 2023 season we needed to plan a full 12+ months ahead. Venues went through a planned and customised 2022 spring renovation.  In a couple of cases, this involved re-surfacing and/or drainage work. In other cases, work was confined to more intensive renovation, with soil aeration and a levelling/topdressing program.

Controlling Usage During the Football Season

Clubs were requested by FIFA to regulate usage, in particular training, in the lead-up to the Tournament. This was a big ask and meant clubs had to limit usage (particularly training) throughout the season since any damage done going into winter would be hard to repair in time for the Tournament.

That only a couple of venues needed to re-turf high-wear zones with instant-play turf was impressive, and clubs must be commended on the usage control strategies employed. Keeping training out of goal boxes (where possible) and adjusting field widths (where ground dimensions allowed) were two of the more effective strategies used.

Over-seeding

It was a requirement for all venues to be perennial ryegrass for the Tournament. Some of our venues were ryegrass, to begin with, but most needed to be over-seeded.  Timing of the over-seeding varied, depending on usage program and climate.  In most cases, over-seeding was done mid-late autumn, with many clubs allowing a decent window to get young ryegrass strong before re-use. Again, there were exceptions to this, with the likes of Brisbane Stadium and Sydney Football Stadium having no decent break in usage to get ryegrass mature.

Over-seeding was something new at several venues.  Furthermore, heavier-than-normal rates of ryegrass were required to get the density of grass desired by FIFA. The challenge now is to transition back to the primary, warm-season grass base. If delayed too long the shading from the ryegrass will have a damaging effect on the warm-season grass, with a carryover into next season. Transitioning is currently underway at venues in Brisbane and Sydney.

Resourcing and Training

Many of the selected venues are traditionally managed throughout the season with limited resources, often using club volunteers.  Our initial visits helped identify venues where extra resourcing was required to minimise risk and to help ensure a top-class surface. In several cases experienced local contractors were called on to assist with turf management in the lead-up to the Tournament.

Mention must also be made of the FIFA Pitch Workshops, conducted by FIFA’s Alan Ferguson.  These workshops definitely made a difference, in particular by spelling out the quality expectations required for the Tournament.

Playing Surface Standards and Benchmarking

Performance testing was carried out from the outset of venue inspections.   Each venue was performance tested on multiple occasions (monthly as the Tournament neared). This frequent testing enabled tracking or benchmarking of key performance parameters, such as infiltration rate, surface hardness and traction.  Turf Managers at each venue could identify how they were tracking against recommended targets, and FIFA management was provided with objective data for assessing and reporting. It was our intention to get all training venues to perform as close to the match venues as possible. Furthermore, we wanted to have venues across all states (and countries) perform similarly.

Tests used and properties measured during visits included: lightweight rotational traction device for surface stability; Clegg impact tester for surface hardness;  straight edge for levelness;  NDVI  for turf health and colour; root zone sampling for rooting depth and soil health; infiltrometer for infiltration rate; floating disk for effective height of cut; Advanced Artificial Athlete for shock absorption and vertical deformation; Inclined plane for ball roll distance and vertical ball drop for ball rebound height.  Each test result was given a score (1-4) based on the international database developed by Labosport, with an overall total score given for the playing surface that reflected the measured quality on the day of testing.

 The End Result

Most of our venues have never looked and performed as well as they did during the Tournament, which is a tribute to the efforts made by many, in particular the clubs and councils that participated.  It will be interesting to see whether the same commitment to achieving a quality playing surface is extended into the next and following seasons.

Working on the Women’s World Cup project, alongside many of our leading Turf Managers and contractors, has been a rewarding experience for Labosport’s Australian staff. The progress made with pitch quality over the past couple of years has been very noticeable, and I feel our industry can be proud of what has been achieved. The quality of the playing surfaces would undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the Tournament.