www.stma.org June 2014 | SportsTurf 29
Institute (STRI) in Yorkshire. But before my visit, I was able to
do some hiking in the Yorkshire Dales. What does this have to do
with sports turf management? On the theme that basics matter,
the Yorkshire Dales are a perfect example of the importance of a
brilliant growing environment. The Dales are river valleys that have
acres and acres of almost perfect grass. No pesticides, fertilizers or
irrigation are used and the meadows are frequently mowed by herds
of sheep. There are hardly any weeds and the hiking paths show
little signs of wear. What they do have is an ideal growing environ-
ment. It rarely gets too hot, they receive just the right amount of
rain and suitable grass species are used. These vast areas have very
few inputs but they are thriving. Proper fundamentals take care of
most of their turf management challenges.
From the Yorkshire Dales, I headed to the STRI in Bingley for
a tour from Head of Turfgrass Biology, Dr. Andrew Newell. The
STRI performs turfgrass research and consults for many of the
top sports events in the world such as The Open Championship
(British Open), FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon. Much of their
turfgrass research is similar to what occurs at American universities
with the biggest difference being that STRI concentrates much
of their work on wear tolerance. After being subjected to large
amounts of artificial play, the differences in cultivar wear tolerance
are striking and easy to see with some plots being almost completely
deteriorated and some looking like no wear had been applied. Even
product testing is aimed at wear tolerance, with many turfgrass
plots subjected to different regiments of fertilizers, growth regula-
tors and other products that claim to help with wear. They can
scientifically show which of these products are effective and which
ones are of little use when fighting wear. Choosing wear tolerant
Much of their turfgrass research is similar to what
occurs at American universities with the biggest
difference being that STRI concentrates much
of their work on wear tolerance.
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Wimbledon, Court 1. Grow-in of new cultivars of perennial ryegrass.
