SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/50965
FieldScience | Dave Radueg Polo fields: uniquely challenging turf management turf and playing surface that could be compared with the world class polo fields in Florida, California and Argentina that they are used to playing on. POLO BASICS Outside of polo circles, little is >> The fields were built without drainage, without proper grading and it appears as though 4 to 6 inches of sandy loam was thrown on top of the native soil and rock that were left over from the cobblestone mine that the area was used for at the beginning of the century. A T THE BEGINNING OF 2011, all I knew about polo was that Prince William liked to play the sport and that I could buy a t-shirt with a polo player in the corner for more money than I am willing to spend on a t-shirt. As an assistant golf course superintendent, I didn't even know that Colorado had polo fields. As I toured the J-5 Equestrian Center during my first interview, I knew immedi- ately that my first year managing polo fields might provide a unique variety of challenges. When these polo fields were built more than 20 years ago, the intention was to use them for polo as a hobby, not as a profes- sional polo facility. The fields were built without drainage, without proper grading and it appears as though 4 to 6 inches of 16 SportsTurf | January 2012 sandy loam was thrown on top of the native soil and rock that were left over from the cobblestone mine that the area was used for at the beginning of the century. When our team, Valiente, took a lease on the fields the team owner and players real- ized that in order to play at a competitive level, the condition of the fields would need to change dramatically. Valiente's vision is to bring these polo fields to a level beyond past expectations and to create a standard for the known about the sport, so let's start with a few polo basics. These fields are regulation size, 300 yards long by 160 yards wide. That is just less than 10 acres per field. In perspective, each polo field is larger than 9 football fields. This facility has two regulation playing fields and a 3-acre practice field. The entire length of each field is lined with 11-inch high side boards. Although the side boards and end lines indicate the boundaries of the field of play, the areas outside of these bound- aries are not considered out of bounds. If the ball or the players move outside of these borders, they simply continue playing and move back into the boundaries. The field markings are simple. The end lines are painted across the length of the field; the cen- ter is indicated with T-shaped mark- ings, and the 30, 40 and 60 yard lines are marked for penalty shots. The goal posts are 10 feet high, 24 feet apart, and are placed in the center of each end line. Each player rides 4 to 6 polo ponies during the course of the game to keep the ponies rested for maximum per- formance. Each team has four players on the field, plus two umpires on horses. The game is played in 6 chukkers (periods) of 7 minutes each. So there are 10 horses running, stop- ping, and turning at full speed for 42 minutes. Every step a horse takes cre- ates four divots. I don't know how many divots are made when 3 to 5 games are played each week, but I can assure you, it is a lot, and that is where the job of turf manager comes in. The divot operation is probably the most unique aspect of polo field main- tenance compared with other sports. A 1,100-pound horse running at 40 mph www.sportsturfonline.com By Polo Illustration above ©istockphoto.com/anelluk