Victoria Park Keeps Playing Through The Rain
Presenting surfaces befitting the standards of the best bowlers in the country has always been the aim at Victoria Park, with the prestigious venue at Royal Leamington Spa playing host to the Bowls England National Championships.
The Women’s Championships have been held there since 1974 and it has hosted two World Championships. This year the venue also welcomes the Men’s Championships for the first time, with Bowls England embracing Royal Leamington Spa as a new national home and centre for English Bowls. The combined Men’s and Women’s Championships will attract more than 20,000 visits to the region across a 30-day period.
During the past few years STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute) has worked with Warwick District Council to improve the greens and support the strategic relocation of Bowls England. Combining the National Championships at the venue has taken much planning as managing 30 days of tournament play is unchartered territory.
Paul Woodham, one of STRI’s Senior Agronomists, has been working with Warwick District Council as their appointed consultant for the past four years and commented: “The performance of the greens is rigorously monitored throughout the whole year, and even during the closed season.
“Nothing is left to chance and it is important that we provide the very best level of advice and accurate data which helps to inform continued improvement for the greens. We have worked closely with the committed team of greenkeepers, led by Head Groundsman Michael Finch of The Landscape Group, to ensure the success of the improvement programme development.”
Cllr Sue Gallagher, Portfolio Holder for Culture, added: “Warwick District Council is delighted with the presentation of the greens for this year’s championships. This is as a direct result of the partnership between the STRI, The Landscape Group, Bowls England and the Council, all of whom should be congratulated on the progress that has been made in recent years. We will not be resting on our laurels however and will be looking to continue to improve the greens in years to come”.
Whilst the project is still work-in-progress one of the key successes has been improving surface drainage. With the National Championships now in the fourth and final week the weather has thrown many ‘curve balls’. On numerous days heavy downpours have been experienced but play has continued.
At the start of this week 38 mm of rain fell within 24 hours but maintenance has not skipped a beat and performance monitoring has identified the treatments required to counteract the challenging conditions and control the effects of a month’s long intensive play.
The Championship finals Green ‘A’, one of the five greens at Victoria Park used during the tournament, has come under the sternest of tests especially through the bowling ends. By the end of the tournament over 260 games will have been played on this green alone.
Paul Woodham commented: “One of the main challenges has been dealing with the rigours of intensive play. Any form of solid tine aeration, other than shallow sarel rolling, is too disruptive for the surface, but during the feasibility stage of tournament planning we used the Toro HydroJect high pressure water injection as a method of aeration which improved the surfaces without reducing championship performance.
“Maintenance has needed to be managed in a fluid and proactive manner with careful attention also given to nutrient input. I am sure that as soon as this tournament concludes the planning for next year’s events will commence.”
The venue is also home to Royal Leamington Spa Bowls Club and other national events each year, which presents the added challenge of maintaining the greens in a way that ensures optimum conditions throughout the season. Part of the continued improvement programme will see the installation of a new irrigation system along with continued work on surface levels improvement.
Tony Allcock MBE, Chief Executive of Bowls England, said: “Bowls England is delighted with the performance and presentation of the greens for this year’s championships and is looking forward to the continued improvements that will be made to the greens over the coming seasons”.