All England Lawn Tennis Club is looking down under where the grass may be greener
The Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI Australia) was approached by The All England Lawn Tennis Club to undertake research and development trials on suitable turf species and varieties that show potential for use within a lawn tennis environment. The purpose of the trial is to identify if a number of different turf types may be suitable for tennis in an effort to increase the sports participation rate on natural turfgrass. STRI made contact with Australian Sports Turf Consultants (ASTC) Director Matt Roche in an effort to be able to secure such a diverse collection of turfgrasses for the trial. ASTC is the custodian of Australia’s Warm-Season Turf Collection and Genetic Resource Centre (GRC) which houses some 160 varieties of turfgrasses comprising of 15 genus and 27 species. ASTC provided STRI with vegetative material from the collection for research purposes only under a strict Material Transfer Agreement. Trial work is to be undertaken at the Redlands DPI facility, which is located approximately 40 minutes east of Brisbane’s CBD, commencing early 2016 after multiplication of the provided material has been undertaken and will continue through to April 2019. ASTC Director Matt Roche said “we were happy to provide STRI with turf material from the Genetic Resource Centre for the purpose of research being conducted in Australia. This is why such a collection is important, as it has the ability to be used for ongoing R&D works by the Australian and international turf industries”.