Meet the team keeping the East Glos grounds in tip-top condition
By Julian Wellings, Frank Leavers and Darren Morris
We’re shining a light on the various functions that make East Glos such a great club to belong to.
Meet your East Glos grounds team.
Stuart Dominey (pictured, inset 1) is our head groundsman. He’s the club’s longest-serving team member, having joined East Glos as junior assistant groundsman 45 years ago in 1981. He became head groundsman in 1992 when his predecessor, Don Newman, retired.
Stuart has specialist knowledge in agronomy and turf management, knowing when to feed, weed and seed. This includes analysing the weather forecast to ensure conditions are right for each type of treatment the grass receives. He also has specialist knowledge of our synthetic surfaces and Tarmacadam.
Alex Sinclair (pictured, inset 2) is the deputy head groundsman. He joined us in 2022 and has put his handyman skills to good use, along with developing an understanding of turf management and synthetic surfaces. Alex’s tasks have included plumbing, fencing, painting and improving several areas of the club.
The team is also supported during busy periods by casual workers who help with jobs such as cutting and marking.
Alex applies a top dressing to the synthetic clay courts
What is the grounds team responsible for?
With the club’s estate covering nine acres, the team is responsible for maintaining almost all aspects of house and grounds. In addition to preparing and maintaining our nine grass courts, they’re responsible for a broad range of tasks.
These include daily bin emptying and litter picking, hedge cutting, trimming trees, shrubs and planters. In the autumn and winter, the team can be seen painting and working on shelving, the honours boards, the Portakabin veranda, the fencing around the court 31 area, and more.
With the club hosting several major tournaments annually, event preparation includes signage, gazebos, scoreboards, chairs, and being on hand to handle court emergencies. Specialist external contractors are used for the annual maintenance of the squash courts and the cutting of our large, tall hedges.
We’re fortunate to enjoy some of the best grass courts in the UK. What does it take to maintain them?
Although the courts are typically open from May to September, work goes on year-round to keep them in tip-top condition. The All England Lawn Tennis Club agronomist conducts annual inspections, with our current score 8 out of 10. (You can guess where 10 out of 10 courts might be!).
What work takes place in the off-season before and after opening the grass courts?
Autumn work includes scarifying (pictured below), hollow tine aeration, top dressing, seeding, feeding, removing worm casts, and regular mowing throughout the autumn and winter when conditions allow.
How are the grass courts maintained when open?
The courts are cut and marked at least two, if not three times a week to a length of 8mm. The team needs to be expert weathermen, watering courts as required, using the irrigation system, and rotating courts based on usage.
It takes around 30 minutes per grass court to cut and mark. The team uses the traditional string line and marker method, with a robotic line marker (see video below) brought in at the start of the season to measure and mark the courts.
We asked Stuart what changes in groundskeeping at the club he has seen over the years.
Equipment has changed considerably, and we’re now using a lot of electric mowers and hedge cutters. With increased footfall due to more courts, members, and usage, all areas require more maintenance, with the team ensuring the club is presented at its best at all times.
2006: Stuart (second left) is recognised for his 25 years’ service. Also pictured the late Ron Barney, Di Pierce, Margaret Pedrette, the late Ian Flowers.
Meet our robotic line marking machine
We started using it in 2023. It uses GPS to mark our nine grass courts, taking only seven minutes per court.