Gold Coast greens report
After speaking to some Gold Coast bowling experts, we have some information for participants in the 2015 Australian Open about the greens you will be competing on. As you all make your final preparations for the world’s biggest festival of bowls, we have chased up information from the experts about the greens you will be competing on during the 2015 Australian Open.
Australian Open Ambassador Mark Casey has been assisting the 12 Gold Coast bowling clubs that will be used throughout the event and after years of playing bowls on the Gold Coast himself, he has answered the question that everyone wants to know, what will the greens be running like during the Australian Open?
“The greens on the Gold Coast are renowned to be the best in the world, especially during the winter months; all 12 venues have been working very diligently to ensure their surfaces are prepared and are in top condition for the 2015 Australian Open,” Mr Casey said.
“We will be using a total of 31 greens across 12 clubs on the Gold Coast, and I can confidently say bowlers will not be disappointed with the quality of greens. The pace of the greens will always remain around the 15-17 mark; perfect for everyone.”
The club that will see most of the action and will host majority of the finals, Broadbeach Bowling Club has four magnificent greens that will all run at a similar pace.
Les Gibbs, the Head Green Keeper at Broadbeach says he has prepared the greens well heading into winter and expects his greens to be at their best as long as Mother Nature doesn’t have any differing ideas!
“All four greens at Broadbeach run within half a second of each other, they are very kind to play on; and that is what I have been aiming to achieve when preparing them for this 13 day tournament,” Mr Gibbs said.
“The long range forecast will determine how the greens will run and currently the forecast looks quite good; therefore I suspect the greens will get up to 16-17 seconds whilst the sun is out.”
“As the greens go dormant over winter there is always the possibility of ware and tare; however I’m very happy with the amount of growth leading into the colder months and I’m sure everyone will enjoy playing on greens that play so kindly.”
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