PRESIDENTS CUP
M
ark Stravato is not the sort of person who likes being the centre of attention. The quietly spoken, unassuming Royal Melbourne head turf technician readily admits he gets nervous in group settings and much prefers the familiar confines of the maintenance facility workshop. It’s his domain, where he feels most comfortable and where his skills really shine. The much-lauded turf surfaces presented at Royal Melbourne for last December’s Presidents Cup were the result of many things coming together – the knowledge and guidance of one of the most experienced superintendents in the business, the dedication of a skilled and passionate senior crew and the efforts of a 90-strong tournament crew all wanting to showcase their best to the world. But upon addressing the crew for the last time ahead of the final day’s play and thanking them all, Richard Forsyth reserved special mention for two in particular. The manner in which Royal Melbourne’s hallowed turf was presented that week would not have been possible without the professionalism of both Stravato and his assistant Noel Jorgensen. Taking it upon themselves, they effectively spent eight months preparing Royal Melbourne’s huge fleet of machinery to be at a level demanded for such a prestigious tournament. They put together a meticulous plan to ensure that every machine which rolled out of the compound last December was in the best shape it could be. 24
On the
Mark To get Royal Melbourne presenting the way it did for the Presidents Cup took a monumental team effort. But there were two men in particular who played a unique role. Leaks are what give most turf technicians sleepless nights and so Stravato and Jorgensen made the call to replace every hydraulic hose on all machines that were going to be out on the course for the Presidents Cup and covering them with a protective sheath. All up some 220 hoses were replaced, completed as part of a full service on each machine. That service saw all filters replaced and every part of the machine flushed – traction systems, steering systems, cutting systems. As another precaution, Stravato imported a special biodegradable hydraulic oil from the US, one which is proven to cause less damage on turf in the event of a leak.
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 22.1
WORDS AND PHOTOS: BRETT ROBINSON
Royal Melbourne head turf technician Mark Stravato inspects one of the fairway units after its morning cut
“We went over every machine with a microscope so that there were no potential problems,” explains Stravato. “Leaks were my biggest fear, so we did a lot of work to prevent any potential leaks on anything that was going on the playing surfaces. Even if something was 50/50 it was replaced. We wanted to try and get the whole fleet as new as possible.” The hydraulic hoses, however, were nothing compared to the work that went on with Royal Melbourne’s nine fairway mowers and fleet of greens mowers. Sharpness, uniformity and quality of cut was of paramount importance and Stravato and Jorgensen went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that. “Because we have nine fairway mowers – some new, some old – there was different wear in the cylinders and also different cylinder designs,” explains Stravato. “The newer machines come with more aggressive cylinders. The blades are more curved so they tend to take more grass off and made of a harder steel, whereas the older ones are flatter and not as aggressive. So sometimes you get differences which are noticeable when you are cutting with teams of three – one might be a bit lighter, one darker. “To make sure I had uniformity across all nine machines, the ones that weren’t new I replaced all the cylinders, probably about 40 all up. We stripped every head apart, put the new cylinder in, new bedknives and reassembled. The theory behind doing all that was that the whole fleet of fairway mowers were identical in their cut.”