Transforming Sport and Recreation Surfaces

All About Turf was commissioned by Oxley Golf Course in Queensland to build a new mini golf course (above and below).

James Croll reviews the recently announced winners of the annual Sport Group Asia Pacifi c Project Partner Awards and discovers how initiatives such as surround sound, use of existing terrain, and ensuring the preservation of endangered frogs resulted in a number of game-changing developments

The annual Sport Group Asia Pacific Project Partner Awards recognises and celebrates the most outstanding projects delivered by Sport Group partners during a 12-month period. These awards also provide a current, even visionary insight into the latest sports and recreational surface solutions available across the multi-million-dollar sports surface sector.

The 2022 Awards were split into five categories - with three of the categories separating projects by budget - Under $150,000, $150,000 to $500,000 and over $500,000 as well as the highly regarded Innovation Award and the major award for Project of the Year. All winners this year were indicative of the transformation that sports surfaces have been experiencing in recent years.

Sport Group is the world’s largest business dedicated to sport surfaces. From Olympic hockey venues to the pioneering 1966 Astrodome to the US Open, Sport Group’s brands, products and innovations have played a key part over the decades in the development and experience of athletes and sport fans around the world. Indeed, the group sells and installs more synthetic turf sport fields, athletic tracks, and courts globally than any other business.

Sport Group owns around 20 companies globally including Astroturf, Polytan and Advanced Polymer Technology (APT), and created the industry’s only fully integrated global supply chain. The group’s impressive product portfolio includes Laykold (the official court surface of the US Open), Poligras (chosen for eight Olympic hockey venues) as well as LigaTurf (chosen for FIFA headquarters).

2022 Project of the Year – mini golf, surround-sound and floodlights for night play The 2022 Project of the Year provided an exciting insight into the future of mini golf in Australia. The winner, All About Turf, was commissioned by Oxley Golf Course in Queensland to build a new mini golf course which was completed in December 2021. All About Turf worked closely with USA designer Dave Pelz - a legend of the golf industry, to build what was to be one of the largest mini golf courses in Australia.

Oxley Golf Club General Manager, Aaron Muirhead commented “we were keen for the new mini golf course to attract new markets.

New sports fi eld and several play zones at Yew Chung International School (YCIS) in Shanghai, China.

“We saw a significant opportunity to increase the course’s usage time by attracting visitors in the evening and for functions, so lighting was key as was the development of areas to socialise in afterwards.”

The 3200 metre² mini golf course replaced the ninth hole of the existing Oxley golf course and includes eighteen holes plus a further nine-hole practice putting green. All areas offer full disability access.

All About Turf used APT’s Olympia Coolplus for the putting surface, XL Tee for the tee off area and SynLawn Comfort for the surrounds. The six-month project was smooth-sailing apart from having to adjust the design slightly after encountering some unexpected unused services underground.

Muirhead noted “apart from the design and the wonderful atmosphere of playing under lights, the decision to install surround-sound speakers to compliment the lighting during the evening has proved a real game-changer.”

Pelz’s appointment to look after the design of the mini course also proved to be a masterstroke, largely due to the fact that Pelz has made his name as a master of the short game. The aesthetically beautiful design of the course incorporates water features, native trees and stunning white sand bunkers and has been so well received that it was chosen to host the recent Australian Mini Golf Championships.

Muirhead added “from a design and social viewpoint, the Oxley Golf project has literally taken the mini golf experience to a whole new level.

“It lends itself to social groups wonderfully. We are getting more groups of families with kids of all ages as well as a number of office groups since the course is a perfect solution for team building.”

Taking advantage of existing features Aesthetics and a colourful environment also played a key factor in awarding the winner of the Feature Project $150,000 to $500,000 category. The winning project, Yew Chung International School (YCIS) in Shanghai, China was designed by Shanghai Yikang Construction Engineering Company.

The project consisted of a new sports field and several play zones. The sports field consisted of a LigaGrass Pro CP 250 artificial turf system with line markings for football. This is the first crimped synthetic turf system which features twotone fibres to enhance the natural turf look with a rich shade of green. In one of the play zones PolyPlay FS Nature artificial turf system was installed over mounds to create the look of a beautiful hillside landscape for added interest for students. This was in turn complemented by another play zone which featured PolyPlay S15 soft-fall system installed using a range of bright colours as well as a fun design.

The new sports field and play zones have dramatically increased participation and enthusiasm for outdoor activity at the school with students at YCIS Shanghai openly saying how much they enjoy the fun design, bright colours and different textures to play on.

Glooloop Surfacing commissioned by Sydney Olympic Park Authority to reimagine the surfacing for the expansive Blaxland Riverside Park.

Protecting the Green and Gold Bell frog The winning Feature Project in the Over $500,000 category is the development of an incredibly exciting and innovative

GameOn Turf’s new basketball courts branding Court Kings.

children’s playground; a real treat for Sydney-siders. Glooloop Surfacing was commissioned by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority to reimagine the surfacing for the expansive Blaxland Riverside Park which stretches over three acres and is one of Sydney’s largest public playgrounds.

The project involved the demolition of existing surfaces and the installation of over 5,000 metre² of new synthetic grass and rubber soft-fall. Glooloop used an SBR shock absorption layer and 3412 binder, Melos EPDM rubber granules with 3407 binder and SYNLawn’s Classic 35 synthetic grass, all from APT.

The project was completed in three phases during one of the harshest Covid lockdowns, and overcame challenges such as massively steep inclines which made installing a wet-pour soft-fall system very difficult. As such Glooloop developed a new incline rubber technician rig for the safe and effective installation of wet pour rubber. The huge area of synthetic grass also demanded custom-made oversized grass rolls.

However, the most impressive achievement was Glooloop’s ability to remove vast quantities of old materials and replace them with 27 trucks of new materials all while adhering to strict guidelines and having minimal impact on the surrounding protected grass, wetlands and environments including its most famous resident - the Green and Gold Bell frog.

Reducing injuries and carbon emissions The winning Innovation Project belongs in the basketball sector and is not only contributing to the reduction of player injuries but also reducing carbon emissions. The success of their first few projects actually resulted in the agent, GameOn Turf, creating a new brand called Court Kings, which has since installed twenty-five new courts across New Zealand.

GameOn Turf cleverly recognised a gap in the New Zealand market for an all-in-one basketball court design and installation package. A Court Kings basketball court includes exclusive Proballer Turf manufactured by APT, Goalrilla Hoops from USA, as well optional accessories.

Court Kings designs and constructs customised single court or multi-courts for basketball or multisport use which can incorporate school logos or indeed a customer’s favourite NBA club colours. The courts can be installed in backyards, schools, commercial premises, and council-owned spaces.

GameOn Turf Managing Director, Bevan Williamson advised “Basketball New Zealand, schools and councils were complaining that hard courts were causing injuries to players when wet and were often unusable.

“Proballer turf was tested to deliver anti-slip protection in wet conditions, ball bounce within 6% of hard courts, and up to 25% noise reduction. Councils were also very receptive to the option of a dynamic metal base used for courts versus a concrete base as it reduces carbon emissions.”

GameOn Turf also conducted thorough research into the hoops market after becoming aware of concerns regarding the quality and safety of hoops in public spaces. This in turn led them to partner with Goalrilla Hoops as they offered innovative features including height adjustment and high-quality specs to suit any court whether by the sea or an urban park space. James Croll manages client and partner relations for Australasian Leisure Management.