Greenheaven tall fescue at Black Bears Polo Club

Black Bears Polo Club at Lower Bolney Farm in Oxfordshire, UK, manages five polo grounds for a demanding playing schedule. Head Groundsman Miles Properjohn and his team have been working to increase the proportion of tall fescue in the sward, particularly on Pitch 5.

The pitch was originally established with tall fescue before other cultivars were introduced over subsequent seasons. The grounds team decided to return to a greater proportion of tall fescue because of the characteristics they had observed under polo conditions.

For Miles, the combination of wear tolerance, relatively low input requirements and playing characteristics makes tall fescue well suited to the site. These characteristics are particularly important given the busy high-goal polo schedule and the expectations placed on the playing surface.

Selecting a tall fescue cultivar

Cultivar selection at Black Bears combines independent information with evaluation under the club’s own conditions. The team refers to the BSPB/STRI guide and also conducts its own plot trials to assess factors including germination speed and visual characteristics before adopting a new cultivar.

Greenheaven is a European-bred tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) with a compact growth habit and relatively fine leaf texture.

The grounds team overseeded Greenheaven in September 2022 as part of its post-season renovation. Miles reported good germination and development following overseeding and found Greenheaven finer and more visually attractive than other tall fescue cultivars the team had previously used.

Performance under polo wear

Polo places considerable physical demands on a turf surface, so wear performance and surface stability are important considerations for the Black Bears grounds team.

Following its introduction, Miles reported that the tall fescue had remained hard wearing through a high level of match play. He also highlighted its dense rooting and the stability this provided within the turf.

“The tall fescue has been extremely hard wearing under a high level of wear from all the matches. It has a dense root structure and has great stability in the turf.”

These observations reflect the experience at Black Bears under its particular growing, management and playing conditions.

Why drought tolerance matters at Black Bears

Drought tolerance is another important consideration when selecting species and cultivars for the polo grounds.

At Black Bears, irrigation is used to help manage the firmness and traction required by ponies and players rather than simply to maintain turf health. As irrigation is also time-consuming, the sward can experience periods without supplementary water.

Miles explained that this makes drought tolerance an important part of the club’s selection process. He had previously seen tall fescue continue to perform during the hot, dry summers of 2018 and 2021 and sees water security and responsible water use becoming increasingly important considerations for future turf management.

Building more tall fescue into the sward

The objective at Black Bears is not simply to introduce another cultivar, but to progressively increase the contribution of tall fescue within a surface exposed to intensive polo use.

The club’s approach combines independent cultivar information with its own evaluation of establishment, appearance and performance under real playing conditions. Greenheaven was selected as part of that process and is now contributing to the grounds team’s longer-term objective of increasing tall fescue across the pitch.