Tag Archive for: Cup

SIS sets the stage for Riyadh’s Season Cup

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SIS sets the stage for Riyadh’s Season Cup: Season Cup, Riyadh’s showpiece football tournament featuring Messi and Ronaldo, was made possible thanks to the world’s first fully indoor hybrid pitch built in 21 days by global sports surfaces specialist, SIS Pitches.

The competition forms part of the Riyadh Season, a festival featuring both live sport and entertainment in the capital, funded by the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund. All Season Cup games take place at the Kingdom Arena in front of 24,000 fans. During the competition, the stadium received two Guinness World Records. The first for being the largest covered football stadium; the second for having the largest seating capacity for an indoor covered stadium.

SIS sets the stage for Riyadh's Season Cup

SIS sets the stage for Riyadh’s Season Cup

Setting the stage for the cup’s major fixtures, including Al Nassr vs. Inter Miami, was a major challenge for SIS Pitches. Construction and development of the elite indoor sports venue started in late 2023, giving the business a much shorter window to install and prepare a playing surface fit for top-level competition.

However, this short window was only one part of the challenge. SIS also had to ensure the natural turf grew strong enough to properly secure the small percentage of synthetic fibres stitched into the arena’s surface, as is standard for hybrid pitches of this type. This process was made harder by the arena’s fully indoor design, which has no windows or roof for sunlight to enter. The SIS team worked around this by using ultraviolet growing lights to prepare the pitch in time.

Sela, the developer responsible for the arena, requested a game-ready playing surface in just three weeks, much shorter than the typical window for a major development of this type. This aligned with the pace of construction for the wider stadium, which was completed in just 60 days.

Speed and resilience were key. SISGrass, the solution specified by SIS, merges natural turf with a small percentage of polymer yarn. Already used by many of the most recognisable names in sports, this mixture is injected by the company’s patented electric stitching machine, providing a more consistent and resilient playing surface. SIS’s machine is capable of covering 1300m2 metres per day with a 90mm shallow stitch, making it ideal for quick installs like that requested by Sela.

SISGrass is much harder-wearing than an all-natural pitch, and is proven to accommodate more playing hours while also being less susceptible to wear or damage. This was particularly important for the Kingdom Arena, given the small window groundspeople have to prepare between entertainment and sports events.

The stadium is home to Saudi Professional League team Al Hilal. It will also host several other major sporting events in the coming months, including two heavyweight championship boxing fights. The Kingdom Arena is similar to New Zealand’s Forsyth Barr Stadium, which is also indoors, though the latter is fitted with a transparent roof allowing sunlight to enter. Riyadh’s stadium is therefore the first fully indoor facility to be completed.

David Ball, Managing Director at SIS Saudi said “This project had an incredibly challenging timeline but our team was able to mobilise quickly, delivering a high-quality playing surface fit for what arguably football’s two greatest ever players. We knew the arena was going to be used for other sports and entertainment, so the pitch had to be capable of accommodating short turnarounds between events. SISGrass was a natural choice in this respect, having already proven itself the best option for groundspeople across the world.”

Based in Riadyh’s Boulevard City development, the Kingdom Arena boasts all the facilities expected from a modern stadium, fitted with a state-of-the-art air monitoring system and 20 skyboxes.

For more information on SISGrass, visit: https://www.sispitches.com/pitches/hybrid-pitch-sisgrass/

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Ryder Cup on course with Capillary Bunkers

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Ryder Cup on course with Capillary Bunkers: Next week’s Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside the Italian capital, Rome, will again be played on a course whose bunkers have been lined with the Capillary Bunkers system.

Marco Simone, originally designed by American architect Jim Fazio, was completely rebuilt by Dave Sampson of European Golf Design during 2019 and 2020. The course’s back nine was entirely grassed by the end of the summer of 2019, but the Covid-19 pandemic made phase two, the front nine, a little trickier.

Ryder Cup on course with Capillary Bunkers

Ryder Cup on course with Capillary Bunkers

“I was on site in March 2020, the day Italy shut its borders, so I had to get out of the country very, very quickly,” says CapillaryFlow EMEA sales manager Kneale Diamond. “But SOL Golf, the contractor who built the course are very experienced and extremely good at what they do, so all was well.”

Around 8,000 square metres (86,000 square feet) of bunkers were built and lined. “Obviously, the bunker drainage is vital for the Ryder Cup – given the time of year when it is played, there isn’t a lot of spare time if it rains heavily,” says Diamond. “But even more important than that is the quality of surface in the bunkers. This level of competition demands a perfect sand surface, and only Capillary Bunkers can combine outstanding drainage performance with world-class, consistent surfaces.”

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Six months work experience on Ryder Cup course

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Six months work experience on Ryder Cup course: Four young greenkeepers from around Europe are coming to the end of a unique six-month work experience placement at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, the host of this year’s Ryder Cup. And their stay will culminate in golf’s biggest spectacle, the Cup itself, being held in the last week of September.

The placement scheme was organised by FEGGA, the Federation of European Golf Greenkeeping Associations, and sponsored by CapillaryFlow, the leader in water, carbon dioxide and oxygen management techniques for golf courses and other sports fields, and equipment giant Toro. It is the second time Capillary and FEGGA have combined to give greenkeepers work experience at a Ryder Cup site, but this scheme is very different to the one run at Le Golf National in Paris in 2018.

Six months work experience on Ryder Cup course

Six months work experience on Ryder Cup course

“In Paris, ten greenkeepers came from Europe and ten from the USA, but they were just there for tournament week,” says FEGGA executive officer Dean Cleaver. “Unlike all the other volunteers, who had to pay their own way to Paris, we took care of all our delegations costs for getting there and back. It worked really well, bringing greenkeepers from across the world together. But this programme is on a completely different level.”

The four scholars, Oscar Gummesson from Sweden, Ciaran Killeen from Ireland, Michele Lazzeri from Italy, and Mathis Reboullot from France, have been part of the greenkeeping team at Marco Simone since April, including for the Italian Open in May, and will remain there until the end of the Ryder Cup. “We’ve taken care of their accommodation, gave some help with flying in and out, and there has been regular education throughout the programme,” says Cleaver. “Toro has been and delivered a course on irrigation, Kneale Diamond from CapillaryFlow is going to do one on bunkers, and Alejandro Reyes, who is serving as director of agronomy for Marco Simone, has been educating them on the grass choices that were made for the golf course. It has been a really great experience for them, and I’m confident that what the four of them have learned during the placement will help them go on to become leaders of the greenkeeping community in their countries.”

CapillaryFlow chief executive Martin Sternberg, himself a qualified course superintendent, says: “We were really happy to be involved with the programme in Paris, and are even more so this year. As a company, our mission is to help improve the standard and economics of golf course – and other sports field – presentation, and improving the education of the greenkeepers who take care of those courses is a really important part of that. It’s been a fantastic programme, and I hope our scholars will go home afterwards and remember it as one of the highlights of their careers.”

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Club Car becomes Ryder Cup supplier

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Club Car becomes Ryder Cup supplier: Club Car®, a global leader in golf, consumer and utility vehicles, has become a Worldwide Supplier of the 2023 Ryder Cup, extending its long-term association with golf’s greatest team competition.

Club Car has supplied team cars and support vehicles for the last 15 Ryder Cups and has been an Official Supplier of Ryder Cup Europe since 1997, when the event was held at Valderrama, Spain.

Club Car becomes Ryder Cup supplier

Club Car becomes Ryder Cup supplier

It will now take on an elevated designation as a Worldwide Supplier to the 2023 edition of the iconic biennial contest, which takes place in September at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy.

Furthermore, Club Car has also become the Official Golf Car of the PGA of America, continuing more than 30 years of collaboration in support of the golf industry and the association’s nearly 29,000 PGA professionals.

“The PGA of America is very excited that Club Car, a tremendous friend to the PGA Professional and the game of golf, will continue as presenting sponsor of the PGA Professional Championships and the 41 PGA Section Championships,” said PGA of America President John Lindert.

Club Car President Mark Wagner said: “The game of golf doesn’t exist without PGA Professionals, and we are thankful for our long-standing relationship with the PGA of America.

“We have also enjoyed a long, successful association with The Ryder Cup, and we are proud to have been part of its growth into one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Not many brands have Worldwide Supplier status so this is a fantastic honour for Club Car.

“It is set to be another spectacular Ryder Cup later this year and we are excited to once again assist with its delivery.”

This September, Club Car will send nearly 600 cars to Rome, providing transport solutions for many different areas of the event including television, rules officials, catering and the captains and support teams.

Club Car supplies many of the world’s leading golf destinations with its wide range of vehicles, and is an official supplier to the DP World Tour, PGA TOUR Properties, the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) and St Andrews Links Trust.

For more information on Club Car visit: www.clubcar.com

For more information on The Ryder Cup visit www.rydercup.com

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World Cup Benefits from GrassMax

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World Cup Benefits from GrassMax: 19 World Cup games and 38 training sessions in Qatar are being played on GrassMax hybrid grass NextGen technology.

GrassMax hybrid grass NextGen technology features in over 750 installations throughout the world and has played a part in stadiums that have hosted the Olympic Games, the Rugby World Cup, and the football World Cup.

World Cup Benefits from GrassMax

World Cup Benefits from GrassMax

The pitches benefitting from the innovative technology in Qatar include Al Bayt Stadium, the host venue of the opening ceremony, and the iconic Lusail Stadium, which will host the World Cup final.

19 games and 38 training sessions in 4 weeks at the Qatar World Cup is significantly above average usage, hence the need for reinforcement. The GrassMax NextGen hybrid technology controls surface and subbase damage, and by doing so reduces the risk of injuries.

Furthermore, the climate conditions in Qatar and high-intensive usage of the pitches demand a specialist approach. In close collaboration with the pitch consultants and construction companies, GrassMax Systems managed to deliver state of the art surfaces for the venues.

Two laser guided machines have stitched each pitch – injecting around 20 million hybrid PP fibres, 18cm into the subbase in a 2 x 2 cm pattern.

World Cup Benefits from GrassMax

World Cup Benefits from GrassMax

By reinforcing the surface and subbase, the hybrid PP fibres anchor the natural rootzone to avoid damage that can be caused by fierce tackles and players sliding across the surface.

The Qatar World Cup Organising Committee sought the expertise of GrassMax Systems due to the extensive experience and know-how of Marc Vercammen, General Manager, and Yves De Cocker, Sales Director for GrassMax.

The Qatar Organising Committee has also employed GrassMax Systems to be on hand across all eight stadiums in case of an emergency.

GrassMax Systems is the stitched hybrid world leader with a 45+ market share.

World Cup Benefits from GrassMax

World Cup Benefits from GrassMax

The company has been involved in several iconic projects including the new Paris Saint Germain (PSG) FC training centre (100,000m2 hybrid grass) and PSG’s stadium; the new Leicester City FC training centre (45,000m2 hybrid grass) and the club’s King Power Stadium; Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro; and various pitches for Arsenal FC, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Real Madrid CF, Athletic Bilbao and many more.

For more information, visit www.grassmax.com

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