Lokturf solves Cherries’ pitch dilemma

Lokturf solves Cherries' pitch dilemma

By Ellie Tait

When the decision was taken to hold a three-day music festival on Bournemouth Football Club's pitch just weeks before the new season, groundsmen John Harris and Dave Edwards' renovations plans were thrown into turmoil.

'Party on the Pitch' looks set to be the town's biggest ever music event and will provide the Nationwide Division Two club with welcome additional revenue but it also raises the prospect of up to 60,000 pairs of feet all over pitch at the Fitness First Stadium. When it ends on 1st August, John knows he faces a race against time to get the surface ready for the first game of the season and has opted to returf using Lokturf™ from Kestrel Golf & Sports.

Lokturf™ is produced in partnership between Kestrel, Lindum Turf and Tarmac Topsport and uses crimped fibres to produce an interlock between fibres, medium and roots. The finished product is a surface that stays firm, level and resistant to wear and tear.

The contract is also the ideal scenario for Kestrel's new state-of-the-art turfing machine, which allows rolls of turf up to 1.2 metres wide to be laid in just 24 hours.


Photograph by Mick Cunningham.