Made in China

Golf courses are not the only game in town when it comes to the management of quality turfgrass in Hong Kong.

The all-grass horse-racing track at The Hong Kong Jockey Club is maintained by a highly educated, well-trained staff with a state-of-the-art facility that would make most golf course superintendents green with envy.

Track manager Pako Pak Chung lp shows Hong Kong superintendent Lee Sellars a plug of bermudagrass used to repair sections of the track damaged by the horses during the race.

Horse racing is not only big business, but it's also a favorite pastime for residents of Hong Kong. The sport in Hong Kong dates back to 1846. The Hong Kong Jockey Club was founded in 1884 to serve as the governing body. A lot has changed over the years. The original spectator stands, which long ago were made from bamboo, have been upgraded to the modern, twin, seven-story buildings. The management of the all-grass track has become an exact science for the six-year veteran track manager, Pako Pak Chung Ip.

The Jockey Club is a nonprofit organization that regularly showers the residents of Hong Kong with an incredible display of community service projects that might otherwise not be possible. One example is the newly constructed Kau Sai Chau public golf course, which was built at a price of $522 million HK. Amazingly, in the last 10 years, more than $9.93 billion HK has been given back to the community, with hospitals and medical centers being large recipients.

A movable, experimental, artificial light device is used to encourage the regrowth of turfgrass on the track after a horse race.

Spending too much money on the all-grass race track is certainly not Pako's biggest concern. Pako has been given ample tools, equipment, employees, consultants and even an on-site lab facility to ensure the track is in top condition for the weekly races. Pako's high-tech lab is used to monitor and record soil percolation rates, soil moisture content, organic matter and compaction, all of which has a direct bearing on the ability of a horse to compete on the track.

But high-tech does not end in the lab. In an attempt to improve turf conditions even further, Pako has initiated an experiment involving the use of grow lights to increase the recovery time of the turfgrass after the abuse inflicted on the turf from a horse race.

— D.D.