Address:

Naples Reserve Community, Naples Reserve Circle, Naples, Florida

The Clay courts were built in Tandem with the Pickleball Courts to ensure that the project was completed as speedily as possible. The design of the Clay Tennis Courts consist of a porous court surface material that comprises of natural crushed stone, that is ground, screened, and graded. All clay courts have an affinity for water and for them to operate correctly they need to be able to retain moisture or be regularly watered. Therefore, these courts were built with an underground watering system.

The Clay Tennis Court works began with excavating, grading and compacting the court’s sub-base. This part of the operation was carried out by machines controlled by laser, ensuring that we had a base that is uniform with the correct slope, which is suitable for us to build the court upon.

The construction process continued with the installation of curbs. This was done by setting out accurate string lines for each corner to establish the line of the curbs. Concrete was then poured into the formwork to allow the brick curbs to be set onto the concrete. For this project, a clean and tidy haunch was formed to the visible side of the courts. The net posts foundations and center anchor were also installed to fit snug between the liners in the center of each court.

Firstly, the courts were set out for the 6 cells that sit hidden below the court surface which are designed to keep a constant water supply to the court. One by one, each liner was laid out ready for the introduction of the water panels which feeds each cell with water. The water panels are laid out onto the prepared liner and set level at three water panels per liner. Schedule 40 PVC pipe was then run along the perimeter of the court and were connected into each individual water panel. In turn, each cell was connected to its own water control box. Once each cell has been completed and the pipes connected to the control boxes, they were ready for the introduction of the Screenings.

Small Rock “Screenings” that had been sieved tested and approved by the designers were then laid into the cells and over the water panels until the entire court areas were covered. Each court of screenings were then roughly leveled and the watering system was then tested. After the water test check was completed, the screenings were laser levelled to the correct slope using a grading blade and then rolled firm.

To complete the courts, a minimum of 1” of the clay material was then installed on top of the screenings in a single, firm, unified layer. The clay is locked together, “bonded” by the presence of moisture. To ensure quality, this operation is also carried out by laser-controlled machines.

As for all of our Clay Court Construction Operations, all of the works were undertaken by our in house employees.

As always, the build up of the cushion system was tailored to satisfy the Clients requirements and budget. In this instance, 5 layers of cushion was installed to match the other 60+ courts.

Firstly, we installed two preparation layers of Acrylic Resurfacer to the entire area. For the next stage, we installed onto the Acrylic Resurfacer a number of layers of heavy cushion crumb. Then onto the layers of the heavy crumb, we installed layers of fine cushion crumb.

Onto the completed cushion, we then installed the textured color system. As always, the colors were chosen by the Client and matched the existing 60+ courts.

For both Tennis and Pickleball Courts a fencing system was installed to the perimeter of the courts to keep balls within the court during play and also for security purposes. We installed the normal chain link fencing system to the Tennis Courts with an overall height of 10’ and for the Pickleball Courts 8’ high.

The works started with the installation of two different types of posts – Terminal post, on which the chain link is tensioned and line posts/intermediate posts which are set every 10’ between the terminal posts. The Terminal Posts are 3” diameter and the Line Posts are 2.1/2”. A hole was dug for each post and then each post was set in concrete.

The top rail, which provides stability and improves appearance was then installed. The rails pass through openings
provided in loop caps that sit atop of each line post, and the rails are secured to the terminal posts in cups. Each
individual rail is joined together by sleeve couplings.
A bottom line wire was installed, then the 9 gauge Black Chain link was hung and then stretched. This wire is designed to help to keep the bottom edge of the fence fabric from curling. The use of the bottom line wire also gives the fence a neat and tidy, finished appearance.

The Chain-link fabric is “knuckled” at top and bottom to prevent injuries and to minimize debris from collecting against the fence.

The Chain link is set approximately ½ a diamond above the top rail and approx. ¾ off the court surface. This distance will not allow the balls to run under the fence and also ensure that it is off the surface, reducing the risk of damage.

Finally, an adequate number of gates were installed to the Pickleball Courts only as the Tennis Courts had a wide “walk through” to allow access.