Fake Grass Overtakes
Another Part of the Yard

Aug. 20, 2002 -- Lawrence Kudlow considers himself a tennis purist. So when it came time to replace the asphalt court at his Redding, Conn., home, the CNBC commentator decided to install a surface he thought better captured the essence of the game: a carpet of plastic grass filled with several tons of sand. "It's beautiful," he says.

Faux fur is one thing… but a fake-grass tennis court? To the surprise of everyone from traditionalist players to followers of the stock market, some homeowners are turning their backyards into faux Wimbledons. It's not as crazy as it might seem: Not only are the courts easy on aching joints, they're easier -- and cheaper -- to maintain than ones made of real grass, or even clay. "I just blow the leaves off," says Eloise Muller, who recently put one in her Brookfield, Conn., yard. Another plus: Even in a drought, these courts don't turn brown.

It's all part of the tennis boomlet under way in America's suburbs: In 2001, the number of people playing tennis rose almost 9%, the biggest increase in 10 years, the National Sporting Goods Association says. The game is growing fastest among the baby-boomer set, which happens, of course, to be the prime market for the new breed of courts. One national maker and distributor, Novagrass, says sales have doubled in the past year despite shaky economic times, especially in tony suburbs from Woodside, Calif., to Fairfield County, Conn.

Easy on the Knees

One recent convert: Fred Bashore, a 62-year-old retiree from Scottsdale, Ariz., who chose a watermelon-green color scheme for the "grass" (it also comes in "French clay") and was pleased to learn he could control the speed of the court (just add sand). He and his group of tennis buddies, who dub themselves "The Sunset Boys," say they love to play on his court, and for good reason: Eight of them have had knee surgery. "For us old codgers, it allows us to play more," he says.

Odd as they may seem, fake-grass courts aren't new. They first started sprouting in backyards in the 1970s, when AstroTurf covered football fields and home tennis courts were all the rage. But the old turf came in an odd pea green, and homeowners complained that the courts tore at the seams and that the blades of grass were mashed down over time, so they soon fell out of favor.

Today's versions are made of nine pieces of carpet sewn together and laid on top of an existing court or a layer of concrete or asphalt. (A little glue goes around the edges to hold it down.) Then several tons of sand are spread over the carpet to keep the court in place and to provide traction. Total time for installation: as little as three days.

Water Soaks Through

Though they may be fast to put in and cost as little as $800 a year to maintain -- a fraction of what a grass or even a clay court does -- these are still big-ticket items, of course, running from about $25,000 (for one placed on top of an existing court) to $75,000 for a brand-new one. Which is why makers are quick to point out that homeowners can get more use out of one of these courts because the surface doesn't get soggy in the rain -- the perforated carpet lets water soak right through.

Still, after shelling out that much for what essentially is a big green plastic rug, some new court owners find the surface unsettling. The first day Paul Polivy went to play on his fake-grass court, he found his feet sliding and his wife's shots coming at him unnaturally fast. His first thought: "What did I do?" says the Purchase, N.Y., tax accountant. A year later Mr. Polivy still worries that new friends he invites over to play a set won't accept his home court as "real tennis."

The Mold Problem

But let's face it, for many homeowners, having one of these courts is more about snob appeal than hitting the perfect shot, even in a bad economy. (Putnam Tennis Courts, an installer in Plainville, Conn., says only half of its clients with the courts actually use them regularly.) The fake grass blends nicely with a sprawling lawn and, if you don't get too close, looks impressively like the real thing, without all the watering and mowing that actual grass requires.

But just because the grass won't grow, doesn't mean other things -- such as mold -- won't, because the sand in the courts stays damp and can harbor algae. Within months of installation, the court at the New Jersey estate Clive Deeble manages was covered in green mounds of foam, which he sprayed with chemicals and even tried burning off. Even after he installed a new batch of carpet, the mold kept coming back. (The court makers say the surfaces should be put only where they'll get enough sun and that a yearly checkup will solve the problem.) So what does Mr. Deeble's court look like now? Soft, gray hard-tru, which he gets tuned up annually. "It certainly looks better," he says.

Try telling that to Heidi Kucera's horses. When their pasture dries out in the summer, the Northern California homeowner sometimes lets her herd graze in the front yard of her home. But when they've had enough of her lawn, they often jump over the fence to where the grass at least looks greener -- her fake turf court. "They can't graze on it, but they've dug pretty deep," the 45-year-old homemaker says. "And it's held up really well."

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