Gore District Council parks officer John Ave is justifiably proud of Fred Booth Park.
A Waimumu paddock, in the heart of rural Eastern Southland, has been transformed into a manicured sports field for today's pre-season Super Rugby fixture between the Highlanders and Crusaders.
Mr Ave was called on just before Christmas, after it became clear a group of farmers creating a playing surface fit for such a game required some expert assistance.
In his role, Mr Ave, a former dairy farmer, was responsible for maintaining sports grounds around the Gore district.
Bumps were subsequently rolled out, fertiliser poured on and the grass was regularly mowed to bring it up to standard.
It was a learning exercise for both the farmers and the affable groundsman, who had to explain to the locals it was very different from farming.
‘‘It's come a long way. It's certainly turned out really nice,'' he said, smiling.
Mr Ave, a keen rugby follower and former senior club rugby player, nervously waited for sign-off from rugby officials and was delighted when approval was given.
A sellout crowd of 6700 will watch the game, which kicks off at 6pm. Mr Ave will be standing on the embankment with other members of the organising committee.
While the field looked great to a casual observer, Mr Ave would prefer more grass, but it was playable, he said.
Due to the lack of substantial rain, the ground was fairly hard - so there could be a few skinned knees.
Being ‘‘farm grass'', it was different from the ‘‘turf grass'' he was used to dealing with. It also grew more quickly and required more mowing.
Over the past week, he had been mowing the ‘‘paddock'' every day.
Being involved with Fred Booth Park - the namesake is the owner of the paddock - had been an enjoyable experience, Mr Ave said.
The Gore District Council always liked to be involved and help out in the community where it could.
He praised the efforts of the farmers who had organised the sporting fixture, saying it was going to be an ‘‘awesome event''.
As for the score: ‘‘Oh, I'll have to give it to the Highlanders by at least 10.''
After the final whistle, Mr Ave would return to his office, to a desk full of work that had built up while he was at Waimumu.
And the field would go back to being a farm paddock, but discussions had already been held about when Mr Ave would return to help prepare the field for the next fixture.
And that task would be much easier, he said.
