Beyond the opponents, surprises always come up south of the border for the U.S. This day it was a field with grass as long as the first cut on a golf course, which made hitting crisp passes across the ground difficult.

WSJ: U.S. Soccer: Americans Hexed in Cup Qualifier

In 2009, Mr. Weaver used it a few times to cut roadside grass for compost.

WSJ: Who Needs a WeedWacker When You Can Use a Scythe?

And, in a certain sense, this is probably true: how many parents in Park Slope or Brentwood would trust their three-year-olds to cut the grass with a machete?

NEWYORKER: Spoiled Rotten

After Guan qualified for the Masters, Ho, the Lion Lake owner, built a practice green with low-cut grass to match the speed of Augusta National's, and allowed only Guan to play on it.

WSJ: Guan Tianlang: A Schoolboy Steals Day One of the Masters

The Saeynaetsalo Town Hall of 1948-52 is cut into a hillside where irregularly ascending steps of masonry and earth and grass lead to an enclosed courtyard and the building's "crown, " the council chamber.

WSJ: Finnish Master Alvar Aalto | By Ada Louise Huxtable

At the beginning of each day, the machine has to cut grass outside the Welsh Musuem of Speed to prove it qualifies as a lawnmower.

BBC: Speed attempt lawnmower bid preparing at Pendine sands