By Design - Fall 2016

14 / 30

14 | By Design
“The innovations need to be around
doing the least—separating irrigation
events as much as possible. How do
I interact as much as I can with what
nature is going to do? It’s a drive
towards precision—so we have to
measure rather than guess, using
soil moisture sensors and weather
forecasting models.”
Stuart Hackwell, international
sales manager for golf at Rain Bird,
echoes the point. “It means increased
attention on how much and when to
water, and that requires better ‘data’
on soil conditions, irrigation timing
and improved sprinkler efficiency.”
Technology developments
Hackwell highlights the development
of communication technologies as
an enabler for products such as their
MI Series Mobile Controller, which
is Internet-based, app-like software
that allows superintendents to
manage all of their irrigation settings
with a smartphone or tablet. “This
became possible as cellular data
communication speed improved and
smartphones became popular.”
Lonn too recognizes the importance
of advances in other industries.
“There’s so much activity around
autonomous driving, for example,” he
says. “Every motor company is testing
it, as are the likes of Google.” The
same technologies can be applied to
automated mowing equipment. “If
the automotive industry advances, we
benefit from improvements in cost,
reliability, and robustness.”
It’s clear that environmental issues
are a significant area of focus for
innovation. “We see a much greater
harmony between golf and nature,”
says Jeff Langner, brand manager
at Profile Products, “utilizing more
natural habitats and using fewer
inputs to be a better steward of the
environment on a golf course site.
“Architects are striving to create
areas that provide greater benefits
to the surrounding land; and doing
things like utilizing native grasses
and working with the natural
contours of a course.
INNOVATION
INNOVATION IN PRACTICE
Wise with water
At Olivas Links Golf Course
in Ventura, California, Forrest
Richardson, ASGCA, provided a
design solution that enabled the
club to reduce the amount of water
it uses for irrigation, and introduced
out-of-play landscape plantings that
would most effectively tolerate its
reclaimed water source.
The course became one of the
first in the Western United States
to be planted with salt-tolerant
Paspalum, which thrives with higher
salt content in irrigation water (as
tends to be the case with reclaimed
water) and is drought tolerant.
The re-routing resulted in a
better diversity of holes
of varying direction and
nearly 40 percent less
managed turf area.
To read about more
innovative golf projects
relating to water use
efficiency, download
Golf & Water: Case Studies in
Water Stewardship for free at
Print copies of the book are
available for purchase at
, see