A new Rain Bird irrigation system, installed by Origin Amenity Solutions (OAS) as part of a course-wide redevelopment programme, has cut water usage by around 50 percent at Holme Hall, according to head greenkeeper Stephen Leighton.
The heathland-parkland course sits on free-draining sandy soil, making turf management through unpredictable weather a constant challenge for Leighton and his team of five. Replacing an ageing, increasingly unreliable irrigation system became a priority. “I was racking up the hours monitoring the system in the evenings and found myself constantly battling breakdowns,” he said. “We evaluated the options and opted for a new Rain Bird system based on the reliability and flexibility it offered and the fantastic support and advice of Origin’s Greg Milton, Peter Robin and Angus Finlayson.”
The course has moved from an outdated block system on the greens and single-row fairways to valve-in-head Rain Bird 752IC sprinklers and a double row of 952IC on fairways, allowing far greater precision in applications, including adapting to wind strength and direction and limiting water reaching heather and long rough.
“In numbers, this system and more efficient control has resulted in around a 50 percent reduction in our water usage,” said Leighton. “This is incredibly important for us not just from a sustainability standpoint but also in terms of plant health and the condition of our heather, which is improving now that we can control the water more effectively.”
The Rain Bird CirrusPro app has also simplified day-to-day management. “OAS were selling this as the best software in the irrigation market and, having worked with it, I’d say that’s absolutely true. It makes monitoring so much quicker and easier, with any identified dry areas overcome with the touch of a button.”
Leighton credited the OAS team for supporting the project from concept to completion, alongside his own greenkeeping team at Holme Hall. “It’s been a massive team effort and it’s great to already be reaping the rewards of all the hard work.”