Gleneagles has just announced a significant five-month project. As part of this project, they will change to a new, highly efficient Rain Bird irrigation management system to help reduce water and power consumption.
The new system is the Rain Bird CirrusPRO™ irrigation control system. Imagine the possibilities it could bring!
Beneath the golf course, 24.5 miles of new pipework and 33.5 miles of cabling will be laid, and 1,414 individual sprinkler heads will be strategically positioned so water can be applied more accurately over an eight-hour cycle without needing to close the golf course.
Director of Golf at Gleneagles, Andrew Jowett, commented:
“From a practical perspective, the new system will allow us to irrigate every mown area of the course, including greens and surrounds, tee complexes, approaches and fairways, under the control of individual sprinkler heads, from a handheld device, at any time.”
The PGA Centenary Course will re-open for play in April 2024.
Interesting insights – water usage reduction
GCSAA reported water usage has been reduced by 29% between 2005 and 2022. The report found that U.S. golf facilities applied approximately 1.68 million acre-feet of water in 2020, a 29% reduction since 2005.
Two-thirds of the reduction was likely a result of operational golf facilities applying water more efficiently.
According to the report, the most common sources of water were wells (32%) and lakes and ponds (23%).
Less water was applied in 2020 from each water source than in 2005, except for recycled water, which accounted for 21% of water applied.