Golf Course Irrigation: Flowing with Technology

I had a hard time trying to think of a system and write about it, and then I decided to go with what I know; the golf course. For this paper I will discuss golf course irrigation automation and how it has progressed over time due to aesthetic demands and course playability. Years ago and at some smaller courses spread throughout the States still in operation, golf course irrigation systems used to require manual assistance. A hired employee worked the overnight hours watering the golf course using couplers attached to sprinkler heads. The irrigation employee would insert the required amount of heads to allow for proper water distribution, too many heads and water pressure suffers causing inadequate watering, too few heads and the underground pipe runs the risk of high pressure blow outs. Something better had to come about, using hydraulic pressure to regulate a valve at each sprinkler head and attaching that to a control box in the field, the turf managers can now set up a watering cycle during the day to automatically run at night. But these were mainly just timers and pins, very limited. Today we are using computer programs that can calculate everything needed to water a golf course both efficiently and effectively. By giving the irrigation software the data to establish water capabilities and demands, the software can distribute water throughout the golf course. With the popularity of The Masters Golf tournament every spring and the perfect conditions of Augusta National shown on television has every weekend hacker asking his local course why our course can’t look like that. By harnessing the efficiency of water distribution of today’s irrigation systems courses are using less water, saving resources and most importantly money. The money saved can increase labor forces or increase other aspects of