Richmond
Golf Club
How Rain Bird is helping a Master Greenkeeper deliver for double the demand
Bordering London’s largest Royal Park and just nine miles from the centre of the capital, Richmond Golf Club’s beautiful parkland course affords members and visitors the opportunity to escape the rat race and enjoy a tranquil oasis. Founded in 1891, its proximity to the city fostered both Royal and Government connections. Original members included three Lord Chancellors, a Speaker of the House of Commons, and a Prime Minister.
The 18-hole, par-70 course’s narrow tree-lined fairways and bunkers test golfers of all abilities. A major renovation completed in 2012, which resulted in an international award for architects Thomson Perrett & Lobb, added to its appeal.
Members and visitors alike praise the quality of the club’s greens, tees and fairways. Growing conditions on the 6,100 yard course are good, dry in summer and playable all winter due to the half sand, half sandy loam profile on ballast gravel, and the expertise and dedication of the greenkeeping staff led by Les Howkins MG.
Master Greenkeeper and former BIGGA Chairperson, Howkins joined the club in April 2008 and oversees a team of 10. What makes the quality of the playing surfaces at The Richmond even more impressive is the demand. Pre-pandemic, some 18-20,000 rounds of golf were played on the course each year, but since May 2020, usage has doubled.
To ensure golfers playing those 40,000 rounds per year have an outstanding experience, the club has invested in technology that enables them to manage turf conditions across the course in the best possible way.
Challenge
In 1998 the club installed, what was at that time, a state of the art decoder system, one of the first Rain Bird Freedom Systems in the UK. Ten years ago, Les and his team began to experience 2-3 decoder failures per year. “Fault finding was difficult”, he explains, “and if a problem isn’t obvious someone has to go out and find it. In the following years more faults occurred, and our spend on electrical faults topped £10,000 annually. Four or five years ago I began to speak to experts to find out what was out there.
Solution
“The Rain Bird IC System was new, and it had many advantages for us. The fact that it could be retrofitted easily was a big plus, and fortunately we didn’t need any new wiring. It would give us greater functionality as the fault finding is fast and simple, so we didn’t need any special tools or skills.”
The club considered phasing the project in three individual loops, but the ease and speed of conversion meant they opted to complete the entire course. Contractor John Kidson of JK Irrigation completed the work in just four weeks before Christmas 2023 – two to three weeks for the hardware installation and a week for system set-up and testing.
“John is incredibly helpful and was there when we needed him in the aftermath of Storm Eunice,” Les recalls. “He provided a quote and explained the process and benefits in detail. His work on the course is neat and tidy, and we were well informed and supported throughout the project.
“The IC System has made a big difference out on the course. The adaptability – we can be much more area specific. We can do what we want with every single area without irrigating a whole fairway, and it has made a marked difference. We have better coverage, and it is particularly beneficial when working with different types of soil.
“We’re also saving 10% of the water we were applying – that’s a lot of water. In a dry year there will be greater benefit.” Water costs at the club are negligible as an abstraction licence enables it to draw from three boreholes from 1st April to the end of September. However, Les believes that the golf industry must demonstrate responsible and efficient water use as greater pressure is put on resources. “From irrigation systems to the use of soil moisture devices, we’re going to have to work harder to show the Environment Agency and water companies that we are using water responsibly.”
Kidson adds: “There are a number of water saving benefits from The Richmond’s IC System conversion. Their current installation had fairway sprinklers paired. Converting to IC means each sprinkler becomes its own station, which allows for more targeted watering. Cycle + Soak is also more manager friendly. It allows for single station Cycle + Soak for irrigating areas on gradients, for example, with the ability to irrigate per sprinkler when required. This feature, programmed in the central control software, leads to reduced run-off and less water usage.”
Next level water management
The IC System has been a big step forward, and Les is already planning even greater improvements next year when he upgrades the central control software to CirrusPRO. “It will take us to the next level, giving us control down to each individual head, and the user interface so simple. When we are out on the course, we will be able to control the entire system with an iPad there and then for even greater efficiency. We currently have three users on my team, plus my deputy and our irrigation technician, Chris Browett. I have an excellent team and they will all have an opportunity to learn how to use it.”
“The thing I like about Rain Bird is that it has always tried as much as possible to evolve its products rather than completely change them. As a manufacturer, that shows it has really thought about its customers and end-users. We have been able to add on to our system and upgrade it, and it all works together. We have older rotors out on the course that are still working well, so we’ll only replace them when necessary. Longevity and upgradability mean less disruption, less cost, and less waste.
Testimonial
“We can’t make the course longer, but we can definitely make it better. Providing the best quality turf possible is the end game, and this new technology is giving us the tools to do just that.”
-Les Howkins
Master Greenkeeper
Richmond Golf Club
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