Oak Tree National Blog
New Technology and and Our Golf Course Renovation By Bret Proctor
by CarissaStevens on Mon Jan 2010
Golf course Superintendent Bret Proctor talks about some of the new technology that was used during the recent $6 million renovation.
Last year was a great year for Oak tree National. Through all of the changes on the golf course, there were some added features that went unseen that affect the maintenance practices. Along with the new irrigation system, we implemented multiple pieces of new technology to be more efficient with water.
The first was a weather station. This tool gives me real time data on temperature, humidity, wind, solar radiation, evapotransiration and many other features. The evapotranspiration reading is the most important item that I use every day. Evapotranspiration (ET) is the discharge of water from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere by evaporation from lakes, streams, and soil surfaces and by transpiration from plants. Also known as fly-off; total evaporation; water loss. To put it in simple terms, I review the readings sent to my computer each day and this helps to determine whether I need to run the irrigation and if so, what the amount of irrigation output will be. Using ET rather than a fixed amount helps to conserve millions of gallons of water each year.
The second item added were underground sensors that we installed into the greens that relay information through routers placed throughout the golf course, back to my office where it connects to a small laptop computer that transmits the information through the internet to the manufacturer of the sensor. They put everything together on a webpage for me to view. The screenshot depicts a small portion of information that I am able to view but these digital sensors calculate and monitor soil moisture, temperature and salinity. From the Web site I am able to view graphs, set thresholds and determine if the greens need to be watered. Having all of this information also helps me understand why certain things happen and has contributed to reducing the amount of irrigation run time.
I love gadgets and these new toys are really fun to play with and they all help me do my job better. With all of the water restrictions and droughts taking place in other states along with waters evolution into a commodity; it is only a matter of time before Oklahoma is strapped with the same restrictions.By keeping track of every drop we use, we are conserving energy and water.