Sports turf managers are having to husband all their resources more carefully, for both environmental and economic reasons. Fortunately, smarter application of water and pesticides are now possible thanks to sophisticated computer-based predictive systems that incorporate weather forecasting.

The irrigation market has grown in sophistication in recent years, with both Toro and Rain Bird incorporating weather prediction in their control software.

Toro field sales manager Robert Jackson says: "We will have to be more careful with water in future. Some larger courses are still pumping out 300cu m a night."

The company's SitePro system "can be linked to a weather station, which automatically provides ET (evapotranspiration) data," he says. Based on that, the control computer works out how many millimetres to spray each night.

This can further be refined by tagging sprinklers in wet or dry areas of the course to spray a given percentage more or less than the rest of the course, he adds.

"You don't even need to be at your desk - a handheld unit can operate the sprinklers by remote control while you're on the course," he says.

"In Britain, with our northerly climate, we use our irrigation systems to only about 75 per cent of their potential. But with the software on SitePro, you can really stretch what they can do.

"It's more efficient than 10 years ago. Instead of using a push-button controller and thinking, '10 minutes will do', the computer now works out how long the sprinklers need to run based on how many millimetres you need."

It also ensures the pumping system is working at an efficient flow rate - not necessarily the maximum, he adds.

Ideal time

The downturn is having an effect on investment, Jackson says. "Some people are holding back at the moment, but they have to be careful. We've had two wet summers in a row, but this year could be very different, and irrigation is not something you can look at in five minutes. In fact, now is the ideal time, when it's quiet and contractors are keen to get the business.

"But there are still high-profile projects going ahead," he says. "Big clubs with 10-year plans will be replacing their irrigation systems no matter what."

Football, in particular, is proving a buoyant market. A computer-based Toro system has just been installed at Glasgow's Hampden Park, with other high-profile pitches to follow. "They know they need good surfaces to generate revenue," says Jackson.

Managers may hold off investing for other reasons, he adds.

"Irrigation is a bit of a taboo subject. People know all about their machines for the green and fairway, but will shy away from talking about irrigation - perhaps because it's not something they use every day."

Seeing disease coming

A degree of wariness surrounds the main pest and disease prediction system on the market too, according to Simon Elsworth, professional products manager at Syngenta, which launched GreenCast in the UK two years ago.

"The challenge is getting people in front of it for the first time," he says. "If we can get grounds staff to spend 10 minutes on it at the shows, they think it's brilliant. Uptake has been gradual, but has been quickening as more people use it and talk about it."

The web-based system combines weather forecasting with advice on when to spray for the coming five-day period, based on how likely conditions are to promote disease.

"It's going down well in the golf and sports-turf sectors," says Elsworth. "We have around 1,300 registered users and had 3,300 visits to the site last week, and the feedback is very good."

Most are drawn to the weather-forecasting service on the website, he says, but are led from there to other areas of the site providing news and offering products.

"We had planned to charge for the service, but it is already driving product sales from the site," he says. "The information supports best-use practice for the products, to minimise their environmental impact."

Elsworth defends the system's promotion of preventative spraying. "There is a big difference between a policy that says, 'it's 1 October, so time to spray' and one that employs fungicide only when the conditions suggest it," he says.

"You use less, for a start. Targeting it before visible symptoms appear gives you a better level of control and allows a bigger gap between applications."

The system was developed in the US around four years ago. Elsworth and a team at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) adapted it to UK conditions. Versions for other markets are also being developed.

"We spent a lot of time with the STRI looking at Fusarium as it's a fungus that suits UK conditions," he says. "But the precursors of it or of dollar spot are the same wherever you are."

STRI head of turfgrass protection Dr Ruth Mann says: "GreenCast allows you to apply pesticide preventatively rather than waiting for Fusarium to appear. By treating it a few days earlier you are more able to keep your greens clean from the word go. Not only is that better for your customers, it's also cheaper - fire-fighting always requires more products."

Not everyone is convinced, though. Course manger at the Celtic Manor resort in south Wales, Jim McKenzie, says: "We don't use forecasting systems. Our three courses all have very different climatic conditions, so there's no economy of scale."

Instead, the club has indicative areas on each course that are monitored regularly, he says. "We do use fungicides preventatively. That usually sees us through. In fact, we haven't used any since October of last year. But we've got the Wales Open next month, and we'll 'inoculate' the turf before then, to tide us over.

"But I am watching very carefully to see how the forecasting systems develop."

GOODBYE TO HOSES

Malone Golf Club, near Belfast, is not short of rain. But the club is investing around £250,000 in a Toro Golf Decoder Controller system.

Course manager Michael Norman says: "The days of hand-hosing are long gone. This system will be fully automated through a PC in my office. We don't have a weather station on the course as yet, but will decide when to irrigate based on weather forecasts and on common sense."

The sprayers will kick in automatically in the night, making for more efficient irrigation and less disturbance to play, he says. "You lose water through evapotranspiration when the sun's up. Before, you would have to water last thing in the evening, or get ground staff in at 5am.

"And it will be a huge labour saving. We are a parkland course with 330 acres (134ha), which is a huge area."

The system is being installed by specialist contractor MJ Abbott, based in Wiltshire. "I was very impressed with MJ Abbott's work at the Portrush course," says Norman (see p31).

He is more wary of preventative spraying, however. "Everything in golf is heading down the sustainable route, in terms of chemical and fertiliser application. We are a clean course, and try not to over-fertilise or over-water.

"We also keep fungicide to a minimum. I favour a lean programme."

So far the downturn has had little apparent impact on the club, he adds. "I've never seen it so busy."