Irrigation system improves course

THE Leongatha Golf Club’s new irrigation system will save the club up to 40 hours of labour per week, use 40 percent less water and cost around $4000 per year less to run than its previous system.
The $250,000 automated irrigation project was funded by the club, $50,000 from the South Gippsland Shire Council and $80,000 from the State Government.
Mayor, Cr Lorraine Brunt said the project was first put before council in 2015.
“The project was quite an undertaking…which the council was happy to provide $50,000 for,” she said.
“We look forward to seeing the progress the Leongatha Golf Club makes in the future.”
Golf club president Peter Waters said the installation of the new irrigation system will form an important part of the club’s history.
He said the club, which is 109 years old, has been shaped by past projects of similar scale.
“Sixty years ago, the decision was made to move from Leongatha and build this 18 hole course. That decision set the scene for the club’s history,” he said.
“Then, 40 years ago the decision was made to purchase a block of land a few kilometres away with a large dam, to secure our water supply.
“Then around three years ago, another decision was made to look at trying to secure funding for this irrigation project.”
Mr Waters said the project, which ended up costing around $30,000 more than anticipated, was out of the club’s depth to take on alone.
He said receiving around half of the required money from the council and the government meant the project became doable.
“We also obtained donations from businesses and our own members,” he said.
“The actual work has been a large undertaking, completed by the contractor as well as by our own staff and volunteers.”
Mr Waters wanted to thank council project manager Tony Peterson, club general manager Josh Hall, course superintendant Dylan McMeekin and all of the volunteers who helped achieve “a wonderful outcome for this club”.
“It will be another of the important decisions and developments in the club’s history,” he said.
The club’s old system was manually operated and meant much of the watering was done during the day and sometimes even impeded play.
The new system is fully automated and capable of being operated via an app on a smart phone.
It also allows watering to be done at night, reducing water use and energy costs as well as reducing disruption to players.
“It is something we can all be proud of,” Mr Waters said.

Water course: from left, South Gippsland Shire Council mayor Cr Lorraine Brunt, Leongatha Golf Club general manager Josh Hall, council project manager Tony Peterson, golf club superintendent Dylan McMeekin, golf club president Peter Waters and GippSport executive officer and former club president Dan Poynton admired the golf clubs new irrigation system last Thursday.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Mar 20 2018. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry