As labour costs continue to increase, how can irrigation technology improve staff productivity?
When Rain Bird introduced CirrusPRO in 2019, a small group of UK golf course managers were willing to give the next generation of irrigation software a try.
As ‘early adopters’ they were among the first to try it out. Early adopters are often enthusiastic, super-users of digital technology as it offers an exciting glimpse of the future and at the same time, helps iron out glitches and fine tune what’s on offer.
Now, a few years on, what difference has CirrusPRO made? What’s changed, and has the club noticed a change in the productivity of the greenkeeping team and on irrigation costs?
For Barry Neville, Course Manager at Stanmore Golf Club in Middlesex and his greenkeeping team, CirrusPRO has been a significant time-saver.
“Staff have mobile access and can easily log in and use or check a rotor if passing by, without having to hop on and off a mower,” he said.
“Remote access is significant at weekends when only two people are working. What can be done from a mobile device is what saves so much time. Notes can be made which you can revisit back in the office, and it doesn’t have to be head-related either which is very useful.”
Having explored the earliest version of CirrusPRO and benefitted from updates since, the early adopters like Barry have become proficient, confident users, encouraging and supporting their greenkeeping teams to be the same.
Clear gains were confirmed – huge time and labour savings, far less water used, and a guarantee that first-class playability and performance can be delivered out on the course.
If your club has a Rain Bird irrigation system and you’d like to discuss upgrading to CirrusPRO, contact Angus Finlayson at Origin Amenity Solutions, on 07917 250556 or email.