BIGGA Video Series: Irrigation


Another great set of educational videos by BIGGA. Irrigation water and the precise use thereof will continue to be one of, if not the greatest, the most important environmental, economic and social issues facing the golf industry. These three videos cover the basics from source protection, to BMP's and technology (circa 2001).
Topics in video #1 include:
  • Environmental, political and future demands on H2O
  • Water should be used wisely to get the best conditions
  • Agronomy viewpoints from the study soil water management
  • The importance of irrigation - especially in summer
  • The main factors of evapo-transpiration demand based on environmental conditions
  • The optimum amount of water to use
  • Allowing for root zone materials, root penetration and varying susceptibility to drought stress
  • Supporting water penetration without over applying
  • Analyzing the quality of the water
  • Finding the amount of water in the turf
  • Combining irrigation and agronomy - bringing the two together
  • Comparing and contrasting varying root zones
  • Quantifying moisture requirements and drought tolerance for different types of grass varieties


Topics in video #2 include:
  • Looking at the real price and true cost of water
  • Considering using sing grey water, recycling rain water and using reed bed systems
  • Licensing, legislation, prioritizing water usage in society
  • Winter capture and water storage
  • Not just relying on summer/winter capture
  • Considering Scottish laws on water extraction and usage
  • The importance of matching irrigation requirements to the weather and rainfall
  • Reasons to avoid under and over watering and ensuring to water the right places to most benefit the root zone.
  • Examining the irrigation demands of a course in Scotland that was designed to be use all year round which utilizes a bore hole with an open and modern control system , as opposed to extracting from local sources.


Topics in video #3 include:
  • Current irrigation systems - automatic with weather statistics
  • Individual head control on modern systems
  • Linking control systems to automatic weather stations and moisture content in soil analysis
  • The importance of initial design to ensure the best irrigation system
  • Water distribution from sprinklers and considerations on greens
  • Using on site weather stations for the benefit of the green
  • Positive investments in weather stations and irrigation systems
  • The importance of keeping in depth records for accurate predictions and forecasts and irrigation
  • What does the future hold?
  • Is it in Golf's interests to be environmentally friendly?
  • Is there a positive impact on green golfing?


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