The Gunnedah Golf Club is just days away from finishing a major new irrigation system installed with the help of two British professional greenkeepers that have worked on prestigious courses around the world.
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The new watering system involves 600 sprinklers across all the fairways, greens and tees that can be activated from anywhere in the world using an iPhone or computer.
Golf course superintendent Chop Elphick said it would have cost the club close to $200,000, but the hiring of the two British workers, which cut out contractors, along with second-hand equipment and 100 sprinklers donated by the NSW Golf Club in Sydney, has cut costs considerably to around $90,000.
Mr Elphick met the two British greenkeepers last year while volunteering at the Australian Open.
Jack McMillan and Jack Davies from London have previously worked on the spectacular Jack’s Point course at Queenstown in New Zealand and the Royal Drottningholm course at Stockholm in Sweden.
In Australia on a working holiday visa, they have been in Gunnedah since March and have so far really enjoyed the experience.
“It’s a nice course,” they both said.
“Everyone you speak to say it has improved a lot in recent years.”
They also said working in a rural area had shown them “the proper Australian experience”.
“It’s different from living in the city. It’s a better experience,” Mr McMillan said.
“It’s relaxed, laid back and friendly.”
Mr Davies said he had also enjoyed learning about life on the land, which had included work with livestock on weekends.
“It’s a lot more hands on.
“You can understand where everything comes from too, like the food.
“I didn’t know what to expect but it’s been a really great experience. I’ve loved it here.”
The new golf course irrigation system will mean a huge reduction in maintenance hours, fewer breakdowns and be much more efficient waterwise.
Each sprinkler is connected by wires that run to six satellite boxes. They pick up transmissions from a computer in a shed on the course which can be linked to any lap top, computer or iPhone and activated from anywhere.
“It makes it mega efficient so we use less water,” Mr Elphick said.
“Everything is about water on the golf course.”
The sprinklers have slowly been installed on the course over the past three years, beginning with tees and greens. It is only now the project is near completion with work on the final fairways.
“It’s a fair bit of money but because we’ve done the whole lot ourselves, we’ve saved about 60 per cent,” Mr Elphick said.
The next project is to upgrade the bunkers by improving the drainage and replacing the sand.