Ingestre Park’s new course in best possible hands with Toro and Otterbine

440 Toro Flex sprinklers were used for the greens, approaches and fairways and 159 T5 sprinklers on the tees, all of which are controlled by the Toro Lynx central control system with Lynx Smart modules. Five Otterbine Concept 3 lake aerating fountains keep the water of three lakes clean and clear and make a striking attraction.

International Design Group and MJ Abbott Ltd designed the course with Phil Helmn, as the golf course advisor, responsible for ensuring the project was carried out meeting the time frame of the planners. Here Phil explains the process: “When Ingestre Park Golf Club learned the proposed path of a new high-speed train was going to go through the course eight years ago, it took this as an opportunity to thrive. Excellent choices were made in selecting the right partners and the right tender plans.

“The bid included Toro irrigation in a one, not three, row formation with a couple of landing zones. The Lynx central control system really came into its own in the growing in phase. The ground must always be kept damp with water being applied every two hours for two minutes.

“If there were weather changes Lynx alerted us and application tweaks could be made – even from a sunlounger in Cyprus at one point! The level of detail and intuitive control Lynx provides is what’s needed when it comes to the application of water especially at this delicate stage and for safeguarding this commodity.”

Speaking of safeguarding water, Otterbine plays a role in this too, says Phil: “We were conscious of being set up to be as self-reliant as possible and know that everything has been done to harvest water. The site is very wet, and we needed a robust drainage system. Now we have a system that collects water into three lakes, all of which are interconnected, with Concept 3 aeration units installed from Otterbine to keep the water good for irrigating. We’ve also got a borehole to top up when needed and all this allows us to stay off the main water supply as much as possible.”

Now that the growing phase is over, Phil and the team continue to rely on the remote easy access accuracy of Toro’s Lynx, as Phil explains: “We irrigate at night or early in the morning and it’s so easy to control this should weather circumstances change from the time of pre-set. When you consider the warmer temperatures of the last few years and the prediction this will continue, to know our new course is in the best possible hands with the technology of Toro and Otterbine is particularly reassuring.”