Whole-course control conversion at The Richmond Golf Club
Rain Bird's published project study and independent Golf Business News coverage identify JK Irrigation as the contractor for The Richmond Golf Club's conversion from its established decoder arrangement to Rain Bird Integrated Control.
The starting point
The club's Rain Bird Freedom decoder system dated from 1998. According to the published case study, decoder failures had become more frequent, fault finding was difficult and annual spending on electrical faults had risen above £10,000.
The club considered completing the conversion in three loops. It chose a whole-course conversion after reviewing the installation route and the ability to retain the existing field wiring.
Contractor delivery
Rain Bird records that JK Irrigation completed the conversion in four weeks before Christmas 2023. This included approximately two to three weeks for hardware installation followed by a week for system setup and testing.
The work changed paired fairway sprinklers into individually controlled stations. This gave the course team more precise control over individual areas and allowed functions such as single-station Cycle and Soak to be used where required.
Reported operational results
Master Greenkeeper Les Howkins reported better coverage and more area-specific control. The club also reported using approximately 10% less water than under the previous arrangement. These are site-reported results from this project, not general performance claims for every installation.
Independent project evidence
- Rain Bird 360: Richmond Golf Club case study
- Golf Business News: independent Richmond project coverage