Irrigation technology delivers precision and control at one of Ireland’s finest courses

Nestled between the Irish Sea and the Wicklow Mountains, Druids Glen is one of two championship golf courses at the Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort, twenty miles south of Dublin on the East Coast of Ireland.

This is an inland parkland course, originally designed by Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock, which opened in 1995, hosting the Irish Open between 1996 and 1999 and the Seve Trophy in 2002. Built to USGA standards and a previous European Golf Course of the Year winner, Druids Glen is considered one of Europe’s finest, most challenging, enjoyable courses and with the most exquisite scenery, tree-lined fairways and spectacular water features has earned a reputation as the ‘Augusta of Europe.’

Thirty years on, a multi-million-euro investment by resort owners Neville Hotels has renovated and enhanced the course and its clubhouse. The twenty greens have been reshaped, tiered and extended, there are new tee boxes, bunkers renovated or repositioned and centre-lined and dying and diseased trees removed to open up views across the course.

Led by golf course designer Peter McEvoy and EIGCA member Jeff Lynch of (re)Golf, a highly qualified and experienced project team included EIGCA Gold Partner Rain Bird, John Clarkin of Bronze Partners Turfgrass, Bronze Partner Irish TurfCare, EIGCA Affiliate Giles Wardle of Irriplan, Darr Golf Construction and Aquaturf Solutions. After just seventeen months, the restored course re-opened for play in June 2023.

Lynch explains,

“Tackling and ripping up what the Irish already consider to be a gem of a course, and one they have a romantic attachment to, certainly creates a certain amount of pressure. The course was overdue a makeover to bring it up to modern tournament standard for the elite golfer, potentially for The Open in the future, and yet it still needed be an enjoyable golfing experience for everyday golfers.

“With all our experience in course design and construction, Peter and I had a good idea about what would be needed to be done to enhance the existing canvas. Of course, you can design an engaging course on paper but everything we designed on plan was actually achieved on the course. The architectural design must, importantly, stack up as a great course to play and so far, feedback has been very good.

“Our approach as designers was re-imagining the course, taking a completely fresh look, working with what was already arresting topography to create a more interesting and dramatic blend of features. The course was aesthetically reshaped to be more visually attractive, more open and appealing, using the angles of the sun, the light and shadows, as a landscape painter might do.

“There’s often a mixed reaction in Ireland when you mention irrigation given the amount of rain we have, yet the new irrigation system that Jonathan Bradshaw and his team are now working with is crucial, both for growing in and ongoing course maintenance. “

Bradshaw first began his greenkeeping career at Druids Glen and returned as Course Manager three years ago to head up a sixteen-strong greenkeeping team that scales up to twenty-four staff at the height of the season. The previous irrigation system with its leaking PVC piping and old pumps, installed when the course was first built, had not been upgraded for some time and as a result didn’t meet modern day standards.

Directors from the Neville family were hands-on and closely involved in the decision to select the Rain Bird® IC System™ with CirrusPRO™ Central Control software, also informed by the experiences and feedback Bradshaw gained from his peers and Irish courses currently operating Rain Bird systems.

The new irrigation system design was drawn up by Giles Wardle of Irriplan with double and triple row coverage on the fairways at specific holes where required. Over 1000 Rain Bird 752 Series and 900/950 Series rotors were installed across the course with isolation valves allowing for irrigation to a specific green or fairway to be shut off as necessary.

Significant investment was made in drainage and upgrading and extending pathways. Over 90,000 square metres of topsoil were stripped and replaced, greens required 7,000 tonnes of rootzone along with 2,000 tonnes of gravel and 5,000m of drainage, with sand and top dressing on fairways.

Bradshaw pays credit to the collaboration between everyone in the project team, many of whom were on site from day one, ahead of construction starting.

“Everyone got on; we were delighted with Aquaturf Solutions for the installation. Their professionalism and hard work were world class, and equally with the back up from Irish TurfCare for whom nothing ever seemed to be an issue. There were challenges with the weather but everyone put a shoulder to the wheel.

“I can be in the office working while CirrusPRO™ is fully operational in the background. What’s so great about it is the real-time interface and the control it brings – it’s very easy to use and alerts us immediately if anything isn’t working properly. Whether I’m on my phone, a tablet, or the PC, there is access to the full central control software giving instant control and reliability. The new system is dependable, giving us everything Rain Bird promised it could.

“Financially, the long term benefit is in the time saved, many hours previously spent running and maintaining an old and inefficient system. We’re irrigating a much greater area of maintained turf than we did previously and while we don’t pay for water extraction here in Ireland, using less water overall means using less electrical power to pumps which does save us money. In time, three or four of the greenkeeping team will be trained to use CirrusPRO™, with different levels of access as needed. I’m proud of the team here; it’s one of the best you could possibly work with. As it’s a family business with buy-in from the top down, we all share the same ethos. It’s a privilege to be working at Druids Glen, one of Ireland top courses and a very special golf course.”