Prepping for the Season

Throughout the golf course, there are underground sensors which provide us with valuable information.  Each sensor measures soil moisture, temperature and salinity from two different depths, and transmits this information back to the maintenance facility.  As with all of our equipment, winter gives us the opportunity to make sure the sensors will be good to go for the upcoming season.

This winter, we replaced the batteries in several of the sensors.  The first step in this process is to find them--sounds easy enough, but again, these sensors are buried beneath the surface.  Detailed notes, measurements, and pictures can be very helpful in locating them.  In the case of a tee, a yardage marker makes an ideal reference point.

However, when it comes time to find the sensor in a green, we will triangulate from a pair of sprinklers to the point where the sensor is buried.  If needed, the metal detector can be used to pinpoint the "buried treasure."  (On a side note, that is some seriously dormant grass!)

Once the sensor is removed from the ground, it is cleaned and a new battery pack is installed.  Then it is returned to its subterranean abode, where it can continue to do its job maintenance-free, for several more years.

The sensors are a great tool, and have proven to be extremely durable.  Of course, there is one way you don't want to locate one of them--with an aerifier.  In a head to head competition, between a Toro 648 aerifier and a Toro Turf Guard sensor, the aerifier wins 10 out of 10 times...

As we enter mid-March, we are looking forward to checking the sensor data this week and seeing soil temperatures on the rise.  Some lower moisture readings would certainly be an added bonus!