New Hunter system improves playing conditions, provides greater operational efficiency and reduces resource consumption
Dino De Abreu of Novo Landscape and Golf Course Architecture has overseen an irrigation project at Pretoria Country Club in South Africa.
The architect has, in recent years, overseen the reconstruction of bunkers and greens as part of a 10-year masterplan he developed for the club.
“The irrigation project provided an opportunity to review the relationship between the golf course design and its maintained turf areas,” said De Abreu. “The decision to undertake a complete irrigation replacement was also driven by the age, inefficiency and limitations of the existing system, as well as the demands of a modern, high-volume golf operation. More importantly, the existing hydraulic capacity could no longer meet the course’s requirements.”
The irrigation system was around 30 years old and had been repaired and modified several times, leading to problems that required the intervention of the club's greenkeeping team.
“The previous 90-milimetre ring main was limited to approximately 90 cubic metres per hour, meaning that achieving the required 35mm of irrigation per week would have taken approximately 17 hours,” said an irrigation designer at Turf Manzi Irrigation. “Given the significant numbers of rounds played, this watering window was operationally unacceptable. The new system was therefore designed to deliver the same 35mm weekly requirement within an eight-hour window, allowing irrigation to be completed around daily play and course operations.”
De Abreu was on site as project manager and worked with Turf Manzi Irrigation, a specialist irrigation company that handled design, supply and contracting, and Southern Turf Management, the golf course maintenance contractor. Work began in May 2025 and was completed by October 2025.
Pretoria chose Hunter’s Pilot central control system and G-800 Series GT885D TTS rotors, which are supported by a new hydraulic network and purpose-designed pump station.
“The decision to select Hunter’s products was driven by the need for greater precision, flexibility and remote management,” said De Abreu. “Unlike the previous block-controlled system, every sprinkler can now be individually programmed and operated according to its specific location and agronomic requirements. This allows watering to be adjusted for factors such as sun, shade, wind, slopes, soil conditions and different turfgrass requirements. Each rotor is also pressure regulated, ensuring consistent performance regardless of elevation across the course.
“Hunter’s Pilot Command Centre Software provides the central platform for managing the system. It enables the maintenance team to monitor, programme and adjust irrigation remotely, with run times capable of being manually adjusted or automatically calculated using evapotranspiration data. This allows irrigation decisions to respond to actual course conditions rather than relying solely on fixed programmes.”
Pretoria CC in South Africa has updated its course with Hunter’s Pilot central control system and G-800 Series GT885D TTS rotors (Photo: Laurence Plain/ Hunter Industries)
“The system uses strategically positioned Hunter Pilot-DH field satellite hubs connected through a two-wire network,” said De Abreu. “This significantly reduces cabling requirements, lowering installation costs while making fault-finding and future maintenance easier. It also provides a highly flexible platform for future expansion, as additional Pilot two-way modules can be installed with minimal digging and disruption. Ultimately, the Hunter technology was selected not simply for the performance of the individual components, but because it allowed the entire irrigation system, pump station, hydraulics, reticulation, sprinklers and central control to operate as one integrated, intelligent platform. The result is a more precise, efficient and reliable system that is easier to manage today and provides the flexibility to evolve with the course in the future.”
The parkland-style course, originally designed in 1910, was comprehensively renovated by Gary Player Design in 2004. De Abreu’s role has been to ensure the layout remains faithful to how the course has looked and played for the past 22 years.
“The fundamental design philosophy, strategy and character of the course have been retained,” said De Abreu. “However, some areas were refined to optimise irrigation coverage and improve the efficiency of the maintained turf footprint. The new sprinkler spacing also allowed us to be much more precise in defining where water is required, reducing overspray and unnecessary irrigation into natural or non-play areas. In that sense, the changes have been less about changing the golf course and more about fine-tuning the course to work more efficiently with the new irrigation infrastructure.”
In terms of the playing experience, De Abreu says the most noticeable difference will be playing surface consistency.
“The new system provides far greater control over where, when and how much water is applied, resulting in more uniform moisture levels, healthier turf, improved colour and fewer dry spots,” he said. “More consistent moisture management should also improve turf recovery, particularly through periods of peak heat and high traffic.
“We expect the most noticeable improvements across the fairways, tees, approaches and other high-traffic areas, where consistent irrigation is critical to maintaining quality under sustained levels of play. Uniform pressure and individually controlled sprinklers also allow irrigation to be tailored to the specific conditions of each area, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.
“From a maintenance perspective, remote monitoring and data-driven control represent a significant improvement. The greenkeeping team can respond more quickly to weather, rainfall and changing turf requirements, while system diagnostics and alerts allow potential problems to be identified before they become major failures. Ultimately, the project should deliver a more consistent and resilient golf course, while improving operational efficiency and reducing unnecessary water, energy and manual intervention. It is a significant step towards maintaining higher playing standards while making the course more sustainable and easier to manage.”
De Abreu’s masterplan has been a vital document for the club as it seeks to improve course conditions for its membership. “This project represented a significant investment in the long-term sustainability and resilience of the golf course,” said De Abreu. “We used the opportunity to fundamentally reconsider how the course should be irrigated given the club’s current and future operational demands. Most importantly, the new system gives the maintenance team greater control over one of the golf course’s most valuable resource, water. It provides the technology and flexibility to irrigate more intelligently, respond to changing conditions and progressively move towards a more data-driven and sustainable approach to course management.
“In our view, this is what a modern golf irrigation system should ultimately deliver: better playing conditions, greater operational efficiency, reduced resource consumption and a system that is capable of evolving with the course well into the future.”