Now in its third season using turfRad, The Country Club at Castle Pines has fundamentally changed the way it manages irrigation. By replacing scattered spot measurements with comprehensive root-zone moisture mapping, the agronomy team has reduced annual water use by more than 16 million gallons while maintaining the firm, championship-quality playing conditions members expect.
Those results didn’t come from simply applying less water. They came from understanding where water was actually needed, prioritizing the most critical areas, and making irrigation decisions based on what’s happening beneath the surface rather than what appears to be happening above it.
Colorado has never been a place where water can be taken for granted. But in recent years, drought conditions combined with a major pond renovation created an extraordinary challenge for the team at Castle Pines.
Their available water supply dropped from 2,200 gallons per minute to just 200 gallons per minute.
An irrigation cycle that once took a single night suddenly required more than three days, with pumps running around the clock.
When water becomes that limited, every gallon matters. Rather than trying to irrigate everything equally, the agronomy team needed a way to identify which areas required immediate attention and which could safely wait.
That’s where turfRad became an essential part of their daily operation.
Visual observation has always been an important part of golf course management.
But during periods of severe water restriction, appearances can be deceptive. By the time turf begins showing visible stress, the plant has often been under pressure for days.
Using turfRad, the Castle Pines team measures root-zone moisture across the course, collecting more than 10,000 moisture measurements per fairway to create a detailed picture of moisture distribution. Instead of relying on scattered handheld readings, the team can see exactly where water is needed – and where it isn’t.
As Director of Grounds, Lance Lauer, CGCS, explains:
“Utilizing the turfRad sensors has allowed us to target the most critical areas first and foremost, while supplementing where we could in others as needed.”
Instead of managing by assumption, the team could prioritize irrigation based on what was actually happening beneath the surface.
While water conservation is the headline, it isn’t the whole story. Over the past several seasons, Castle Pines has also undertaken a major irrigation system improvement program, correcting hydraulic issues, adjusting sprinkler spacing, and optimizing nozzle configurations.
turfRad didn’t make those adjustments. It helped reveal where they were needed.
As Lance puts it:
“The use of the sensors helped us learn more about our irrigation system and how it was set up so we could make corrections.”
That’s an important distinction.
Technology doesn’t replace the expertise of the superintendent. It gives that expertise better information to work with.
Over two full seasons, Castle Pines reduced annual water use by 16 million gallons while continuing to deliver firm, fast playing conditions.
The team’s moisture targets also shifted significantly:
What once required hours of manual moisture sampling can now be accomplished in minutes using mobile moisture mapping
Perhaps the most encouraging result has been below the surface.
According to Lance, reducing unnecessary irrigation has encouraged deeper rooting across the property, helping the turf become more resilient during prolonged drought.
“The result of less water usage has allowed the turfgrass to establish a deeper root structure throughout the property, allowing us to survive this unique set of circumstances.”
Less water didn’t mean weaker turf. It meant stronger turf that was managed more precisely.
One theme has connected all of our recent articles: irrigation shouldn’t be reactive.
Whether you’re responding to drought, rising water costs, public scrutiny, or simply striving for better playing conditions, the goal is the same.
Replace assumptions with measurement.
Castle Pines demonstrates what becomes possible when irrigation decisions are guided by comprehensive root-zone moisture data instead of isolated spot checks or visual symptoms alone.
The result isn’t just millions of gallons of water saved. It’s a more deliberate approach to irrigation – one that helps superintendents direct water where it’s needed, improve moisture uniformity across the course, and make better use of every available gallon.
As water becomes an increasingly valuable resource, that’s not just good agronomy.
It’s the future of golf course management.
