LightScout

Daniel Lightfoot is Course Manager at Bearwood Lakes Golf Club. His aim when searching for a soil moisture meter was to improve turf performance in problem areas across the course, save his team time, and enhance the club’s quality and reputation. Bearwood Lakes was established in 1996 and has since been ranked number 3 in the UK & Ireland’s Top 100 Golf Clubs and recognised in the US as Best Modern Course by Golf Week. Keeping a high level of quality is important for the future success of the club.

Daniel came across EnviroMonitors during an internet search for soil moisture meters in 2009. After reading about the product and its benefits of robustness and ease of use a FieldScout TDR200 handheld Soil Moisture Meter was purchased for Bearwood Lakes. Whilst the TDR200 is no longer in the FieldScout TDR range, greenkeepers and course managers can choose between the TDR100 and TDR300 which use the same measurement technology presented in a different case. The TDR100 is a handheld meter and the TDR300 stores measurements and can be connected to a GPS unit to geo-reference readings.

Daniel comments that he ‘uses the TDR200 most nights to determine irrigation demand and also in the day when hand watering’. The meter is ‘very easy and simple to use’ allowing his team to gain time for other tasks. Over the last 3 years of use Daniel comments the unit is ‘quick and simple to use, has a massive effect on quality and helps to control water usage’.

More recently, Daniel saw an advertisement for the FieldScout DLI100 LightScout meters. The DLI100 is a simple tool designed to monitor light levels around your course. Sold in sets of three to easily compare light intensity levels the DLI100 is an affordable first step in measuring light. With a push of a button, the DLI 100 records light intensity for a 24 hour period and then calculates the Daily Light Integral (DLI). Bearwood Lakes has a problem green and Daniel felt taking a tree out would help show the green is in the dark for a long time which affects the growth levels. He purchased a set of DLI100s to help with his reasoning for the tree removal.

Daniel found the EnviroMonitors team ‘very helpful with all I needed and feel the back up thereafter was superb’ and his closing comment about the TDR200 is ‘Excellent – we have had ours for years now and more and more people are getting them’.

Since this time, Daniel has purchased a second TDR meter from EnviroMonitors in April 2013 with 75mm rods. As the TDR200 was no longer in the range Daniel opted for the TDR100. In July 2013 we supplied Daniel with 120mm rods to use.