Stadium Lighting
A data-driven app How a decade of technological innovation has put groundsmen more in control than ever before...
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roundsmanship today looks completely different than it did 10 to 15 years ago. The time of solely fieldwork has made place for a more data-driven approach. Technological advanced tools enable groundsmen and greenkeepers to both monitor and control the growing conditions on sports playing surfaces. When SGL brought grow lights to the market 15 years ago, new possibilities emerged for maintaining high quality sports playing surfaces. While the lighting systems are the innovation that they are most recognised for, SGL were also one of the firsts to switch from a product driven approach to a system based on monitoring and data analyses. Technology has raised the standards and the role of the groundsman has become more
48 | Turf Matters | May-June 2018
essential than it ever was before. SGL offers guidance to groundsman in the form of monitoring tools, cost management tools and various grass grow lighting and grass care products. ‘Quality is the exclusion of chance’ is one of the rules by which SGL operates. This statement finds its origin in the rose greenhouse Porta Nova, one of the
most technologically advanced rose greenhouses in the world, of which SGL founder Nico van Vuuren is also co-owner. “In roses, we are looking for the best quality rose, one which keeps its beauty for as long as possible. With SGL we help our customers to create the best quality pitch. That is the main focus,” explained Nico. The only way to leave as little to chance as possible is by researching, analysing and modelling. The perfect growing circumstances and the way to achieve those are of course different for every pitch, court or green. Therefore SGL developed various models within the monitoring tools to forecast growth circumstances for every specific circumstances. Tools, such as the Analyser, provide groundsmen with 24/7 growth data