Royal Troon Golf Club has been hailed as a leading example of businesses in Scotland investing in protecting water resources.

The world-famous Ayrshire golf club has hosted the Open Championship ten times in it's existence and is playing its part to protect Scotland’s water environment as part of Water Saving Week 2022. 

The annual event has been created by Waterwise to raise awareness of the issues around water use and takes place between May 23 and 27. Today, the final day of the campaign, focuses on water and the natural environment.

Club secretary Stephen Anthony said: "A reliable clean water source is essential for care and maintenance of the course. The environment and use of water is one of our primary concerns and over watering can actually have a detrimental impact on the species of grass and the playability of the course.  

"Over the past three years, the club has made a major investment in a state-of-the-art replacement irrigation system on all courses, from abstraction from a burn that discharges into the sea after passing through the course, to storage, and to delivery via the sprinkler heads.

"Unlike our previous system that was virtually all on or all off, this one enables us to target water to where it is needed. We could have one single sprinkler working and all others off. This allows us to use water more efficiently." 

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) works with businesses in Scotland to help manage the range of conditions they face and to avoid water scarcity issues where possible, are also a key factor in this. 

Nathan Critchlow-Watton, head of water and planning at SEPA, said: "Our aim is to work with businesses to do the right thing and help protect our water environment.

"Golf is just one industry that is fundamental to that, and it is great to see a club like Royal Troon making such an investment in their irrigation system. 

"It is vitally important that Scotland is prepared to deal with water scarcity both now and in the future.

"SEPA is here to help plan and can advise on a series of straight forward steps for businesses to take such as monitoring water usage and equipment and avoiding any unnecessary leakage.

"We encourage them to work together and stagger their abstractions to minimise any potential impacts."

Businesses can find out more information on water scarcity and how to prepare for it on SEPA's website.