Helsinki, Finland: Founded in 1932, Helsinki Golf Club is Finland’s oldest and most prestigious golf course. Located just six kilometres from the city centre, the 18-hole course is set in a city park next to the grounds of a 19th-century manor house turned clubhouse, with flat fairways framed by old trees and fast, sloped greens.

The club has hosted many national amateur and international events, including the Ladies European Tour.

As the most northerly continental European capital, winter is the longest season in Finland, with temperatures dropping to -30 °C. In summer, the thermometer can reach up to +30 °C, making life for greenkeepers extremely challenging to keep their turf not only playable but competitive enough to host international events.

Given those challenges, Lauri Gulin, the club’s Director of Golf Operations, credits Soil Scout with ensuring the turf is kept in the best condition possible.

Gulin said: “Ground temperature variability is one of our biggest challenges. Being in the Nordics with four very distinct seasons creates unique challenges that most other clubs worldwide face.

“In the winter, before the snow comes, ground frost makes it impossible to do any maintenance – there’s not a big enough machine that can do anything to make an impact.

“Last winter, it snowed approximately three feet before the ground had time to freeze, meaning that the wet, damp top soil was insulated under the snow, causing it to rot and practically destroy most of our greens and fairways.

“When the snow finally melted, we had to re-seed everything. Given that we had one of the worst springs for 15 years, we would have been in considerable trouble if we didn’t have the data from the Soil Scout sensors in our greens.

“Some areas have a piping system that’s relatively shallow beneath the soil, which still might be frozen, so we can’t put water down at that time. We have to put products down that help the ground retain moisture for a longer time.”

According to Gulin, Soil Scout sensors have had a hugely positive impact.

“Greenkeepers are often expected to know what their soil is doing, even without using technology to aid their work, as if it’s a big secret that only they understand.

“However, that’s not the reality – that’s just guesswork. By removing the guesswork from his job, he can use the Soil Scout sensors to effectively plan the whole team’s operations and create much better conditions for the players to enjoy every day.

“Instead of needing to worry about the soil and taking sample measurements from each of the different greens and then reacting, he can see all the data he needs to make decisions at home or in the office before even stepping out onto the course, and work on the jobs that usually don’t get done because they’re of a lower priority.

“Soil Scout helps us to re-prioritise how we get things done. Cutting the rough is where most of the effort goes, because it grows like hell with 18 hours of sunlight shining on it,” said Gulin.

Soil Scout is an Associate Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.