The Vines - South Australia - Australia

Formed as The Marino Golf Club with a 9-hole course in 1925, The Vines Golf Club of Reynella moved to its current location in 1964, developing an 18-hole layout that was designed by head professional Fred Thompson.

Three small dams were built in creeks on the course during the 1980s and in 1994 a small stormwater harvesting pond was created in the nearby Panalatinga Creek with a pipeline connected to the club’s main retaining dam.

With a significant improvement in water availability, an automatic irrigation system was installed, allowing the course to be completely re-turfed with drought-resistant Santa Ana couch over a period of six years, producing fantastic playing surfaces that are still in use.

In the new millennium, the club has striven for water self-sufficiency with a series of projects aimed at reducing the reliance on mains water. In 2009, all five dams on the club’s property were full for the first time ever by the end of August that year.

The total cost of the combined water developments over a 10-year period exceeded half a million dollars.