Getting ready for winter

We just finished winterizing our irrigation system.  It is an important to procedure.  If we did not winterize the system the water in the plastic pipes would freeze and crack the pipes.

To remove the water we rent a large air compressor.  The compressor gets hooked up to the irrigation line outside the pump house near #7 fairway.

Air compressor at pump house

Once we have enough air pressure built up in the lines, we turn on each irrigation head until the water stops flowing out and it is just blowing compressed air.  At times it looks like Yellowstone Park out there.

Removing water from the irrigation heads

We also have a transfer line that runs from #12 to #7 that needs to be blown out.  The whole process generally takes about 10 to 15 hours to complete.  This year we managed to finish winterizing the irrigation system on Tuesday November 25th, one day before we received 8 inches of snow!

When It Rains It Pours

After experiencing heavy thunderstorms the evening before, we came in on the morning of July 3^rd to find this. 

An irrigation pipe leading to a quick coupler valve had broken next to the 13^th green.  The water ran through the night and eventually washed away a section of the collar and part of the green.

Thanks to the efforts of my irrigation tech Chris Wargo along with some other members of our greens staff, the repairs were quickly made and the next day the green looked like this.

Maintaining a golf course is a big job.  It takes the dedication and hard work of a team working together to pull it off.  I just want to take this opportunity to thank my staff for all their hard work and to say keep up the good work.

Hand Watering

As we progress into summer making sound water management decisions becomes increasingly important.  Finding the right balance between golfer’s expectations of firm fast conditions and sustaining healthy turf becomes increasingly difficult.

 

Weather Station


Although the irrigation system at Huntsville Golf Club is over 20 years old, it is still a very good system.  We have over 1,200 individual irrigation heads that are all controlled by a centralized computer.  We also have an on-site weather station which records evapotranspiration and can help to calculate how much to water to apply.  Despite these tools and technology, determining how much to irrigate is as much of an art as it is a science.  Applying too much water will lead to soft playing conditions, increased disease pressure and shortened root systems.  Apply too little and the grass will suffer from drought stress which could lead to turf loss.



 

"Hand watering gives you the ability to deliver water where it is needed.."


Hand watering a green

Modern irrigation heads are designed to apply water uniformly to the turf, unfortunately, the turf does not always dry out uniformly.  This is most evident on greens which are grown on sand for drainage purposes and can dry out very quickly.  As the green dries down certain ridges and high points tend to dry out first.  Although the simplest solution would be to run the irrigation heads, this would lead over watering areas of the green that are not dry.  It is at these times that hand watering becomes a vital maintenance procedure.  Hand watering gives you the ability to deliver water where it is needed while avoiding over irrigating other areas. 


Although no one likes to see maintenance workers hand watering the greens during the day.  Please be patient and understand that the greens staff is out there trying to produce healthy greens that are firm and fast.