Drainage Quick Fixes

It's been some time since our last post, but it's not for lack of things to post about. In fact, just the opposite....we've all been so busy there's been no real time to sit down and punch out an update!

But as we get busier, we understand that these updates and educational posts are even more important to our members and customers. So allow me to catch you up on the three most talked about aspects of the course at this moment. We'll start by dedicating this post to the first: drainage.

The course has dried out beautifully in between the now sparser rain storms...except for a few very obvious areas: #3 approach, #4 blue tee and #8 fairway. After much investigation and exploration, we're at a loss to pinpoint where this water is coming from to be able to control it from the exact source. It seems to be seeping out the hillsides everywhere. So while we explore some more permanent and long term solutions, so we don't end up dealing with this problem areas every spring, we've gone to work on some rough, generic, but effective drainage solutions.

After digging this huge hole to investigate the irrigation mainline, nothing was found leaking, and the water continues to fill the hole from elsewhere. A drain  has now been installed from this seepage point down the entire approach, and another in the right rough about 50 yards out. Both should dry this area out and provide better turf conditions.

Though not very obvious in this picture, the back right corner of this tee has about 1/2" of water sitting on it. We've since put in a drain around this corner to catch the water and divert it around the tee. The tee is already much drier and we've been able to finally mow the whole thing.

#8 fairway is by far the worst problem. Water seeps out of severl locations along the right rough, as seen in this picture, and runs along the turf surface through large portions of the fairway landing area. Despite many existing drains in this area, the water continues to cause a problem. Here we've since cut a trench along the rough line to stop the water from reaching the fairway and diverted it to a functioning drain we found. With a few days of sun, the fairway should dry out enough for us to mow and begin getting it back into much more playable condition.

Thank you for your patience with these projects, and keep checking back for updates on a more long-term solution that we've begun looking into. Also check back soon for updates on two other hot-button topics: Poa control and new bluebird nestboxes. More coming soon!