Irrigation Q and A

When is the new system going to be used in its entirety?

The new irrigation system is up and running and has been for about a week. We are now making adjustments at many of the sprinklers (arc, rotation, nozzle requirements, etc.) and at the central computer: an important requirement for any new system. This is not a simple process and the current hot weather is actually making it more urgent than cooler weather might. There are both wet and dry areas that were never present before. As time goes on (all summer) our attention will focus on fine tuning the system. However there is one major point to consider. The irrigation system is new but the golf course conditions are not. By that I mean the underlying factors that make up the golf course are not new. The soils are good and bad, drainage can be and is an issue and hot spots will always be present.

Why are we hand watering if we have a new water system?

Hand watering prevents over watering nearby areas that don't need water. Remember the irrigation system is a "large area" watering tool. Small dry areas and sod cannot be watered by a sprinkler without overwatering surrounding areas. There a two separate issues here. First sod requires a lot of water especially at +30C. Turning on overhead sprinklers to water what are generally small sections of sod will over saturate everything. Secondly, hot spots are usually a function of issues with soil (localized dry spots or LDS) that require precise watering in addition to cultural practices such as venting and application of wetting agents. This is very relevant on greens and tees and common on almost all golf courses.

Most of the hand watering seems to be on greens. Why?

In addition to treating LDS with hand watering, using hoses and not the large area sprinklers will  prevent putting surfaces from getting too soft over the entire green. Too much water, high temperatures and high humidity can also lead to disease issues. Hand watering the greens should come as no surprise to anyone at The Royal Mayfair. We have been doing that for 7 years even though that section of the irrigation system was upgraded in 2010 an 2011 although new Toro sprinklers were installed last summer. You would be hard pressed to find a golf course that doesn't hand water.

When is Alpine completely finished their work?

Alpine should be off the property by July 14th. They still need to directionally drill some control wires and a communication line to the new Toro controller at the short game practice area. In addition to that they will spend the week adding soil and seeding the many small scars in the rough left behind from their work when using the backhoe. Also, their work is under warranty and with all large projects there will likely be some issues to correct as the system is used extensively. They will also be supplying us with a GPS mapping of all the sprinklers, valves, etc. by the end of the season. This map will make future writing of programs on the computer even more accurate.