The Final Phase

 Installing the lateral pipe and sprinkler heads took about 60 days starting on June 29th and ending on September 8th.  It was a challenging time to say the least.  We had a full golf schedule, record heat, and it didn't rain one single day during that period.  In fact, we had 80 plus consecutive days without rainfall which is the longest stretch on record.  You might say this was bad luck given the project at hand, but it was perfect weather for pulling and fusing together HDPE pipe.  It also gave us the opportunity to see the superior performance of the new system.  Each day, parts of the old system were abandoned, and replaced with the new system.  After a week or so on the new system, each area became more uniform in health and color, almost like magic.

Installing laterals and sprinkler heads on #13

Installing laterals and sprinkler heads on #11

Installing laterals and sprinkler heads on #16

 

Here we are on #8.  I love this photo because it shows us using the new irrigation system near the green which was installed t he day before, and it also shows us watering with the old system in the area where the new system is about to be installed.

Installing laterals and sprinkler heads on #9

Installing laterals and sprinkler heads on #2.

Hand watering fairways.  This was a common scene throughout the project as many of sprinklers on the old system weren't functioning correctly following the mainline installation.

As the project progressed, more and more of the old systems power supply and communication was damaged by the "plowing in" of laterals.  Since the plowing process leaves no visible evidence of the damage taking place, it was just something we had to work with and many times we had to use a generator in order to run water.  This is when it would have been nice to have a couple cooler days with some rain, but that never happened.

The plowing of laterals was much more disruptive than we anticipated.  Because of our gravelly soils and shallow rooted grasses, we had a lot of heaving and buckling of the surface.  We tried changing the plow blade type, angle, vibrations speed, etc. and nothing really helped.  One things for sure, and that was the damage got worse in the drier areas, so we really tried to make sure and water heavy those areas the day before we plowed into them.

Here's a picture of 14 fairway 6 weeks after we plowed in the laterals.  Not too bad really, and of course today it's almost impossible to see any evidence of the plowing process.

The practice putting green is so big that one lateral was run into the middle of it.  There is actually two heads on this lateral, and within the putting surface.

Installing laterals and sprinkler heads on the driving range.  We used to have about 30 heads on the driving range.  It was definitely an area where the old irrigation system was deficient. In fact you can see in this picture just how much of the area was not adequately irrigated.  With the new system we have over 150 sprinkler heads on the driving range.  This is a huge improvement which will now finally give us the ability to have a sizable sod nursery at the end of the range near the old 18th tee.

After all the new irrigation was installed, our weather station was put together.  This is going to be a great tool for optimizing the performance of the new irrigaiton system.  The weather station will use wind, temperature, and other data to generate a daily ET number.  The ET stands for evapotranspiration and that is all the water which is lost from the soil during a given day.  The idea is if we know the ET then we know exactly how much water to apply in order to replace that which is lost.  When we know that then we know how much water to apply if we want to dry the course down, or soften the course in preparation for a heat wave. 

The last job was a final run through of the entire golf course making sure every old sprinkler head was removed.

Lastly, In case you didn't know, during the mainline installation we included new drinking water lines, and added power lines to improve our restroom facilities on #2 and #6.  I'm not sure what year these structures were built, but they have never had an electric power supply.  The restroom on #6 at one time had propane heat but that has long been inopperable.

So that concludes this blog which outlines the Clubs new irrigation system.  Here's a picture of the Landscapes Unlimited team loaded up and moving on to the next job.  I will never forget this project.  Four years of planning and many people to thank for exceptional implementation.  Thank you to the Club members, and Board of Directors for having the courage to push forward with this endeavor during the uncertain times of the pandemic.  Finally, I personally need to thank Jose Acosta who led the Landscapes Unlimited team with the installation.  He is an amazing man and an expert at his craft in every way.