Three new drains

Happy Memorial Day. It has been dry the last 10 days or so and we have taken advantage by preparing for the next rainstorm! We added 3 small drains- 2 on #18 fairway and 1 in #3 approach- to combat some small, but troublesome, poorly draining areas.

We can add water to most places at almost any time we need to. But taking water away is a much more difficult, or impossible, task. Without proper drainage, either through pipe or surface flow, the water is left to infiltrate and percolate through the soil on its own. Sometimes, for various reasons, this can take a very long time. Poor soil and a flat surface grade are the two most common culprits. This was the case in each of the areas that we added new drains in the last week.

During the Master Plan renovation, many new drain lines were added, and a lot of soil was disturbed and redistributed. Not every single pocket or low spot could be accounted for, without regrading the entire property. In the years since the project finished, we have slowly identified several key areas that water tends to sit for long periods and hinders the growth of the Bermuda grass.

We continued that process by improving a few more spots. First, 2 locations in #18 fairway were improved. Luckily, each was very near an existing drain inlet, so we only needed to add new pipe and tap into the existing drain. These two spots had the unfortunate combination of being little bowls that the water could not flow out of as well as very poor soil that the water could not move through. Both areas should show immediate improvement.

The last area we did was also another addition. In this case, it was adding to a drain we put in two years ago in #3 approach, following the renovation, where we identified a poorly performing area. Since the first drain was put in, we have seen a steady improvement. However, we were not quite capturing all the water that we needed to. So, we connected to the existing drain line and extended to where the water sits.

Even though the total length of all the new drains is under 100 feet, the impact will be significant. Helping water move off the surface is one of the best ways to improve conditions and we crossed 3 more locations off the “poorly-draining” list.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please remember to remove any bunker sand that may be stuck to your spikes before walking on the greens.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Bunker etiquette

 

 

 

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org