Drain extensions

Sometimes a shift in the weather is all it takes to give a new perspective on the course. In this case, May was a very wet month, and the excessive water highlighted where two drains were not working as intended. This past week we made some changes to handle water in these places in the future.

One of the most important, but also the most difficult aspect of installing drainage is locating where to daylight the pipe. Extremely long runs of pipe, surface topography, or other factors can make locating an exit point hard. Getting this wrong can lead to correcting a wet spot in one place only for the water exiting your drain to cause a new wet spot because you didn’t get the exit point located correctly, which only leads to more work. This was the case with the two drains we worked on last week, one on #9 and the other on #12.

Both drains have been operating correctly- water has been removed from the surface and flowed in the pipe as intended. Unfortunately, the exit point has become a secondary wet spot and causes us some issues with mowing. In both cases, most of the time there are no issues with the location of the drains. The water weeps out at the end and soaks into the surrounding soil. However, when the surrounding soil is saturated from rain and the water keeps seeping out of the drain also, then the water can’t percolate down, and it becomes a sloppy mess. We can’t mow the section that is too wet, or if we accidentally do, or if a cart drives through, we get ruts and destroyed turf.

So, the best solution that we have in most cases is to extend the drainpipe to a better termination point. Sometimes that might be to another drain, maybe to a point much further away and less in play, or in some cases, right to the cart path where the water can wash onto the path. For the drain on #9, we chose this last option: extending right up to the cart path. The drain still bleeds out onto the surface, but now it is onto a hard surface that can be driven on by carts and machines.

 

It turns out we were so busy with many different tasks, 
that we did not take any pictures during the project! Here is
a quick shot of the completed work on #9.

The drain on #12 was slightly different. We didn’t have a cart path nearby enough to get to and there was no additional drain into which we could empty. Instead, we extended this drain far enough so that it no longer impacts our mowing pattern and should be far enough away that most if not all carts will no longer drive through the exit point.

This is not the first time we have extended drains in this fashion. Just last year we extended a drain near #5 green and in the past we moved a drain at #13 green. The process is relatively simple, and we can easily finish in a day. Most of these drains are not very deep, so once we determine a new ending point, we hand dig a new trench to there, expose the old pipe, connect the new pipe, and backfill. In most cases we aren’t moving the drain further than about 20 feet, sometimes much less, so progress is made quickly.

Controlling and removing water is one of the most important aspects of turf management. Wet ground is not good for playing golf or managing grass. Sometimes getting the water just a little bit farther away can make all the difference.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When you splash bunker sand onto the green after your shot, please brush away any large piles or clumps that may have ended up on the green.

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

Golf Cart tips

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org