Grounds update

Last week Friday we completed the finishing touches on the new fairway bunker on 11.  To cap off the project, we took sod from the beginning of the 11th fairway and relocated it to the expanded fairway around the new bunker.  Next spring we will seed the beginning of the fairway into rough, shortening the fairway to coincide with the Master Plan.

With that large project behind us we are now focusing on other projects and tasks to close out the season, we have a heavy work load to complete before the snow flies.  This week is a shortened week and rain today that won't allow us on the course, but we are continuing to knock items off our to-do list. 

Monday was irrigation blow-out.  We also cut down the natural area behind the clubhouse. 

Yesterday we planted 6 trees on the course, picked up sticks from the recent high winds, blew out fresh water lines and mulched leaves. 

 

Our to-do list still contains - mulching leaves, repairing the bridge on 8/9, fertilizing fairways, spraying fungicides before the snow hits, trim the hedges on the range and 9 tee, winterize the water feature by the locker rooms, deep clean all the equipment and get Christmas lights up next week.

Irrigation line repair

A 3" valve on our irrigation system had to be replaced, today was a good day to shut down the system and get this completed. 

The valve was on the south side of the driving range, the old valve would not close properly - not allowing us to shut off the range to make repairs. 

At about 3' down, a fair amount of digging had to be done to give us room for the repair.

A large pipe calls for a large pipe wrench. 

Irrigation projects

We've had our share of irrigation projects this year, with an average of 3 heads per week that need to be dug up and cleaned out or repaired.  The beauty of the river is having access to water, the downside is all the debris that gets into the lines and ultimately causes problems with our irrigation heads.  It is not uncommon for us to get here in the morning and find a head that is stuck on due to debris clogging the valve.

Evan is digging up a head on 18 that was stuck on this morning, 2nd one this week. 

Wayne and Evan replaced a large valve on #11 today.  The original valve was worn out, we were having troubles turning off the fairway when needed.

 

Some of you may have noticed this line across #2 tee, near the blue markers.

Any guesses to the cause?

The answer tomorrow

 

10 Tee irrigation

Before any sod can be laid on the new 10th tee, a new irrigation line servicing the tee had to be installed. During the last few days, we tackled that piece of the renovation project. 

A water line was run from the existing fairway, communication wire was laid from the satellite box between 10/11 and two heads were installed to water the new tee. 

 

Leaking sprinkler

Because we pump our irrigation water out of the Blanchard River, our sprinkler heads get plugged with debris very frequently.  This can cause them to stick on or not come on at all.  Sometimes it causes the heads to bubble out water until repaired.  With over 800 heads on the property, we don't check every head for leaks on a daily basis - small leaks typically become apparent the first time someone drives over that spot.  Any major issues can be seen from a distance and get noticed fairly quickly.

This morning, a head was bubbling up on 11 fairway.  I drove through that area at 6:15am and it wasn't bad enough for me to notice a problem.  By 12:00, as the Saturday Morning Group went through, I was notified by 4 groups that there was a leak, it had been leaking for long enough to become an issue.  A quick 30 second flush and it was fixed, by tomorrow that area will be back to normal.  Thanks for the heads-up on the issue.

Preparing for the winter

Yesterday we blew out the irrigation system, part of of our annual preparations for the coming winter.

We cycle through the entire system twice, removing as much water from the lines as possible.  Today, the 15th hole bathrooms, pool house bathrooms and tennis court's irrigation will be blown out.

 

Effective tomorrow, the course will be closed for the season.  A cold front moves through the area today, dropping the temperatures significantly.

 

On Wednesday we will be taking the pins out of the greens and placing cups in select approaches to allow for play during the winter months if you get the urge to walk a few holes.  While the course may be closed, we will remain quite busy through the winter out on the course, finishing leaf clean-up, building a new tee on #7, along with trimming and removing trees.

Irrigation System

Last week we started up the irrigation system.  There is always the concern when you start up the system of what "bugs" we are going to find after 5 months of being shutdown.  With so many pipes, fittings, electronics and controllers; there always seems to be something that needs to be fixed or adjusted.  With the irrigation system being the arteries of the course, we need to keep the system in proper working order.

The pump motors were raised up off of the pump station this winter due to flooding.  We lowered them back down, everything is working properly.

The main control system fired right up.

All the irrigation boxes on the property came back to life with no issues.

We pressurized the system and checked each head.  We run at over 1,000 gpm at 125 psi

Due to the amount of debris and silt we get from the river, when we fire the system up in the spring, we get a fair amount of irrigation heads that weep.  In the next few weeks, you may notice an head here or there that is leaking a little bit.  We go to each head that is leaking, remove it and clean out the debris.

 

Frost and irrigation blow out

Today was the first frost of many to come.  It looks like the next 6 days will have some sort of frost delay based on the temps that are forecast.  Traffic on frozen turf causes damage to the cells within the plant, therefore we don't allow any traffic until the threat of frost is gone.  When we have a frost delay, the grounds crew can't drive on the grass either, this is why we have lengthy delays on certain days - we need time to prepare the course for the members before they tee off. 

Today was irrigation blow-out day.  Based on the forecast, we went a little earlier than most years and blew out our irrigation system to beat the freezing temps that are coming.  Because of where our pumps sit and the fact that they are exposed to the elements puts them in jeopardy of the freezing temps.  We don't want any of the exposed piping to freeze and cause problems. 

Every head is blown out until a mist is present.

This year we had three air compressors running throughout the course.  We were able to pick up the compressors at 7:00am, cycle through the entire property twice and have the compressors returned by 3:30pm.  It was a productive day.

 

Tomorrow we will be blowing out our fresh water lines - the 1st tee water station, 1/2 way house, pool house, tennis courts and our wash pad.

 

Irrigation pumps installed

Today we installed our new irritation pumps.  Last fall we removed them to be serviced/replaced.  This requires a large crane to lift the 1 ton pumps over a very wide span.  Everything went well, the pumps are ready for warmer weather.

Two new pumps brought in from Toledo.

Getting set up.  This is the only location we can access the irrigation pumps that are down on the river.

Raising the 2,000 lb pump.

Bringing the pump over the trees.  It is a 115' reach with 2,000 lbs, about at the limit.

Lowering the pump into the wet well.

Getting the first pump set in place.

Second pump coming down.

Bringing the motors back down to the pumps - 1,000 lbs each.

Finished product, ready to go for the spring.

Irrigation pumps

Last Monday, we had our irrigation pumps pulled up and sent to Toledo to get one of them rebuilt and the other pump replaced.  The pumps were installed in 2001, one of the pumps was replaced in 2006, the other pump has yet to be rebuilt or replaced.  We were starting to see the effects of the older pump wearing down.  We should be able to pump 1200 GPM, we were only able to pump 900 GPM.  This wear on the pumps is caused by the silt and sand that comes through the pumps.  The rebuilt/replaced pumps will have a dirty water kit on them to help combat excessive wear.

First step was to take the 60hp motors off.

The motors will be stored up on the service path for the winter.

We had a local company do the crane work.  We needed all the length they could get.  This spot on the lawn is the only access point to the pumps via crane.

The motors are 600lbs a piece and the pumps are 1000lbs.  Not that heavy, but still quite a load for the reach that was required.

Pulling the first pump.

They were laid on a trailer to be sent to Toledo.

Pulling the second pump.

The pumps go down twelve feet into a wet well along the river. 

You can see which pump was replaced in 2006, this pump will be rebuilt.  The older pump will be replaced.

Busy morning

What we accomplished today:

Mowing fairways

Hanging Christmas lights

Pulling the irrigation pumps

More on this later....

Irrigation blow-out

Yesterday was the unofficial end of the season - we blew out the irrigation system.

This process takes two 375cfm compressors and about 9 hours to complete.  Today we will be blowing out the fresh water - 1st tee, 15th hole, pool and tennis areas.

Irrigation system

On Monday we will be blowing out our irrigation system.  This is always done before we get extended freezing temperatures.  If the pipes and tubes surrounding the pumps freeze it would rupture them and be costly to repair.  The blow out process will take about a day and a half.  We will also be blowing out our fresh water lines to the 1st tee, to the 15th hole, around the pool and around the tennis courts.

Today I turned off the power to the pumps and started draining the system.

Irrigation system

While we have to be happy to have the Blanchard River in a year such as this, it doesn't come without its share of problems.  I have heard of the floods that can cover the golf course on a regular basis.  This year we have not seen this yet and hope not too.  The problem we are having this year is debris coming from the Blanchard, getting into the sprinkler system and plugging up the screens.

This plugged screen is from a sprinkler around the clubhouse.  These heads have a much finer mesh than those we use on the golf course and plug up daily.  The sprinklers on the golf course plug up from time to time and need to be cleaned to prevent dry spots. 

We have a separator attached to our irrigation system that is supposed to clean out most of the debris.  It seems that during a year like this where the river is a little lower, debris is more prevalent.