#3 Green Days 7-10

The end is in site and everyone is looking forward to not coming back to this green for a long time. We finished adding the third drain line and removed and placed back the fourth line. We are in the process of sodding which can be time consuming because every little imperfection can be seen if the sod is not put down properly. Our next project will be heading to the 17th green and seeing what we need to fix, hopefully not as extensive. Stay tuned!

Just a recap on what has taken place.

1. Missing 3 drain lines that should have been installed.

2. The mainline had numerous highs and lows, so water was not exiting the green properly.

3. One existing line was clogged with mud around the pipe, removed and cleaned.

4. The front of the green had to many connections and not enough perforated pipe, this also allowed the water to sit in front of the green at the sub grade.

5. The green did not have positive surface run off at the front and the water had no place to go but down.

6. The front liner of the green that is buried will be removed to help with water removal.

This is the area that had to many connections, we could not
change  this but we did do is allow water to inter the
pipe from the bottom by making slots into the connection points
 and adding a perforated pipe section which was solid at the time.

Prepping the exposed areas for sod.

Slow and tedious process.

#3 Green Day 5 and 6

We are slowly making our way towards the front of the green with just a few more things to do. This is taking longer than expected because of the problems we have found and the fact that its all manual labor. Friday we started to uncover the mainline out side the green to help facilitate a positive % slope. That was finished yesterday and we are confident that the main line will function as a drain rather than holding a pool of water. We finished the second drain install and the staff is shaping the third drain, the fourth line has been uncovered for inspection. We did find as suspected mud around the pipe. It appears this was caused by not having the trench wide enough. So as the pipe was laid in the ground during construction it was sitting next to the clay and the perforated drain holes on the pipe were clogging up. This will be widened and new gravel installed. 

Back filling the main line

Prepping the third drain install

Uncovering an existing drain line for inspection

Drain pipe is right next to the clay

Actual clay resting on and next to the pipe

Just a picture after the second line was added

#3 Green, Day 3

Things are going well on this project but I wont lie its a tremendous headache to keep the sand from falling into the gravel trench. A positive note on this is we have perfected our excavating strategies to limit the cave in's. The first drain line is installed and being back filled with gravel and sand. After this we will move to the next install on the right side of the green working our way down the line. At some point the mainline will be removed and the trench bottom will be worked to have the fall that is needed. At this point part of the reason we have water holding in front of the green is there is a low point in the trench. 

This is the drainage as built's for the green, The lines marked in
blue are the lines that should be there from the map but are absent.
These are the lines we will install to make correct.

Dotted line on left is our first install

Cleaning out the trench

Pipe install

Back filling with gravel and sand to follow. 

December Update

We are well into our winter projects as you may already be aware on certain parts of the golf course. Our teaching tee extension is just about ready for sand with some minor sub-grade work to promote adequate fall into our drain lines. This will make a great addition for the golf pros adding more square footage.

Our fairway top dressing program has begun starting 18 and going backwards. There is a new addition to the fleet, our new top dresser that can carry more sand, has a lighter foot print and is just all around versatile for our needs. 

One other project that we started last week was preparing the third green for a drainage inspection and re contouring the approach to facilitate surface run off. The main line is currently being exposed so that we can examine the fall and see if there are any other issues that can contribute to the front holding water. And what do you know as soon as we hit the gravel a strong rotten egg smell erupted. This is definitely a sign that water is not leaving the green and building up toxic gases that turn the profile into an anaerobic zone (no oxygen) rather than aerobic zone (oxygenated). As we hit the gravel layer we noticed that there is a very small layer of sand that has crusted over the gravel creating a sealed barrier for the water to not enter and drain properly. At this time i do not know why this has happened but we are on the phone currently to see what may have caused this and hopefully its not the entire front of the green. One positive note is it seems that the crust is in sections. We do know that at the back of the green the gravel looks fine.

clean gravel

See how my finger can sweep into the gravel here, this is good.

Another spot, I am trying to sweep into the gravel zone and I cannot
without using a lot of force. This is the crust I am talking
about.

Our next objective is to add in another lateral pipe into the right side of the green. This area constantly holds water and there is no drainage currently installed. The lateral lines are just spaced to far apart considering the amount of water that comes down the green congregates at the front. In the photo below you see the measuring wheel standing up, on the far left side is an existing pipe and on the far right side is an existing pipe. We will add another right in the middle (next to the measuring wheel)  where we have the standing water circled in the back of the photo with dotted lines. Stay tuned for more updates.