Golf Irrigation Auditors Class, GIS 2010

irrigation

I am in San Diego enjoying the opportunity to enhance my skills as a golf course superintendent.  Today I finished the first day of the Golf Irrigation Auditors class.  It is a one and a half day class that focuses on taking a more scientific look at your irrigation system and logically make it more efficient.

Water is a hot topic for The Rim Golf Club.  We have had several years where the course suffered from a lack of attention to the irrigation system.  Water became the limiting factor when fine tuning the presentation and playability of the golf course.  Three years ago, when I was employed the course was very wet.  The course was over watered in the spring leading to drastic conservation efforts in the hottest months of the year.  The range and rough became victim to the water reductions.  Since 2006 the water usage has reduced and the course has improved. Click here to read a previous blog post explaining this in detail, or read the case study on the Environmental Institute for Golf Web Page.

The amount of work during the 2007 season that was put into the irrigation system came with huge benefits.  This class is just an extension to help us dig deeper into the programming and equipment efficiency with mathematics.  I learned the math in college but was never able to get an opportunity to apply it before it became a distant memory.  This is the next step that will help us make the irrigation system apply water more efficiently and possibly increase playability, while reducing water usage.

The Golf Industry Show has always been a great educational learning experience that keeps superintendents up to date on leading edge knowledge.  I would compare it to the conferences that doctors go to where they can learn about the newest technology and procedures to help them be better at their job.  I have yet to walk away from a golf industry show where I have not learned anything.  Staying on the leading edge is a must in our industry.  Turf maintenance has evolved over time and requires superintendents to evolve with it. 

If you have any questions about the show, Golf Irrigation Auditors Class, or any general questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS

justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Water Savings Hard Data

irrigation

The water issues at The Rim have been a common topic each summer for many years. There has been some changes in the where we have gotten water in the past and how we get it now. In the past there were well on site that used to supply us with some water and now we rely on the sanitary department for our water. These past years have left the range and the rough of the golf course thin and in some areas dead from lack of water.

The past two years have been different. We have been able to make it through the summer with the range in tact and the golf course healthy. We did a large reassignment in the computer to get the computer and the field on the same page with water usage. We also made hundreds of head adjustments along the perimeter to correct alignment so all the water being applied is being used efficiently with as little over spray as possible.

The next step was balancing the irrigation system. Many people like to say they do this each winter by reseting their system and adjusting from that point on but unfortunately that is only part of the balancing process. The way we make adjustments from that point on is a major portion of the balancing. This is where we have succeeded in saving water and being more efficient.

This chart shows the average water use from 1999-2008 and our last year to date water usage. You can see the extra use during monsoon season because of the lack of monsoon moisture. If we had a normal monsoon season you would see even more savings.

The average water usage for the past nine years has shown our savings over all. We have tried to keep the course firm and dry with some off color areas. The soil media that supports the grass is made up of mostly organic matter (thatch). Growing grass in thatch is very difficult. There is not much between too dry and wet. Our aerification process and additional sand topdressing will begin to alleviate this issue.

2009 is on track to be the smallest amount of water received from the sanitary district. Not only did we have the lack of rain but, we are also looking at the population of Payson being much smaller. Less people using water, equals less reuse for the courses.

We are on the right track to keep saving water and begin to have consecutive years of healthy grass. This will help the turf stand get thicker and healthier. Over time with sound cultural practices and proper irrigation management the course will get better year after year and produce better and better playing conditions.

I have mentioned quite a bit about our water management process and I will be presenting our practices at the GCSAA show in 2010. We are always trying new ways to save even more water. Our next procedure that I will present to the greens committee will be the idea of removing some turf to help save even more water. Essentially this is our BMP program. A combination of practices to save water.

If anyone has questions about our processes or anything about irrigation please contact me.

justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Water Conservation

irrigation

I wanted to show the different ways that we manage the water usage at The Rim Club coming into this dry monsoon season to hopefully answer any questions our members may have. We have done our best through the season to conserve in many areas and our major savings has come from the diligent work on our central control, physical spinkler operation and supplemental irrigation.

Our most important piece of equipment is our central control computer. It controls our 2500 heads on the golf course by calculating the Evapotranspiration Rate and managing the operation of each head through individual control. Each head can be adjusted in the computer using percentages to apply more or less water from that sprinkler head. All heads have been designed using triangulation which means each area will be watered by three heads surrounding it. The dry areas generally seem to show up in these areas and it is a balancing game to get all the areas watered enough for turf health but not too much for playability issues.

With that being said we have done major reprogramming to our computer this last winter to prepare ourselves for this season. We have balanced the percentages from rough to fairways since many rough heads were more than twice the percentage than the fairway heads that they were triangulated with. Using this method we were able to begin reducing the moisture along the perimeter of the fairways and spread it though the whole fairway for better playability and water savings.

The next thing we have done over the winter was to make our computer's dry run which estimates our nightly output to match our actual pump station out put by checking and reprogramming every head designation to match the type of sprinkler, nozzle and arc in the field. This gives us leverage when we are reducing water to know exactly how much we are cutting back.

Our last accomplishment with the balancing of the percentages in the computer has given us the ability to be much more accurate when we use ET. Over the summer the plant uses more water and in the past we could not water to match that usage. With the new balance we are watering much more accurately and it allows us to not only save water but put the water right where it is needed which gives us both playability and presentation.

The fact that we had one of the driest monsoon seasons in history and to have the course stay solid through the summer was a testament to our hard work. The history of running low on water was partially the fact that the water was not managed efficiently. The work that we have done has freed us up to concentrate on other problems. It also has given us the ability to manage the course with less man power since we have lessened the amount of handwatering needed by the crew. It has been great timing since we are under more pressure than ever with the falling economy. If we were unable to solve these problem The Rim Golf Club would not be the what it is today.

If you have any question or want more detail into the process or saving our water please contact me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS

justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Turf Removal for Water Savings

irrigation

This past spring we made a big push to redefine the perimeter of the golf course. We had many areas on the golf course where the sprinkler heads were trying to water turf behind the heads. Over the years the heads along the perimeter have had to be adjusted for a greater and geater arc to maintain turf outside the perimeter of the golf course. We decided to take back the original design of the golf course.

Not only did the turf begin to creep ou into the native areas it gave us a tough area to maintain in the heat of the summer because of the lack of irrigation coverage. We were waiting the water that was needed to basically water behind the heads. Some heads were outfited with tails to pick up areas that were tough to get by simply advancing the arc. All these adjustments and modifications were eating into our water usage for the year.

We began the taask of sod cutting the edge of the turf back

to the perimeter heads. Then followed that up with the reseeding of the native mix. We reused the sod for animal damage that plauged us through the winter months. We were able to remove quite a bit of turf throughout the golf course an not even change the playability. Each are we adjusted all the sprinklers and were able to save a good amount of water. In the big picture every drop counts.

All these projects have added up to help us have a better season. Not only are the members happy with the summer season at The Rim but prospective members can now truly see the golf course the way it should

be.