Improving the plumbing

Type, parts, cost and golfers are all considered when deciding to upgrade an irrigation system

Managing water efficiently and effectively is a considerable challenge on golf courses. The irrigation system is a key component to balancing golfers’ expectations for ideal playing conditions and picture-perfect aesthetics. Superintendents also must consider weather, water needs of different turfgrasses, microclimates within a course, and water availability and quality issues.

When to upgrade a system, what products to use and completing an upgrade varies with each course. But superintendents agree conducting research necessary to make informed decisions and communicating with golfers are essential to the success of an upgrade.

When to upgrade an irrigation system starts with assessing flaws in the existing system to determine if it’s obsolete or viable enough to be upgraded, according to Paul B. Latshaw, MSM, CGCS, at Murfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio. The upgrade under way at the course is the fourth one he’s worked on during his career.

“Generally, 25 to 30 years is the max for an irrigation system,” he says. “The design and coverage of our existing system didn’t meet what we needed to achieve. The piping was obsolete, too. You need to make sure your board of directors understands what the deficiencies might be with your existing system and what a new system could accomplish. Then you can find a designer and get a cost estimate.”

Ward Walters, superintendent of the 36-hole Rancho Murieta (Calif.) Country Club, agrees. The North Course was built in 1971 and redesigned by Arnold Palmer in 1986. The redesign included a new irrigation system. The South Course irrigation system was upgraded following a flood in 1997.

“Problems with the aging North Course irrigation components and the desire for greater control of water placement led to our upgrade decision,” Walters says.

Matt Morton, superintendent of the Riviera County Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., says an upgrade will take time.

“Riviera has been considering an irrigation upgrade for some time now,” he says. “We have noticed a significant increase of broken irrigation pipe and parts during the past three years. Our water distribution isn’t balanced. We also have ineffective heads that hit trees, are too low and are wired together with others. The current system has been in the ground since 1979.”

Latshaw stresses the importance of research. With technology advances, he says it’s important to look at all the different products to see which best fit the requirements of a course. Before installing a new system at a previous course, Latshaw put in three different companies’ parts and tested the design and the performance under on-site conditions before deciding.

“A lot is based on the local distribution,” he says. “No matter what you put in, there will be problems at some point. You need to determine who is going to provide technical information when you need it and who is going to service the problems that may occur.”

Before Bob Fluter joined Michelbook Country Club in McMinnville, Ore., as a superintendent in the summer of 1998, the club had made plans to renovate two holes. The course’s two-row irrigation system had been installed when the back nine holes were constructed in 1983 and provided limited coverage.

“Provisions had been made and a basic plan drawn to revamp the irrigation system on those two holes,” Fluter says. “I realized the entire irrigation system would be renovated at some point.”

With a complete renovation in mind, Fluter worked with a contractor to tweak the design so it could be added onto or connected into a new system.

“We equipped it with big enough lines and with wires to accept computer control so it could be compatible with the rest of the system,” he says.

During the first season after the new system was installed, there was a big difference between the two holes and the rest of the course. By the fall of 1999, the course’s board of directors agreed to a system inventory and evaluation conducted by an irrigation engineer. A U.S. Golf Association agronomist visitation also was arranged.

Estimating the cost
Exploring multiple options and their costs is another important step when upgrading an irrigation system. Morton has been working with local distributors during the past eight years on field-testing of new controllers and heads. He’s also working with a design team to help estimate the cost.

“A very important aspect that may be overlooked in our industry is the importance of presurveying your golf course,” Morton says. “Our irrigation consultant spent one week field surveying the limits of turf, terrain contours and course obstructions to turf, such as trees, fence lines and structures. This helps to produce the most accurate blueprint for bidding and construction and ultimately eliminates many problems in the field during installation.

“The more you research and study what the challenges are ahead of you, the better your results will be,” he adds. “We’ve done a significant amount of planning for the upcoming irrigation system, which should help things proceed on a timely schedule in 2006.”

Superintendents should be aware of potential resistance to major irrigation renovation costs and provide comparative figures for more limited options.

“My staff and I made estimates of what it would cost to Band-Aid the system,” Fluter says. “We compared that with the cost of having a contractor design and install a new system. The irrigation engineer’s report noted we were doing the best job possible with the existing irrigation resources and recommended a new system. That report, combined with the data we had gathered and the visual impact of those two reworked holes, led to the decision to go with a new system.”

It’s also important for superintendents to be prepared to use in-house resources when possible to control capital expenditures. Walters developed the Rancho Murieta design himself, using his educational background in irrigation, his own experience and knowledge of the system, and course needs. He tapped into all available resources: suppliers, Internet data, university extension personnel, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the Irrigation Association and feedback from other superintendents.

“We’re in the fourth year of a gradual upgrade, with our crew doing the work,” he says. “We’ve estimated the cost in components and labor and have budgeted for each section, each year.”

Doing the work in-house requires balancing the labor load with other projects and general maintenance. Walters opted to add most of the sprinklers during the winter and upgraded the controls during the season.

Superintendents should set priorities during planning stages of projects to insure renovations meet the most pressing needs of the course. Features should be added as funding allows according to those priorities.

“We redid the pump station this past year and went from a 1,200-gallons-per-minute capacity to 2,400 gallons per minute,” Latshaw says. “We’ll be putting out water faster and adding a lot more heads, but overall, we’ll be putting out less water, channeling it with more efficiency to the target areas.”

The new system is designed to meet the different requirements of the grasses.

“We needed to separate the fairway irrigation from the roughs,” Latshaw says. “We want to keep the fairways as dry as possible for good turf cover without overly wet conditions for play. We’re also separating the greens irrigation from the surrounds. We’re updating all the components, taking advantage of the advanced technology to gain greater functionality.”

Walter’s top priority was greater control.

“We’re switching to a double system with half heads to irrigate the greens and surrounds separately,” he says. “We’ve upgraded the computer to include remote switching and will upgrade again to the newest version. We’re installing new pedestals and control systems so we can break down more stations.”

At Michelbook, Fluter agreed to a two-phase project in which six holes were upgraded in the summer of 2000 and the second phase was completed in the fall of 2001. Included in the first phase were installation of a new pump station necessary to handle the increased capacity and purchase of the computer capable of operating the entire system and supporting remote control. Overall, the sprinkler head count increased from 700 to 1,200 with individual head control throughout the system.

During the Michelbook upgrade, it was necessary to keep the old section of the system running, including the main line and the control system. As sections of the project were completed, the old system was decommissioned in those sections.

“We weren’t able to install wall-to-wall coverage, but we have very thorough coverage on the playing areas and the visual impact areas and can better track and control our water use,” Fluter says. “Our main lines were adequately sized and extra wires were placed in certain locations so we can add onto the system later. I reviewed the designs as they were developed and took part in the layout of the system assisting with the little adjustments that always occur on site. All of those details are entered into the system.”

Superintendents should strive to coordinate renovation with play to keep golfers happy and revenue flowing.

“We opted for as little impact on the players as possible,” Fluter says. “Prior to starting the project, we let our members know that only one hole would be impacted at any point in the construction. We also put in a provision in the contract prior to the bidding process requiring the contractor to have everything cleaned up by Friday afternoon so the course would be fully in play during the weekend.”

Walters also focused on minimal golfer impact.

“We worked on one hole at a time and impacted play on that hole for only one or two days,” he says. “Rather than resetting the hole for that short period, we requested the golfers take a net par on that hole.”

This minimal impact won’t always be possible, especially when other major course work is needed. Riviera elected to close certain holes for as long as three months because of the decision to combine a bunker renovation with the irrigation upgrade.

Generally, course renovation work causes complaints from members about cost and the disturbance to the course. Communication helps minimize the complaining.

“The more information we get out to our membership the better,” Morton says. “It gives them time to plan, understand and ask questions. We plan a weekly notice of how the project is progressing, combined with daily reminders.”

Walters also emphasizes communicating to the members about renovation schedules.

“We’ll post the information on our Web site, in the clubhouse and at the tees. And the pro shop will inform each group as they go out.”

Fluter says too much information is better than too little.

“News of our irrigation upgrade was included in the monthly newsletter,” he says. “A daily notice was posted in the clubhouse, in the pro shop and on the main bulletin board. We always posted at the first or tenth tee for whichever nine was being impacted. We noted the hole under construction and exactly what they would be facing. I also set up a dry erase board in the clubhouse that showed which holes would be involved and what work would be done. Members responded well to that and felt in the loop and more a part of the process.” GCN

Steve and Suz Trusty are freelance writers based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They can be reached at suz@trusty.bz.