Clogged drain lines all over the course

We have had record rainfall this past fall and winter but there are some areas on the course that never dry out. Most of the time this is due to clogged drain lines and the biggest challenge for our staff is to locate the problem. When our golf course was in the planning stage there was a proposed drainage plan. During construction of the course the drainage plan was followed in some areas but not in others. The other problem is there are no "as built" plans for the drainage system that was installed. We do have photos and diagrams of the drainage we have installed over the past 25 years but that is just a small part of the entire system. There is another twist to the story. Several years after the course was built all of the trees were planted without knowledge of the drain line locations. We have found trees planted on top of drain lines that are completely plugged with tree roots.

The tree pictured above is located to the left of the 9th tee and blew over during a storm in March of 2016. This area was very wet every winter for at least the past twenty years. 

When we pulled out the stump we found an 6" drain line that the tree was sitting on and was completely full of tree roots. We had no idea that drain was even there. It must start somewhere across #4 or #3 fairway but still don't know it's origin.

Two weeks ago we found water coming out of the ground in the right rough on #9 about 50 yards from the green. 

After some digging by hand we found an 8" concrete drain line that was clogged. 

Look close and you can see the large Cottonwood tree roots coming out of the drain line. The concrete line was also clogged with roots so we had to get the excavator to dig until the pipe had no more roots. 

We removed about 20 feet of pipe that was clogged with roots. The Cottonwood tree that's causing the problem is over 40' away from this area

Check out our assistant superintendent Josh posing with a "trophy" sized root he pulled out from an adjacent drain line.  

Tree roots will continue to be a problem across the golf course for many years to come. As new wet areas appear, all we can do is start digging!

Steve Kealy

Golf Course Superintendent