More drainage issues

Last week I showed the process that we go through when looking for drain lines in really wet areas on the course. Recently we were working on #8 fairway between the fairway bunkers. The fairway turf was so wet and mucky that you couldn't even walk on it. We knew that something was really clogged or broken so we started digging. We found a line going across the fairway toward the creek but couldn't find the end of the pipe. It was buried in the bank so we ran a hose down it with the water on until we could locate and expose the end of the pipe.

We frequently find drain lines that are buried along creek banks. Once we got it flushed out we could tie into it with some new drain lines through the sloppy area.

Several new lines were added and week later the area has dried out and is playable. It was so wet in front of the 9th tee we knew there had to be some other line that was broken or plugged so we kept digging.

Finally we found an old 8" concrete line over by the cart path that was plugged full of tree roots. A tree had been planted directly on top of the drain line. As we dug on the other side of the path we found two more trees that had also been planted years ago on top of the line.

We had to dig up the stumps to get at the drain line and clean out all the roots. It was a lot bigger job that we expected.

With the stumps removed we were able to clean out the roots and add new sections of pipe. We could be dealing with this condition all over the course for years to come since there was no map of the drainage system when the trees were planted.
Steve Kealy
Golf Course Superintendent

Why is the course so wet?

I've been asked this question many times over the last month so I'll give it my best shot at answering. The record rainfall we have had since last October has exposed all of the problems with our drainage system. When the course was built there was no map of the drain lines given to the club management team. Several years after the course was built, trees were planted all over the course with some of them near or on top of drain lines. Fast forward 55 years to today and many of those tree roots have completely clogged the once flowing drainage system. With no plans of the system we don't know where many of the lines are located. When a wet area appears, we have to start digging to find the cause.

A large wet area developed this winter in the middle of the 13th fairway. We first go to the wettest spots and insert metal probes into the soil looking for gravel. Josh and Joe are shown above looking for gravel in hope of finding an existing drain line.

Once we find gravel then we start digging. 

A drain line was found and Tim is shown cutting into the line.

  

The next step is to insert a hose and run it up the line as far as it will go. The hose has a nozzle on the end that once the water is turned on will push the hose up the line as it cleans out all the slime and muck.

The nozzle shoots some of the water backwards which helps  move the hose up the drain line. 

Josh is shown flushing the "brown goo" out of this line in #13 fairway. 

When the hose stops moving up the line it's time to dig another hole to see if that is the end of the line or there is another blockage. We found that the line stopped across the fairway. It was in good condition so we inserted the hose on the other end of the pipe to see where the discharge point was located.

After running the hose for a minute or so the water backed up into the hole. The line was clogged somewhere on the other end. 

We found some water bubbling up so we dug and found the discharge end of the drain line buried about 8 feet from the creek. At the time this line was installed it discharged directly into the creek. The stream has moved toward #12 fairway and this drain line got buried in sediment over time. Once the line was flushed out the wet area in #13 fairway dried out in two days. Over the past two winters we have have been marking the location of drain lines discharging into the creeks with a green pipe. The pipe is pounded into the ground next to the drain line so we can find it if the creek channel moves and plugs up the line. This time it was the creek bed that clogged our drain line. In my next post I will show what happened on #8 fairway where three trees were planted in a row on top of an 8" main drain line. 

Steve Kealy 

Golf Course Superintendent