Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Improving Fairway Drainage

The golf course was constructed with many severe slopes that shed water from surrounding rough areas into the fairways. This water is collected with a series of 4” drainage inlets that takes away the water into a maze of underground drain tiles. These inlet areas are always of a bowled shape and are typically located in one of the lowest points in the fairways. This causes these areas to retain more moisture than the other areas in the fairways. An additional problem that occurs to these areas is that golf balls tend to be funneled into these collection areas as well. Many times you will find damp lies in these areas that creates a problem from a playability standpoint.

Applying Sand to Fairway Drainage Inlet Area


We are trying to address these areas by improving the surface drainage by modifying the soils around the drainage inlets. This is being done by additional aerification and sand topdressing being worked into these open holes. The sand filled holes will help remove water from the surface and allow it to move more quickly through the soil profile. Over time these areas will begin to firm up and play more similarly to the rest of the fairway areas.

View of Multiple Areas That Were Topdressed

Solid Tine Aerification Taking Place
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