Aeration Video Respones, Drain on Eight, Domestic Water and Driving Range Mats

My last post featured a video explaining our aerification process.  The feed back from the members has been very positive.  Thanks to all for the appreciation of our hard work and the comments.  Here are some comments posted on the blog and emailed to me.

"Very informative.  Thanks."

"Great job on the aeration process videos Adam; well explained and insightful information. Greens are coming along very well for this time of the year. Hats off to you, Hughie and all of the staff - please let all know we appreciate their dedication and hard work!"

"Great job on the greens, I don't think the majority of the members know how hard your crew works to give us good greens.....well done!  Do you have anything to help me putt them better....???"

If you have a comment, question or suggestion please send it to us.  This blog is intended for this purpose and we look forward from hearing from you.  You can comment directly on the blog or send us and email at afletcher@oakfield.ca.

The greens recovering very nicely from the process.  Although playing slow, the health is good and in a short matter of time we will achieve our summer speed. 

On to the course update.

The Drain on Eight.

If you have been following the blog you will remember the clogged drain on 7 and 8.  After reading the last post I found it cumbersome to explain in writing what was going on. Here's a video where we walk through the project.

Since then we have repaired the pipe and turf around the pipe.

The pipe before.

The cleaned out pipe.

The first step was to replace the section of pipe that was removed.  The two white parts are gasketed couplers that slide over the end of the pipe to hold the patch in place.  Kyle and Gavin are installing the patch.

The next step was to install a barrier to slow the process of the roots infiltrating the pipe. 

After that a filter cloth is added to prevent the gravel from becoming contaminated from surrounding soil.

The gravel is replaced and the lateral drains are hooked up.  The vertical drains in the picture are to aid in removing surface water and will also act as viewing ports to check for roots.

The filter cloth is folded over the gravel vein and the soil and sod are added to finish the project.  The vertical drain will be cut down to sod level and then drain vents are installed.

We repeated the process on both holes on 7, and Dave and Barb sodded the areas yesterday.  The same process was followed on 8 with the exception of adding an 18 in drain box to aid in surface drainage. This morning Nathan and I reshaped the area around the drain to force the water in that direction.  He and Barb are sodding it as I type this.

The Domestic Water Supply.

One of the other things that the maintenance department is responsible for is taking care of the domestic water supply.   Miles Bishop, our mechanic, manages the chlorine input and keeps a watchful eye on the water supply.  Occasionally, as the the system gets older (some of the lines are the originals), parts fail and begin to leak.  This happened this Spring near where the new plaque was install on ten tee.  Kyle Macdonald, our irrigation tech was set to the repair.  Kyle and I were in at 5 am this morning to repair the leak before the club house opened.  Here's Kyle in hole he dug yesterday in preparation. 

The valve on the right is the older brass unit that failed.  The replacement on the left is made from high density plastic and won't rot.

Kyle earning his money (and being annoyed at me for taking pictures while he does so).

The irrigation tech position is one of the harder jobs at the golf course.  Our hat is off to Kyle for the wonderful effort he applies each day.
 

Driving Range.

As part of our plan to improve the quality of the driving range we have begun the process of installing eight new driving range mats.  At this point, with the aerification and the drain on eight, our progress has been slow, but it is high on our priority list.  We did however begin removing the sod at the back of the Driving Range tee, and are using it to repair other areas of the golf course (like number eight and seven drains.

The open area with the cones on it is a drain repair from earlier.