U of G UPDATE
Evaluate Irrigation Practices Now to Maximize Effectiveness
T
his spring was met with a number of repair projects and Prioritize Irrigated Areas much of the summer has been spent catching up on Not all areas of the course get the same amount of use and the little things that make a difference in your operation. not all fairways or tees need to be run on the same cycle. Soil Although July is typically a peak month for outdoor water use, based tees on natural root zones often can be irrigated less sometimes it makes sense to spend some extra time checking frequently than tees with constructed sand root zones. Tees your irrigation system going into the fall and rethinking your that see minimal play, such as the back tees, tend to require irrigation practices. Irrigation is a valuable tool in maintaining less overseeding and repair, so make sure they are on their own high quality playing surfaces schedule so that you are not using and proper irrigation practices a resource where it is not needed. will extend the environmental Irrigation is a valuable tool in maintaining Finally, the grass variety on the sustainability of golf within our tee, fairway and rough can impact high quality playing surfaces and proper communities. how often it needs to be irrigated. Water availability and irrigation Spend time in the fall evaluating irrigation practices will extend the practices impact so many of each irrigated area individually environmental sustainability of golf our management practices and to determine the maximum time proper irrigation can reduce the between irrigation events to within our communities. loss of fertilizers and decrease preserve water and to maximize disease pressure, resulting in effectiveness. These observations savings in both fungicides and fertilizers. In addition, a poorly can then be correlated to environmental conditions and functioning irrigation system can be very costly in the long measurements of evapotranspiration (ET) or soil moisture. run. A full irrigation audit is something that most operations will benefit from, but there are many little things that can be Irrigation Run Off addressed without performing a full irrigation audit. Most One of the greatest losses of water during irrigation events operations maintain their system on a regular basis, but it is occurs when water is applied at a rate that exceeds infiltration always worthwhile to take extra time at the end of a summer into the soil. This leads to runoff of hilled areas and overwatering season addressing your irrigation system and practices. of low areas.
L-R: Ring around a head showing uneven water distribution due to aging equipment. Head sitting lower than it should a few months after repairing an irrigation break, resulting in poor distribution and water pooling in the low settled area.
20 Green is Beautiful • Summer 2014