Rather than just setting the irrigation system to water on a schedule, use field observations or climatic data to determine irrigation needs. This will help you justify your irrigation budget and use water more efficiently. It will also let you know when to skip a planned irrigation event because of sufficient rainfall.
the proper pressure and the pump is checked and up to date with its service. Check the programs on the controller and make sure there are no ghost programs running from the heat of the summer when more frequent irrigation was necessary or left from a recovery period. Regular maintenance of the irrigation system should be part of the day-to-day operations of every golf course. At the end of this summer, spend some extra time to prioritize and rethink irrigation practices. In addition, take the time to do the little things to maintain your system that may have been overlooked in the busy recovery times of the spring and summer. This will help operations economically and will also improve the sustainability of golf operations by conserving and using less water. ■
Check the System
Portions of this article were previously published in the Sports Turf Manager.
Consider breaking the irrigation cycle into three equal segments split by two 20-minute soak in periods. This allows for irrigation water to infiltrate and allows watering deeper and less frequently throughout dry periods. While this may not make sense to work through the entire irrigation cycle this way due to the logistics of the system, these practices can be targeted to areas with finer textures and more severe slopes.
Determine Irrigation Needs Efficiently
Take the time to check the system and make sure all the heads are functioning properly. Make sure that they are aligned in the right directions. One common issue occurs during the rush of summer irrigation breaks that are often repaired with less than ideal equipment (e.g. fairway heads on green surrounds) due to availability and the need for a quick fix to be replaced later. Checking later on to make sure these heads were replaced with the proper equipment is essential. In addition, take the time to examine wear and tear on irrigation heads and make sure they are still viable. Make sure the system is running at
Eric M. Lyons Ph.D., Associate Professor of Turfgrass Science, University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario elyons@uoguelph.ca
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Summer 2014 • Green is Beautiful 21