8-9-18

I have worked solely on the irrigation system every day this week.  There are approximately 300 valve boxes on the course, with control valves inside.  These boxes hold the valve, solenoid, decoder, and the wire connections.  I have completely gone through 51 valve boxes replacing all the connections, installing new tubing, replacing damaged valves, solenoids, and decoders.

The tubing, which houses thest the connections, has a petroleum jelly inside to protect these connectors from water.  The old tubing has dried up and the groundwater penetrates the tubing, which is unprotected, and shorts out the station.  The system passes the electrical test, on the computer, which consists of a short electrical charge to the decoder.  When the computer turns on the station, during the night, the electrical charge is constant and shorts out because of the water.

I’m very happy to have completed the most severe problem areas on the course.

  I irrigated the course heavily last night and only one valve failed.  This caused a lot of standing water in front of 17 green.  Everything else worked great.  Today, I have continued to work on the system.  I’m starting at hole number one and replacing every connection in each valve box.

There are so many other areas of the golf course that require my day to day attention, so the connection replacement will be done as time permits.  The major repairs have all been completed and the new connections will be completed by the end of the season.

Our 17th green is improving quite a bit from all the hand topdressing.  We are going to start plugging the worst areas tomorrow.  With the continuous topdressing and plugging the green will continue to heal at a good rate.  The greens will be aerified and overseeded later this month.

Matt Hagedorn and I are planning on getting together tomorrow (Friday) to discuss the tiling issues on 16 green surrounds.  I would like to add new tiling through the entire area to eliminate the ground water issue.  Since he is the professional, I am anxious to hear what his proposed solution will be for the area.