Drainage Work

Over the next several weeks I’ll be sending out short updates regarding the golf course. Since the beginning of October we’ve been busy with projects and other work that I’d like to bring you up to date on. Projects include; drainage, lake bank rehab, 6 green surround work, berms at 5 and 6, along with tree health/population program. Rather than throwing all this information in one, I’ll do separate installments to make for easier reading.
Drainage has been a large topic of discussion over the last few years. Last year especially so, record rains really created issues as a large amount of days required cart restrictions but also compromised events. To move forward it is smart to start with a plan. In the meantime while the plan is being developed adjustments can be made to help get water moved off the course to the proper spots.
To start, Christopher Burke Engineering was hired to do a study of our drainage infrastructure. Rather than us going through and putting pipe here and there, we thought it would be wise to know where we currently stand. Over the years things have changed surrounding the club. Infrastructure has changed east and west of the property, changing how water comes in and leaves our property. All these things affect what takes place on our property. Pipe sizing, pond sizes, etc… haven’t been

Mainline irrigation being installed across 7 fairway

changed rather than the 3rd hole pond in the late 70’s. The drainage study will be able to tell us the following things; how much water we can store, how much water we can move. If we take on more water than what can exit the property then we are caught in the middle as a flood plain. This study will be able to tell us such information followed up with recommendations on what can be done to remedy any issues.
In the meantime we are working on some in-house drainage improvements. Two projects we’ve taken on required replacing old lines that are damaged and undersized. In total we’ve replace around 2400 linear feet of pipe. Old concrete and clay tile was removed and replace with solid plastic pipe which is more durable allowing for greater longevity. The “mainline” pipe which we’ve replaced is also solid, which will not allow tree roots to penetrate and eventually plug. We anticipate seeing great improvement from these changes as water will be able to be moved more efficiently, as pipe size was increased and there are no longer blockages. Areas addressed include; a main 6” line from 4 approach down the left of 5 fairway to the pond, and a mainline which ran from 6 green to 3 tee, around the back of 2 green and across 7 fairway towards 12 green. This last project was the largest as we increase pipe size from a 6” line to 10” then eventually 12”. In spring the lines will be finished off with leveling of soil then seeded or sodded, depending on situation. This is just a start to improving the infrastructure of our drainage system installed in the late 60’s early 70’s.
We greatly appreciate you taking a few minutes to read this information, and be on the lookout for more to come on the other projects listed in the opening paragraph.
Figure 1: Digging line across 7 fwy; replacing a 6" line with a new 10" line