Irrigation

  With a very hot few days forecast the focus at the moment is on irrigation.  In the last few days we have been replacing sprinklers on greens.  This involves removing the old one, replacing, re leveling and setting up of the new version.  The new sprinkler potentially pumps out 100 litres of water a minute over a normal cycle of 10 minutes every evening when the weather reaches these temperatures.  The sprinklers are fitted with different nozzles depending on the size of the green or tee.  Most of our sprinklers are set in an imaginery square pattern with a sprinkler on each corner, they are sited about 17 metres apart to give a consistent spread pattern.
  The system can be watered by hand from the box on the course, manually from the computer, or from a program set up to come on when we want.

A new head on the greens

  The object of watering is to keep the plant alive and try and maintain a dry firm green.  We do not water to keep the turf green and soft.  We will aim to water heavily on one night followed by 1 or 2 nights missed followed by a heavy water.  This is supplemented by hand watering of localised dry spots.

Inside an irrigation box.