Draining the Fairways

The initial works to drain the 1st, 2nd & 3rd fairway's are now complete. All the drains have been trenched and backfilled with drainage pipe, stone and rootzone added.
It's at this point I'd like to again thank the membership and visitors for their patience and understanding whilst we carried out these essential works.
The draining of the fairway's, consisting of 1400 linear metres was carried out in ten working days, this is a tremendous effort by both the contractors & the greenstaff. Engaging contractors with the equipment, expertise and professionalism has helped deliver the project on time and with disruption and damage around the golf course kept to a minimum.
Keeping the damage around the course to a minimum level was one of the main deciding reasons to carry out the work at this time of year, with the added factor that the drainage can be functioning when the wet weather arrives.

All the lateral drain lines have been topped up with rootzone & seeded with the main outlet drain across all 3 fairways turfed, these areas are now subject to local rules giving 'lift & place' and I would ask everyone to help these areas establish by using these rulings and not playing from these areas. Boards have also been placed across the turfed areas to use for crossing that will again help the turf to establish.

As part of the project a new outlet is being added to the area behind the 10th medal tee. After investigating the suitability of the current drain there it was felt it would be unable to cope with increased volumes of water, as most members know it often fills up during periods of wet weather giving us an unwanted water feature on the golf course.

The new outlet is being directed into the open ditch on the 10th carry.

Drainage has also been added on the other side of the ditch to help improve this area.

In my initial post on this project I commented on being prepared to find some interesting things as we went and after discovering the shallow depth of the existing drainage pipe that wouldn't have been able to function as we went along the amount of tree roots that were evident in the existing drainage pipe was also playing a major role in the drains being unable to work.

The pictures below show sections of root mass removed against the main drainage pipe that has been installed, the pipe is 225mm in diameter. Moving forward to preserve the continued performance of the drainage system this is an issue we will have to tackle.

So the first instalment of this years drainage work is now complete and work will begin soon on the greens drainage. The continued investment on the course will mean an improvement in turf quality, playability and appearance.  

Thanks again for your patience & understanding whilst we carry out these works around the course.

Fairway drainage works update 1

In typical fashion as we started work on installing drainage into the 1st, 2nd & 3rd fairways the weather reached a scorching 33 degrees and we had the hottest September day in 105 years...!!! A good omen or not I'm not sure but it sure made for dusty work as the contractors made their way through the fairway.
The drainage to be installed consists of a main carry drain across the 1st, 2nd & 3rd fairways with laterals at 7 metre spacing's to be installed into the main drain.
The main drain will consist of a 200mm pipe that will feed into the area behind the 10th tee with the lateral drains being 60mm pipe. The main drain is being installed at 700mm depth with the laterals being installed at 600mm depth.
All the drains are being installed using laser guided technology to ensure accurate depths are maintained across the drainage runs. The laterals are all situated to intercept both surface & subsurface water as it moves across the land.

As can be seen from the above photos the contractors we have engaged to help us on this project have both the equipment & expertise to help make this project a success. Great progress has already been made in just 2 days.

An interesting find, one of many I'm sure, as the main drain was being dug in a previous drain that had been installed that was full of tree roots & silt. This meant the drain wasn't functioning and was set too shallow in the first place.

I'll keep updating the blog as we progress with the drainage and post some more pictures.

As ever I really appreciate everyone's understanding whilst we carry out these works and will endeavour to keep disruption to a minimum.

Cutting down the roughs....

A lot of work has been undertaken this last week in cutting down some of the longer rough areas around the course. These works are carried out to help maintain & achieve rough that has more desirable finer grasses in that are aesthetically more appealing, provide good ecological benefits and enable golf balls to be found more quickly and hopefully not too punishing a shot out.
All the grass that is cut down is boxed off and composted or raked up and then taken away to be composted.
These works are carried out every year so year on year the quality & composition of the rough grasses improves. This year we are aiming to try and put out some wildflower mixes around the course to improve the course both ecologically & visually.

Fairway Drainage works

Next week will start of what is too be a busy period on the golf course in terms of course improvements and developments.
Strange as it may seem to be talking about drainage after the last couple of warm dry months, but we all know the winter months are coming and with it the rain that makes Muswell Hill a very different place than the one we enjoy over the summer.
The main aims of installing drainage onto the golf course is to offer better playing surfaces during the winter months and also to allow us to be in better shape come the spring and the new golfing season.

The first phase of the drainage works will see fairway drainage system installed across the 1st, 2nd & 3rd fairways.

The above images are taken from January this year and show the water collecting on the first fairway with the existing drainage system unable to cope with any heavy rainfall events.
The system we are installing, working with contractors ProFusion, will see over 1400 linear metres of drainage installed across all 3 fairways. Consisting of a main outlet drain and lateral drains installed every 7 metres should ensure this area will remain playable during wet periods.
The fairway drainage is the first phase of significant investment the golf club is making aimed at making the course playable for greater parts of the year.