2 Canyon FW Drainage Project

This week the maintenance staff installed over 1,000 ft of drainage to the landing area of 2 canyon fairway.  The main line trench was dug to 3 ft and water was springing up from below.  I mention that because if we had only gone 1 ft like other installations I've seen and even performed, we wouldn't have gotten the results desired.  This is just one of many projects that ownership has approved to enhance Cinnabar Hills in 2020 and beyond.

The Best Laid Plans

The title of this post is how I know the saying, but the line actually goes, "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley" as Robert Burns wrote in 1785.  In English that is interpreted as "The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew".  The story goes that Robert Burns destroyed a mouse nest while plowing the fields and was moved to pen the poem "Tae a Moose, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough" or "To a Mouse" in English.  

Either way, we had good intentions as we started the drain work on 7 mountain fairway, but it turned it out that it wouldn't be our day.  Despite having dry weather for almost two weeks, the subsoil was too wet to trench the drain line as the trencher kept sliding down the hill.  I decided to pull the plug until drier days, but that looks to be some time from now with rain in the forecast all next week.  Looking into the bottom of the drain that we were able to accomplish, water is seeping in and doing exactly what we want it to do.  We just need to do another 700 ft.  

Fairway Drainage

Over the last 10 years 5 lake fairway has become our worst draining fairway.  We had a situation like this a few years back where 1 lake fairway had become our worst draining fairway when it previously performed well.  What I attribute it to is better infiltration rates and that's a sign of all the aeration we've done over the last 5 years.  Before we started aerating so much I believe when it rained, a majority of that water just sheeted off the surface into collection drains.  Now the rain water is getting in the soil and once it is in, it moves lateraly below the surface and pops out in new areas each year.    It's a catch 22 because the better infiltration rates are great for irrigation purposes, but not so much in the winter if there aren't drains for the water to move to. 

You can see an example of the lateral movement by looking in the drain line we just cut on 5 lake.  We trenched a line to 2.5 feet and the day of there was barely any water in the drain line.  The next morning the line has standing water as shown in the picture.  We haven't had rain in 3 weeks and it shows us (or me at least) the importance of getting the drain lines so deep as to catch the subsurface water movement.   

Will this make the fairway playable the next day after an inch of rain?  No, but maybe instead of 5 days on the path, we could reduce that to 3 days.  

DR Tee Days 2-4

As we approach the end of the week, we are on schedule despite a small setback on day 3.  Day's 2 and 3 were spent getting the rough grade done.  With our tee only being 100ft from front to back, we set a slope of 8 inches.  That is a little less than the 1% over 100ft that is recommended, but with all the drainage that is going in, it will be just fine.

While we were grading the tee, Scott Dickson of Parris Turf Equipment was on the range overseeding the proper (I really don't even know what the 'proper' means, but our DOG calls it that and he'll get a kick out me using that word).   They own and sell what I think may be the best seeder on the market called the Amazone GNK 20.  It's got reciprocating tines that create a chain like pattern which beats the pants off a typical seeder used on golf courses.  What else that is great about this seeder is that it leaves little to no debris and you can't see any seed meaning it is getting in where it needs to get.

Day 4 marked the beginning of the drainage which started off well by digging out the existing main drain line.  It was a different story when we got out to the lateral drain lines though.  I'm pretty sure somebody is out there laughing about how they once built a driving range tee on top of 25,000 sq ft rock.  We are lucky to get down to 18", but for this project, anything helps.  Eight of the 18 lateral lines are now cut and we hope to have the rest cut by the end of Friday.  

The DR Tee Begins

4 in 1 bucket (top blade used to cut sod)

After much anticipation, the maintenance staff at Cinnabar Hills has begun to re-level the range tee. Today is probably the most time consuming part of the whole project and that involves removing the sod from the existing tee.  To cut the sod extremely quick, we used a 4 in 1 bucket on our Bocat with the blades open and just skimmed underneath the sod.  It looked like Almaden Country Club and the pig damage they have been experiencing.   The four foot width of the 4 in 1 bucket beats the 18" width of our ryan sod cutter.  

With the sod removed, we will till the soil and begin the rough grade tomorrow.  As soon as the rough grade is complete, the drainage will be installed and irrigation sprinklers will be set. 

Not having done many projects this year, this is a lot of fun to end the year with.  Stay tuned for updates and check the Cinnabar Hills Golf Club website for when the range will be closed and open.  

1 Lake Drainage

Over the last few years, the wet spot that is currently in the middle of the first fairway on 1 lake has tripled in size.  This past week we installed approximately 800 ft of drainage pipe to remedy the situation.

About an hour after the drain lines were cut in, we had water coming up from the bottom of the trenches which helps explain why the area never dried out.  The video posted below shows water trickling out of the line.  While this area may remain wet for this rain season, it should be much less in future years.  That is of course if the glaciers don't melt.  These aren't 100 year drain lines!

  

Water coming up through the bottom of the trench

New Bunker Drainage

I am glad to see and say that of all the bunkers we rebuilt this year; none of them have held any water! Over the past 4 years I have tried different methods of draining bunkers and I finally found the best method.

When we get all of the old sand out, we lift out the drains and remove the pea gravel surrounding them(pea gravel is the what the drains were originally surrounded with). When the drain is out, we flush the line to make sure there are no blockages.

When everything checks out OK, we put the drain back, but with a filter sock around the drain. The filter sock prevents debris from entering the slits in the perforated drain pipe. With the drain in the trench, we then backfill the trench with bunker sand instead of pea gravel. I saw this technique a couple years back when Shane Ferrill (Superintendent) was giving me a tour of Boulder Ridge. Thanks to Shane for another wonderful idea to add to my repertoire.