Deep Watering FW's

Since I have been in the business, I have been a deep and infrequent believer when it comes to irrigation on the greens.  We'll run anywhere from 60 - 180 minutes of water from each head on greens and then shut them off for the next 4-7 days depending on the weather.  Not only do we have a strong and healthy root system, but Poa annua doesn't do as well with this watering method with less water at the surface. 

I was recently made aware of an article that Dave Wilber (@turfgrasszealot) shared about deep and infrequent watering, but not just on greens.  We had a closed nine at the time since we were aerating so I decided to water the Mountain course fairways for 60-99 minutes.  

Irrigation run times

I was skeptical at first since we were wet around the drains, which was expected, but our dry spots barely had a 1/2" of water.  Either way, I shut off the irrigation for the following night and watched to see what would happen.  I still needed to go out every morning and get some extra water on the dry spots (50 sprinklers vs. 400), but I didn't turn the Mountain fairway program on until Sunday evening which was 6 days later!  

Entire profile is moist and 

nice white roots coming 

out the bottom

Our soil profile consists of 1-2" of thatch with some sand/ top soil mixed in and below that we have heavy clay.  With the deep watering, I was able to wet the heavy clay on 75% of the fairway.  I was actually able to get a soil probe into the clay which is not normal for August.  When our surfaces start to dry out now, there is some moisture down below that is wicked up through capillary action.  

After almost 8 years at Cinnabar, I feel I have stumbled upon something that may change the way I irrigate the course going forward.  It has really got my brain churning and I couldn't be more excited.  This is just one of the many reasons I love being a superintendent!

New Fairway Cut Lines

On Lake 4 and 9, the original approach/ fairway went from the green to the cart path that intersects the fairways.  After talking with the crew, no one with history had any recollection as to why they were converted to rough so this week we begun mowing them down again.  In a couple of months I may find out why they were converted to rough, but until I know for myself, we are giving it a go again.

After the initial cut of 3/4", it looks really neat and I can't wait to get them down to fairway height and see how they turn out.  Once they are down to fairway height, we'll poke some holes and give them a little bit of sand to start firming them up and then see how they react over the summer.

We brought the fairway closer to the bunkers for easier access!

We also brought the fairway up higher on 6 Lake to allow the ball to roll down to the green.