ast seasons have put "auto- matic" irrigation to the fore
Contents
1. phase pumps of limited output which meant that it was taking over 14 hours of watering just to keep the course alive While the original system was only designed to irrigate 18 greens the addition of 9 holes plus watering of tees and some banks called for a radical re think The new system has just completed it s first sea son The system is a constant pressure system however a time clock maintains a lower pressure during the day and this is increased at night for irrigation The design pressure is 9 23 kg cm2 at the lowest point at St George s Hill there is a varia tion of about 30m between top and bottom points in the system Typically each green has four heads controlled in pairs while approaches have three or four and the tees have from four to six each All are pop up gear driven Hunter G600 or G650 heads full or adjustable part circle Fairways are covered by three BOIL travel ling sprinklers each with an out put of 1600 gallons per hour these take water from hydrants through lin flexible pipes How ever consideration is being given to about putting in a permanent pop up system for some or all of the fairways Virtually no hand watering is carried out The sophisticated pump control system allows any of the three Grundfos pumps to be set as the duty pump which maintains line pressure and this can be oper ated at very low revolutions little more than tick over so minimising electricity2. varying nozzle and model sizes ensures that out put met the specification Control is by a Toro Network 8000 with 46 satellite stations which operate the sprinklers and most have indi vidual control There are three pumps of differing sizes from 25 to 60 hp to give it the ability to output up to about 1050 gals min and these are automatically selected to suit demand What is radically different to many other systems is that the Oxfordshire has a weather station which pro vides input into the system Course Manager Martin Jones says that it is most revealing how conditions can vary day by day He or the computer uses an index of evaporation transpira tion E T to assess water need and this can vary dramatically when objectively measured He is totally convinced about the effi ciency and effectiveness of this method and has altered his think ing to E T rather than minutes of application Fixed parameters such as soil type aspect exposure to sun and GREENKEEPER INTERNATIONAL November 1996 15 wind and slope as well as location and use are all fed into the com puter and these can be repro grammed if they are altered This programming was initially mainly done by the supplier and it con trols output from each head Mat tin says that he does not think in length of allowed as the program is based on E T and automatically allows for these variables The critical measurement millime tres week which is pr
3. consumption It is only when demand exceeds this pump s capacity that the other pumps are called in The variable speed motor controller means that each motor soft starts avoid ing starting under full load and considerably reducing the sudden pressure stresses placed on the whole system but in particular on pipework A notable feature of the CIC4 controller is the duration per centage function which allows an overall percentage increase or decrease to be made to all water ing times without the need to alter individual settings Pipework is uPVC solvent welded in sizes suitable to location some 8 miles of it and most was mole ploughed in Ample flush out and drainage points were installed and any section is easy to isolate says Andy There were a few small teething problems but no more than Andy was expecting and these were readily rectified by the supplier Once the system was set up fine tuning and operating proved to be quick and simple Andy said that knowledge with the previous system made using the new one simple THE ONE QUESTION WOULD LIKE TO ASK OTHER GREENKEEPERS IS How much do you earn Terry Crawford Clandeboye
4. in a winterbourne Droi red i million gallon lake situated on clav Under half of this was used during each of the last two sum mers furthermore such volume was replaced last autumn in a sin gle week of rain Irrigation is laid On to all greens ree ind approaches it is supplied to four Grundfos CR amp zones DY two 5 6m 35 NI pumps each with an output at 10 3 bar All sprin klers are of the pop up type full or part circle either Buckne impact heads on greens and Irrigation system shut down for the winter Memories of last season s irrigation problems fading Perhaps you should be thinking of any major repairs or upgrades now For further information please call Irrigation By Ocmis 01460 241939 GREENKEEPER INTERNATIONAL N 17 0131 220 2102 REF OTHE WINNING CHOICE INR SPORTS FIELD IRRIGATION Rain BIRD PREFERRED BY PROFESSIONALS WORLDWIDE There is no specific system that meets the demand for a every sports field That s why Rain Bird offer a choice of systems to meet the individual requirements of your sport local conditions budget water and manpower As professional distributors and installers of irrigation equipment for over 24 years we will put our experience behind you So make our reputation your choice GLEN HEAT amp IRRIGATION LTD PINCHBECK SPALDING Ms LINCS PE11 3UE Telephone 01775 722327 Facsimile 01775
5. six zones to eight however the ISS system has sufficient flexibil ity built in that changing is not considered to pose any problems Use last year amounted to 8 million gallons with a full sum mer irrigation cycle taking about 75 thousand gallons per night Trevor said his aim is to apply the water as early as possible in the evening so that it has the maxi mum length of time to soak into the rootzone He said the club is open throughout the year and has an expectation of putting some 60 000 rounds through each year TH ee oe thus keeping surfaces playable was a must Consideration was also given last year to installing a weather station however this was deferred in preference to upgrad ing the controller Trevor feels that a weather station is but another aid to the management of the course but he still has to be convinced of its need ISS believe that once installed he will give it increasing credence Hankley Common in Surrey This 18 hole sandy heathland course on lower greensand had its first irrigation in the 1960s installed by locally based Water mation Upgrading in 1971 put automatic irrigation on all greens while an 1991 upgrade resulted in tees and surrounds being included in the system In 1995 6 the whole system was virtually reinstalled or refurbished with water on all fairways as well a borehole feed and new controls and pumps Prior to last year the club took all its water from the mains an
6. 725444 oN ga orn at tts best waren aay ae ae 3 NORTH STAFFS IRRIGATION IVY MILL LONGTON ROAD STONE STAFFORDSHIRE t Value for money at the sign of the water mill We are big enough to cope with all your Irrigation requirements and small enough to care about every aspect of our dealings with you A family run business of qualified Engineers who really enjoy thier work Our Principal plays golf when he s not working and fully appreciates the needs of the course managers We can offer your Golf Club the technology of today at prices well below some of the the bigger companies At the end of the day the system has to work OURS DO BEAUTIFULLY Recent contracts Royal Lytham amp St Annes 1996 Open Chatsworth For the Duke of Devonshire Wilmslow Northampton Town F C Donnington Wood Bowling Green We are also pleased to undertake work at Tennis Clubs Bowling Greens and Football Grounds Telephone us now on 01785 812706 Fax 01785 811747 AD REF Member of the BTLIA 217 18 GREENKEEPER INTERNATIONAL November 1996 approaches or Hunter gear driven on tees In head controls are used on greens and approaches some of these having twin nozzles while each tee has a single con trol The actual sector can be set on all heads Marc stated that greens at Cumberwell are rela tively large and have on average four heads each while approaches have two and tees five or six Hydrants for hose and a la
7. Hugh Tilly looks at a range of irrigation equipment on the market ast seasons have put auto matic irrigation to the fore front of most greenkeeper s minds and although there are still some particularly on links courses who believe that drying out is a nat ural phenomena which should be part of the game most recognise that water is essential to main taining a playable and attractive surface not to mention sustain ing the grass How far you go in irrigating depends upon a number of fac tors including any requirements for a pretty course The norm is for greens tees and approaches to be watered however some clubs have watering on specific banks and some surrounds while others have found a need for water on some or all fairways One of the controlling factors in selecting an automatic irrigation system is the availability and cost of water and while many clubs are still linked into mains water and thus pay through a meter there are a growing number which have installed a reservoir or borehole and still pay A valid point made by one Course Man ager was that it was logic even essential to consider irrigation as an integral part of overall design and to consider where the water would be sourced Obvi ously the most satisfactory answer for the environment is to save winter rainfall however this needs a large reservoir which can be a major capital expense if the terrain is not water retent
8. alves and pop ups which jamb regularly however there are now several specialists who have the experience to get it right and to rectify the inevitable glitches fast and with minimum fuss While most modern systems are very versatile getting them set up to put water where you want it when you want it and in the right amount is not always quick nor simple especially as most irrigation is carried on overnight A growing body of opinion says that setting and operation of irrigation is a spe cialist task and perhaps a full time one particularly in the early years of use A mixture of imperial and metric units are used in this feature usually those in most common use in irrigation There are about 225 gallons in a cubic metre of water or 1000 litres The Oxfordshire Golf Club Designed to championship stan dard by Rees Jones the 18 hole Oxfordshire at Thame this year hosted the Benson and Hedges International Open on the Euro pean Tour It has irrigation installed by Turf Irrigation Ser vices on all greens tees and sur rounds plus watering of part fairways as well as feature roughs and other important clubhouse turf The installation was put in when the course was built it opened in July 93 which enabled TIS to trench all pipework and control cabling There are some 1400 individual sprinklers all Toro gear driven pop ups in five models full or part circle and spaced to water head to head
9. d last year only had a licence to extract 3 million gal lons which said Course Manager lan McMillan was insufficient An abstraction application for 9 mil lion gallons including summer use has now been sought and should mean independence from mains water supply The specifica tion with which the club went to tender included an ability to apply 21mm per week from 7 hr day working Some 16 hectares in total are now covered by irrigation from pop up sprin klers Watermation won the contract for the last improvements and Ian admitted that the company s sat isfactory past record and local base as well as the quote price were important considerations No details of the other bidders were given but it was intimated that there were about three and all were nationally known names The installation has mainly GR series pop up impact heads vari ously full or part circle some 530 of them which are mostly con trolled in stations of 3 or 4 by two TW2 4 controllers operating two pumping stations with a total of five pumps The overall system is divided into two old and new with three zones for fairways and two for greens and tees lan said Hankley Common opted as an extra for a radio remote control this is interlinked to both con trollers and enables him to oper ate any station from almost anywhere on the course This facility he has found to be invalu able as it allows him to check the functioning of any sprinkler
10. enkeepers with a layer of sand over the top and Trevor said that the care with which this laying was carried out has ensured that there have been absolutely no problems no bursts or leaks over three years Greens and approaches are watered by Toro 650s and 760s adjustable part or full circle gear driven pop up sprinklers while all tees are irrigated by Hunter 31 ADS pop ups the latter having proved to be easy to service and clean out Trevor said that it was his belief that all greens and approach irrigators must be of the in head control so that they can be individually set to allow for shade or wind variations etc He said that it was also important that each green had a hydrant for hand watering Canford Magna is going to change its water source in the next winter from the spring fed lake currently used to a borehole fed lagoon The main reason Trevor gave for needing this change was the high pH found in the spring water The club has always worked in close consulta tion with the Environment Agency previously NRA and a significant factor in this has been that the River Stour bounds the lower course for a considerable part of its perimeter There are also some 14 feature lakes on the land The club will also extend the system to include some fairway watering as it have found it nec essary to use a bowser to apply water to the fairways in the two past summers This will mean changing the present system from
11. ially by Ocmis however the club will be drying out the system themselves this winter Ocmis s engineers will still be used in the spring Very few problems have been experienced overall there have been no leaks in the line and a minimum of head problems the greatest number of problems 4 w WeeepeR i being wear on the impact drives and sticking pop ups close to bunkers when sand has got in There have also been a few blown fuses Frost damage has been lim ited to the outer castings on a few heads but Marc thinks this was due to ground water seeping in The course is on clay which forms the impermeable strata for the lake Where heads have stuck they have been easy to spot either due to the dew still being on the grass or by turf colour and growth Overall Marc said the system has been trouble free and while past experience has led him to expect some problems he said the Ocmis system at Cumberwell has almost always gone through its cycle without trouble Installation had been very good and Ocmis were very helpful were his sum mary words Canford Magna in Dorset This course began as a 9 hole and has been extended to 36 in the past few years It is variously laid over gravel or on silt over gravel in the Stour river flood plain and all greens are to USGA spec thus drainage is exceptionally good Course Manager Trevor Smith said he feels that it is essential to keep the root zone moist The sy
12. ive Boreholes are another option however often these cannot always be relied on to provide the volume required when it is most needed much depends on the sub strata Which ever way you acquire water you will have to pay the important point is that water should sourced economi cally and reliably this latter being as vital as the source itself While it was once common to find portable hose and sprinkler systems which connect to hydrants around the course such systems are labour intensive and have become increasingly rare Nevertheless most courses still find a need for some manual The Oxfordshire s Martin Jones at their weather station watering Some fairways can be watered using travellers irrigators but these are only semi automatic and need good hydrant around the course The most favoured system for today is fully auto matic with an electronic con troller to operate remote valves and pop up sprinklers Modern systems and all in this survey are of the pressure type which keep pressure in the line using a pres sure vessel with a switch to acti vate a pump when pressure goes below a pre determined mini mum Modifications can be used to improve response and control Perhaps the most important factor for successful installation and operation is the ability of the designer and installer There have been some horrendous tales of poor installation of underground lines which are always failing and of v
13. ke feed have been included in the specification and the con troller has several spare outlets to make it easy to add to the system if necessary Marc said that one green is to be extended this win ter and so will utilise this expan sion ability The wall mounted CIC computer control operates the system in four zones It can be linked into a PC at a later date and incorporates a small printer which Marc finds useful to give a hard copy of settings Programming the controller has proved to be quick and easy Marc reckons that on average he now takes under five minutes per day Experience has taught him how to tweak the system to maximum effect and while he did not criti cise the manual provided he did say that it took a little time to learn the jargon used The vol ume delivered by each head can vary according to height and dis tance from the pump but this is easily compensated in program ming by adjusting individual run times Similarly other physical dif ferences on each green such as shade and exposure to wind can be corrected by actual run time Some manual watering with a hand held hose is still carried out perhaps ten hours a week to correct areas of specific defi ciency Some of this need results from wind effect on sprinkler pat tern some from the inevitable dif ficulty of using circular pattern sprinklers even if overlapped The system is decommissioned in autumn and recommissioned each spring init
14. n 1996 equalled about half of this Location for the weather station is all important and the supplier provides some critical requirements which have to be met for it to give accurate and representative readings On the Oxfordshire it is placed well away from trees or other disturb ing features about 100m from the course manager s office which houses the controller The lake some distance and pumps are from the controller Control cable carry 240 volts to the satellite sta tions which decode and relay 110 Valves Al pipework is uPVC with solvent welded joints and volts to individual has been leek problems havi caused by subsequent free the few been ground settlement or heavy traffic over uncompacted ground i a sada Pump controls at Cumberwell Park Cumberwell Park at Bradford on Avon This new private parkland hole course has an Ocm designed irrigation system which Manage Says performs extremely v Course minimum probiems First opened in 1994 the irrigation installed while the course was being built Installing contractor was M J Abbott Ltd whom Mar praised highly Reasons for deci ing on an Ocmis installation was the use of MDPE blue plasti piping with screwed connections price a three year warranty ove all and installation by Abbott who was a contracto already known from previous work cal ried out for the James family who own the land Water for the system
15. ocessed to a terms of watering used is specific formula to interact with the settings and demands of the foro controller The Network 8000 can be programmed to operate on daily alternate three day or weekly cycles and Martin programmes it to apply water as a percentage of the E T rate He programmes sprinklers into four types according to location 1 e greens surrounds tees and othe and normally applies from 35 to 48 of the E by the weather station He com T figure provided mented that as a rough guide 40 is maintenance level while over 45 gives lush grass when taken over a period The con troller has the ability to apply from 1 to 900 of set rate Double normal rate i e 80 is used for watering in feeds etc Asked about the overall perfo1 mance of the system Martin said he was very pleased with it there is little maintenance can be drained down with the equired it existing drain points without needing compressed air to clear the lines and frost has not caused any damage to lines or sprinklers the pump house and control electronics have automatic frost heating And there have been very few stuck sprinklers he Oxfordshire takes all its irrigation water from two lakes which collect rainfall from the course the entire course is drained either with ditches o1 underdrains These lakes have pvc linings at the instance of the NRA with clay on top and hold 200 000m3 Use i
16. or group of sprinklers as well as allowing him to water in feeds or fungicides etc without his need ing to stop or leave his vehicle this not having to stand around was a major time saver In partic ular it means that he can switch on or off as he drives around or as greens are fertilised All heads have the same noz zles with variations in water delivery being made either by spacing or by run time Full circle sprinklers are placed in parallel lines on either side of fairways to give full application to the fair way and this meant that they apply only 50 to semi rough The use of travelling irrigators for the fairways was considered but rejected as being too labour intensive Installation was undertaken by Watermation supervised by McMillan Shields in a strictly con trolled schedule which allowed each hole to be closed for only two days Pipework was all uPVC in 6m lengths solvent welded and then mole ploughed in larger sections also having a mechanical ring to ensure water integrity It was lan said a very smooth operation There have been no problems with installa tion and the only small problem with the header tank was pain lessly sorted out by Watermation The impact heads the GR3 in particular have been very GREENKEEPER INTERNATIONAL November 1996 19 The place the time the event It s almost here BTME 97 January 22 24 The biggest the mos
17. ortant docu mentation i e user manual and maps were encapsulated in plas tic making them durable even if used with wet or dirty hands As far as lan was concerned user manuals are extremely easy to understand He relies on tradi tional greenkeeping principles to judge when and how much water to apply and this includes a regu lar use of probes St George s Hill in Weybridge Surrey Superseding the original 1970s installation the club s latest sys tem by British Overhead Irriga tion Limited has three variable speed pumps a Photron CIC4 controller three zones covering the 27 holes and allows for the use of three self travelling sprin klers with a 200m cable The heathland courses are extremely free draining however Head Greenkeeper Andy Hall uses wet ting agent and Toro Hydroject aeration to ensure optimum use of water This is particularly perti nent as all water is bought from the local water company and stored in a 21 000 gallon butyl lined above ground tank A key 20 GREENKEEPER INTERNATIONAL November 1996 stone policy is to keep the system simple and Andy said this applies to programming the system Nev ertheless the CIC4 which super seded a CIC1 model is extremely flexible Mr Gerry Wilkins of BOIL suggested perhaps more flexible than any greenkeeper is likely to need CIC controllers are pro duced by a sister company The previous irrigation system only had a single zone and single
18. s tem was installed by Salisbury based ISS and it now comprises of a computer IBM control run ning about 400 sprinklers through six zones Water comes from a spring fed lake via three Canford Magna s Trevor Smith main Godwin pumps with a small pilot pump which is used to main tain pressure The controller has recently been changed from the original ISS BBC Aquaflow to a new IBM 486 computer and Aquaflow software Change over has not been entirely straightforward due to some mis understandings and polarity mix ups which blew several chips ISS are sorting this out The new controller will give the system almost infinite flexibility and being Windows 3 1 based will enable the operator to use a mouse to set all parameters more quickly and easily Important fea tures of the Aquaflow program include global adjust which allows the operator to alter the times on all heads by percentages from 50 to 100 Producing new programs or files or adjust ing old ones is quick and easy by copying modifying then re nam ing several files can be chained together to operate consecutively ISS says the new controller sys tem was released in March 1996 and some 32 new systems or upgrades have been sold to date Pipework and the low voltage control cables were all trenched in the pipes all being 6 m lengths of uPVC with solvent cement joints All were protected by hand by the gre
19. t comprehensive the most exciting event for 1997 Have you pre registered yet See the back of this issue for your pre registration card Fancy a night out Have you booked your banquet ticket It s the hottest ticket around for those in the know Contact Sami Collins at BIGGA HQ on 01347 8385871 if you haven t already reserved your ticket to see top comic Bobby Davro and experience the delights of Laine Kennedy s cabaret all together a night not to be missed Four halls to visit All 154 companies large and small are primed and ready to talk to you about all that is new in your industry So what are you waiting for it couldn t be easier send your completed registration card back to BIGGA HQ and avoid the queues Especially for you Are you a Chairman of Green or Golf Course Secretary If so register for the course presented by the STRI The course aims to introduce Chairmen of Green and Secretaries to the practicalities of golf course construction and management It also includes a visit to the STRI trial grounds and laboratories Call Sami Collins at BIGGA HQ to book your place Andrew Hall of St George s Hill successful and easy to get out for maintenance as has all mainte nance and draining down The TW2 4 controllers have been found to be particularly user friendly and have a good level of diagnostic ability built in Pro gramming is very easy and lan insisted that all imp
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