Coping With Waterlogged Fairways

Introduction

Members, staff and visitors who have played Ralston Golf Course over the past 5 years will have noticed that areas of the course are becoming waterlogged after prolonged periods of inclement weather.
During the last 2 winters it has been necessary to have a number of greens out of play on a regular basis. Holes 15 and 16 have also either been closed or reduced to par 3’s after lengthy spells of heavy rain.
This is a source of frustration to both golfers and greenstaff. In this report we will identify the causes of the waterlogging and suggest a number of solutions for consideration by RGC Council. The report focuses on fairway waterlogging although many of the problems / solutions will be similar for greens and tees. Greenstaff are committed to providing the membership with a well maintained and presented 18 hole golf course throughout the year.

Problems

Climate Change

A number of studies have been completed to analyse past weather patterns and predict what may happen in the future. It has been suggested that “Climate Change” doesn’t exist and changes in weather are simply down to natural cycles. However, DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) for UK Climate Impacts Programme produced a report in 2002, using information from the Met Office. The data contained in this report appears to show a trend towards milder, wetter winters and warmer, drier summers.

Across Scotland there have been 3% more rain days October – March inclusive for the period 1971-2000 compared with 1961-1990.
Across Scotland there have been 3% fewer rain days during the summer for the period 1971-2000 compared with 1961-1990.
In the west of Scotland there has been a 10% increase in rainfall October – March inclusive for the period 1971-2000 compared with 1961-1990.
In the west of Scotland there was a 90% increase in rainfall October – March inclusive in the winter of 1999/2000 compared with the 1961-1990 average.
In the west of Scotland there has been a 1.0oC increase in maximum temperatures for the period 1999-2003 compared with the 1961-1990 average.
In the west of Scotland there has been a 0.6oC increase in minimum temperatures for the period 1999-2003 compared with the 1961-1990 average.

In summary there is sufficient data to show that the climate is changing. In recent years Scotland has seen more extremely wet winters and drier summers. When it rains in the winter it is now raining heavier which is putting a strain on golf course drainage systems throughout the west of Scotland. Golfers expect to play the day after intense rain and it is therefore essential that surfaces drain quickly. Temperatures are rising each decade. Warmer summers and milder winters will enable grasses to grow for longer each year, resulting in an increase in course maintenance costs.

Soil Type

Ralston Golf Club is typical of many inland courses in the west of Scotland. It is built on a heavy clay soil which presents the modern greenkeeper with a number of problems.
Soil is made of the following 4 constituents:

WATER - is essential to plant life and transports nutrients

AIR - is essential to plant and soil life, creating aerobic conditions

ORGANIC MATTER - living soil should have at least 5% organic content. This is added to the soil each year with Nitrogen.

MINERAL PARTICLES - these are the base that other constituents are mixed with.

At Ralston Golf Club our mineral particles are largely clay. Clay soils are made up of very fine mineral particles. In dry weather they will bake hard and can crack. In wet weather a clay soil will become water logged. Water will not drain freely through a clay soil and the surface will become soft. When digging a clay soil it is likely that the wet clay particles will ball up and stick to the spade. This wet surface creates problems in itself. Most noticeable to the golfer will be mud and puddles. However, these wet conditions enable thatch to accumulate quicker and will result in compaction when traffic (foot or vehicle) passes over the area. It is ,therefore, reasonable to conclude that golf courses such as ours, built on heavy clay soils, are particularly susceptible to drainage problems.

Thatch

Thatch is organic plant matter that naturally occurs at the base of the grass. It is composed of dead, dying and decaying material. It is essential that turf should have some thatch (typically around 15mm). However, excessive thatch is detrimental to the health of fine turf.
A build up of thatch :

Causes poor surface drainage as thatch acts like a sponge and absorbs water.

Creates a soft surface that inhibits the roll of a golf ball.

Will act as a barrier preventing fertilisers reaching base of plant.

Causes grass plant to be shallow rooted and weak.

Results in a lack of drought tolerance.

Is liable to allow weeds to infiltrate the grass sward.

Creates anaerobic conditions leading to grasses rotting and becoming diseased.

Creates conditions favourable to mosses.

In order to maintain good quality, free draining turf it is essential that thatch accumulations are kept to a minimum.

Compaction

Compaction is a natural consequence of foot and vehicle traffic putting downward pressure on turf causing the soil beneath to become compact. As we have seen already it is vital to plant health that soils remain aerobic.
Compacted soils cause a number of problems :

Poor weak grass growth.

Shallow rooting.

Water and nutrient penetration is restricted.

Increase in thatch accumulation.

Promotes weed grasses.

Surface water does not drain after intense periods of rainfall creating conditions favourable to diseases

As we can see compaction is detrimental to surface drainage and needs to be alleviated for the overall good health of turf.

Existing Drains

Ralston Golf Club still has the original field drainage system installed circa 1890. The drains are of clay tile construction and were expertly laid at the time. Unfortunately the passage of time has resulted in a number of problems occurring.
Most tiles are approximately 1 foot long, 2.5 inch diameter and laid end to end. Water entered the system through tiny gaps created when the tiles were butted up. Unfortunately, over time and with the introduction of machinery over the years, some of the tiles have moved and no longer provide effective drainage. We have also found that drains close to trees have become blocked with tree roots. These original drains were also back filled with the existing soil. Over time this has allowed the fine clay particles to enter some drains and cause them to silt up. Modern drainage techniques utilise different backfill materials that avoid this happening. However, the biggest problem is the lack of proper drainage mapping. We have a few plans from 1890 acquired from the farmer at Rosshall Farm. However, these only show a few areas of the course and are of limited use.
The original clay tile drainage system is now outdated and is certainly unable to cope effectively with the current levels of rainfall and demands of today’s golfer.

Solutions

Thatch Removal

It is essential that levels of thatch are properly managed in order to provide a healthy, free draining grass sward. This is simply good greenkeeping practice and should be undertaken at least once each year.
It is widely known that private members golf courses, located in the west of Scotland, such as Ralston Golf Club have historically struggled to carry out thatch removal on fairways. Greens and to an extent tees have been treated and the differences are plain to see. The main reason that fairways have not been treated is down to man power, machinery and cost concerns. However, with the trend to year round golf coupled with the prospect of climate change, it is no longer possible to ignore the negative impact of excess thatch on fairways.
Research commissioned for the report “Climate Change and Scottish Golf Courses” clearly shows the advantages of any type of excess thatch removal. Cowglen Golf Club saw a 23% reduction in fairway thatch and a large increase in water infiltration rates following a programme of thatch removal on a trial area of fairway.
Thatch can be removed by carrying out various treatments. Deep scarification can be implemented in Spring and Autumn. Fairways can be hollow tined / cored in the Autumn. Top dressing with sand can take place following sarification and hollow tining / coring operations.

We are fortunate at Ralston Golf Club to have a set of tractor mounted “Sisis Veemo Units” that enable us to scarify fairways. Tidying the removed thatch is more problematic and we will have to give consideration to the purchase of a tractor mounted blower or alternative collection system over coming years.

We are able to hollow tine / core fairways using our tractor mounted “John Deere Aercore 1500” or our “Wiedenmann Terra-spike XP”. Once again it is the collection of the cores that requires addressing.

We are able to top dress our fairways with sand using our tractor trailed “Pro Pass 180” top dresser.

Carrying out the above treatments on our fairways would help to reduce thatch and create a healthier grass sward that promotes quicker drainage of surface water. Thatch removal should be undertaken on all fairways on a rolling programme. It would be advisable to utilise these treatments on wet fairways before opting for the installation of a primary drainage system.

Aeration

It is important to ensure that all fine turf is aerated on a regular basis. As has been highlighted earlier in this report aeration is the most important maintenance task for the proper management of a healthy grass sward. Effective aeration is not only beneficial to the health of turf it also allows frost action to break down the clay soil and improves drainage of surface water.

At Ralston Golf Club we carry out regular aeration work to all areas of the course. In order to further improve the health of grass on the fairways we should consider hollow tining / coring as well as verti-draining treatments. Hollow tining / coring would allow for removal of small cores of thatch. As has been mentioned in 3.1 above, we are able to hollow tine / core our fairways using our “John Deere Aercore 1500”. We are also able to hollow tine / core and vertidrain our fairways using our “Wiedenmann Terra-spike XP”. It is the collection of the removed cores that poses the problem.

Aeration should be undertaken on all fairways on a rolling programme. It would be advisable to utilise these treatments on wet fairways before opting for the installation of a primary drainage system.

Primary Drainage System

Where an extensive programme of thatch removal and aeration has failed to sufficiently speed up the drainage of surface water from fairways, it may be necessary to give consideration to the installation of a primary drainage system.
Primary systems can take the form of herringbone systems, grid systems, fan systems or natural systems. They will be installed using modern, perforated plastic drainage pipe. This pipe is easy to work with and can be cut where lateral drains intersect.
When installing such a system it is important to remember the following:

A detailed survey of the fairway should be undertaken to establish where main drains and laterals should be sited.

The main drain must lead to a positive outlet.

Main drains should be at a minimum depth of 700mm.

Lateral drains should be at a minimum depth of 450mm. This is essential so as future verti-draining operations don’t damage the system.

All drains should have a uniform fall along their length.

All drains should have a minimum fall of 1:200 to prevent silting up and surcharging.

Drains must be excavated from the outlet point back up the system.

Inspection chambers should be incorporated where possible.

Drains should be installed using modern tractor mounted trenchers preferably with laser level guidance to ensure a proper fall. These trenchers will also give a narrow trench economical for backfilling. The trencher should have a soil clearance system where the removed soil can be put directly into a trailer running alongside.

Drains should be backfilled with 6-9mm pea gravel to 150mm from surface. The next 50mm should be a blinding layer of coarse sand / grit. Finally the trench should be filled to level with sandy rootzone.

Seed should sown on top of the trench if possible. If turf is used it should be cored at a later date to prevent it sealing the surface.

Late summer / autumn is the ideal time to undertake the work to avoid machinery damage during wet winter weather.

At Ralston Golf Club we are unable to carry out this work in-house at present. However, our tractors are capable of taking a modern trenching machine and it may be worthwhile considering the benefits of owning our own machine in years to come.

Secondary Drainage System

In many cases a well planned programme of thatch removal and aeration, coupled with a modern primary drainage system, may be sufficient to solve the problem of waterlogged fairways. However, fairways that are low lying or particularly prone to flooding may require additional work. A secondary drainage system will allow surface water to penetrate to the primary system faster. This will enable the fairway to be playable in a shorter period of time following a period of persistent heavy rain.

The principal forms of secondary drainage being installed at present are trench sand/gravel banding and slit sand/gravel banding. The main difference between the 2 is that soil is removed when carrying out trenching operations whereas no spoil is removed when completing slitting work.

Both systems are highly advantageous in situations where surface water is not reaching the primary drainage system quickly enough. Slit banding is, however, cheaper to install as no soil is removed and it requires less backfill and manpower. Slit banding is easy and quick to install. A tractor simply pulls a large hopper filled with backfill material. The machine cuts a narrow slit in the turf, injects the backfill material and closes over the slit in a single pass. It can be completed by club staff using a hired machine mounted to one of our tractors. After the work is completed the surface is able to be played on immediately.

The slit bands are normally introduced at 50cm to 100cm spacing’s and are approximately 300mm deep. They run at 900 to the primary drainage system. It is essentially a vertical drainage system designed to intersect the aggregate from the primary system and hence accelerate the movement of surface water to the primary drains.

There are various sand/gravel banding machines on the market. With the current trend towards year round golf and wetter winters it may be worthwhile considering the purchase of such a machine.

Outlets

It is vital that any primary system drains to a positive outlet. An outlet could be an open ditch, river, burn or wetland . If a drainage system does not flow to a suitable outlet it will cause water to back up in the system. This is known as surcharging and will undermine the drainage systems that have been installed.

Where budgetary constraints are a concern, though far from ideal, it is possible to drain fairways in to areas of rough that are not in play. Another possibility is the creation of soakaways. These are simply large holes filled with gravel where drains can be led if there is no natural outlet available. This form of outlet has been used for the new chipping area.

Recommendations

1

The first step to reducing the problem of waterlogged fairways is to adopt a rigorous programme of scarification, aeration and top dressing on fairways. This should be done before resorting to a whole new drainage system. Obviously, being a small members club, cost and available man hours are both an issue here. We would recommend that the club allow greenstaff to carry out work to all fairways on a rolling programme over several years.

We currently vertidrain all fairways at least once a year. In addition to this it would be desirable to investigate the possibility of hollow tining / coring a problematic fairway each year.

It is essential that all fairways are scarified annually. We would like to deeply scarify our wettest fairways. In doing this we would remove a significant quantity of thatch. Ideally we would then apply a sandy top dressing to the fairway to further dilute the thatch content.

2

It is probable that on many fairways even a rigorous maintenance regime will not be enough to significantly reduce surface water during wet weather. In such instances it may be worthwhile considering the installation of a primary drainage system. Although expensive to install the benefits of such a system would be pronounced. A primary drainage system coupled with rigorous annual maintenance of fairways should allow play to continue after periods of persistent rain. The greenstaff at the club have the knowledge and capability to install these systems. It would, however, require RGC Council to sanction investment in a trencher. With the likelihood that winters will become wetter, the purchase of a machine may well prove to be cost effective over the coming years. This would also allow staff to pick off smaller wet areas on greens etc when time permits.

3

Installing sand or gravel bands would help to speed surface water to the primary drains on fairways that are still wet following intensive annual maintenance and the introduction of a primary drainage system.

The creation of open ditches in some areas of the course would allow an outlet for newly installed primary drains. The left of the 11th hole and extending the burn across the 14th fairway are possible examples of this. Open ditches are cheaper to construct as they require no backfill and allow the flow of water to be monitored. It may also be worthwhile considering storing drained surface water in a pond or tank for re-use as irrigation water in the summer months.

Conclusion

As we have highlighted it is likely that the golf course will continue to see increasing levels of rainfall over the coming winters. All members and greenstaff would like the full course to be available for play 365 days a year.

To satisfy our members and produce a quality golf course it is essential that we act now to address the problem of waterlogged fairways. We appreciate that the club is unable to allocate vast amounts of money to the problem. However, by carrying out some of the recommendations above, together with prudent investment in machinery, it should be possible to improve fairways each year and produce the best golf course possible for the membership.

Acknowledgements

In writing this report the following have been referred to :
Climate Change and Scottish Golf Courses - 2004 Report.
Greenkeeper International Magazines.
Amenity Machinery and Equipment Magazines.
GOSTA - NVQ Amenity Horticulture (Sports Turf) Handouts