Irrigation Project Complete

With all the sprinklers installed & the computer system fully configured, the new irrigation system is fully operational. The watering of the greens can now be done in 40 minutes as opposed to 3 hours and the fairways, with twice as many sprinklers, can be watered in half the time. That will result in some savings on the cost of electricity!

 

As with all new things, it will take a while to get the system finely tuned. There have been a few faulty sprinklers which are being replaced under warranty by the manufacturer. You will notice some dry patches around the greens, tees and fairways as we get the watering arc and nozzle sizes set correctly at each sprinkler (over 700 sprinklers) and to figure out how much water to put out at each sprinkler. It will take most of the summer to understand the new system and tweak it to get the optimum results. 

 

There is still quite a bit of work to be done to level the turf around the sprinklers and to get some grass growing on the irrigation main lines. The initial focus will be to level the turf around the sprinklers. This will be a repetitive process over the summer. Would all members driving golf carts please take care not to drive close to the sprinkler heads. This will help reduce any re-work.

The seeding of the main lines will be done in 2025 after the summer period. Any seed we sow will need to be kept moist in order to get the best result. That is therefore better done in the cooler months.

 

Thinkwater  have been asked to remove the pipe and their work containers over the next few weeks. The left-over pipe came about by Thinkwater replacing the 50mm pipe in the plan with 63mm pipe at no cost to us. This gives us a better result overall.

 

From a financial perspective the project has come in under budget. Actual cost $1,249,780 vs budget of $1,457,309. The budget included a contingency of $144,418  which was not required,  and an allowance to water the driving range and the garden beds around the clubhouse which were removed from scope.

 

I’m sure we’re all looking forward to the improvements this new system will have on our course over the next few years and beyond.