Golf course needs proper irrigation to maintain its beauty. The lawns, trees and landscape need proper irrigation to maintain the greenery and proper health of the course. Wilted plants, brown lawns make the course look ugly and unattractive.
Golf course irrigation is an important aspect of golf course maintenance. It helps to maintain the quality of the ground and avoid wastage of water. A wise decision is required regarding the type of irrigation system for golf course. The irrigation system for golf course usually consists of sprinklers, field controllers, central control systems and valves. All these are the components of the automatic sprinkler system. Each has an important role in maintaining proper irrigation system.
It is always wise to use the irrigation system that has good water efficiency. The central control system offers automatic monitoring and contributes to water saving. It has multiple independent programme and automatic on off mechanism. This is very useful as it can be used to have flexible irrigation when needed. The nozzles permit even spread of water and thereby avoid any brown spots. The precipitation nozzles reduce the water wastage up to 30% and are very efficient.
Sprinklers for golf courses come in retrofit conversion units, hand held units and modular controls. There are sprinklers designed as per the requirement of the site as each site is very different and has different requirements. Tee boxes are irrigated with sprinklers with good precision coverage for the ground. For small spaces, a small bodied sprinkler is use. Sprinklers come with low maintenance and durability.
Golf course architects, builders, superintendents etc need to think about the irrigation system for golf course.
- Plant irrigation requirements are: good soil, water supply, evaporation, and the type of turf
- Water: Water source, permits for withdrawal and water rights, surface water, ground water, water quality, prevention of backflow
- Pumps: pump types, pump motors, variable frequency drives, pump system safety circuits, remote monitoring, power intakes and discharges, injections and filtrations
Above all, a good watering programme is very important to have a timetable for watering. This will also help to determine how much water is required. Different plants and grasses have different water requirement and requires different timetables for watering. Some require daily watering while the irrigation frequency for some is large. The system needs to be pre-programmed to take care of these differential water needs. This will also help in water conservation on the golf turf.
Irrigation system for golf offers a valuable insight on the design, installation, management and maintenance of the golf course irrigation. It is the most important aspect of golf management in these days as water conservation has become a rule.
