Creative Accounting

Golf course superintendents spend countless hours and a seemingly endless stream of money on irrigation — from installing the right system to replacing and repairing heads to adjusting the flow so all necessary areas of the course are receiving the right amount of water. But what about the byproduct of all that water, drainage?

Courses can expect a certain amount of standing water following a heavy, persistent rain, but when simple showers leave lasting reminders of past precipitation, maintenance professionals must take notice. And the wise superintendent won’t wait until it’s too late — choosing to be proactive, rather than reactive.

Allen Storie, director of agronomy at Hound Ears Club in Blowing Rock, N.C., and his staff perform drainage audits monthly, or when they see a drainage problem occur. Playability, aesthetic appearance or declining maintenance performance are all excellent reasons to take action, he says.

From depressions or low areas in the turf to impermeable soil or the existence of a high water table, reasons for standing water are plentiful.

Tripp Davis’ team takes a complete look at the drainage of a golf course during creation of a master plan or if there is a need to look specifically at the drainage.

“Most of the time the drainage on a golf course is thought of as a collection of drainage systems, so the focus tends to be specifically where the problems are,” says Davis, principal at Tripp Davis and Associates and a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. “We prefer to develop a complete evaluation of the entire course and prepare a master plan for everything. This helps to best prioritize the areas of greatest need, which very often involves drainage enhancements.”

Ray Richard, a golf construction consultant with Richardgolf.com in Cape Cod, Mass., addresses drainage concerns on a regular basis. “Twenty or 30 times a year a client asks about drainage remediation,” he says. “Some have small water pockets on green surfaces or others have large-scale drainage issues caused by inferior construction. I recall touring an 18-hole course after a September rain and seeing 10 fairways with standing water, conditions that severely impacted course revenues.

“Plugged golf balls or soggy shoes anger golfers,” he adds. “Club decision makers want the problem solved the first time with common-sense methods, although the cost usually shocks them. Sometimes I identify existing tile lines that worked decades ago but need replacement. Other times, the drainage problem isn’t obvious so subsurface exploration provides the solution. By coring test holes in a grid pattern and identifying subsurface water flow, piping strategies that intercept the flow solve the problem.”

Doug Myslinski, XGD Systems’ vice president of business development, a golf course drainage systems provider, says the company performs audits every time it visits a golf course. “Our goal is to assess each drainage problem situation and develop a solution that works best for the long-term benefit of the club,” he says. “A true solution to a drainage problem has three components: the superintendent is given a better opportunity to provide pristine conditions; the golfers are provided accessibility to the golf course in spite of poor weather; and the playing conditions of the golf course complement the intended design. An audit can be performed on a single problematic green or an entire golf facility.”

When assessing the situation, Davis agrees an extra pair of expert eyes is beneficial. A facility should have a golf course architect work with the superintendent, and possibly a local civil engineer, to evaluate the current drainage and prepare a master plan, even in broad concepts, quite simply if they had not gone through this exercise in the last 10 years, or if there have been major changes or recent issues.

“It’s very important with drainage on a golf course to know where your problems are, how they could be interrelated, and to have a master plan that prioritizes what needs to be done first,” he says.

A proper audit should provide an understanding of where issues exist, how to solve them, how to prioritize solutions and what it will cost, Davis says. The steps taken before and during an audit are as varied as the issues at hand, however.

“Every situation is different, but it is critical to evaluate the entire golf course drainage before trying to develop a solution for just one part,” Davis says. “Drainage is very interrelated and you generally need to solve the entire problem or at the very least have a well-thought-out plan to address issues in phases.”

For Richard, the value is in the end game. “[Drainage audits] provide details that will work,” he says. “The resulting construction scenario will often result in curvy piping patterns that intercept flow, not straight-line herringbone patterns installed without subsurface exploration.”

A superintendent knows a drainage audit is needed, but convincing the higher-ups isn’t always easy. It’s important for all clubs to have a sound master plan in place at all times so they know what they are working toward and what it will cost.

The convincing comes in the form of declining turf conditions or increased limitations of accessibility to the golfers. “These are not always evident to the ‘bosses’ as the superintendent may be taking significant steps to minimize the impacts,” Myslinski says. “Spending is occurring on either turf inputs or additional man hours to negate the impacts. A cost/benefit analysis can be produced that will show how the up-front investment of the improvements can reduce the long-term chemical or labor budgets. Costs can also be associated with golf cart revenue that may typically be reduced due to rain events.

Storie was blunt with his advice to colleagues. “If they don’t perform audits, and damage is done to the course by a storm, I suspect they will be convinced to start doing them,” he says.

Once an audit is performed, the results and a coordinated plan to remedy the situation must be presented to the owners, members and/or stakeholders. This varies depending on how severe the issues are, and can vary with how the club wants to present it to the membership, Davis says. “The key when presenting anything relative to drainage to a club is to focus as much on why things need to be done as you focus on what to do,” he says. “Drainage issues are very cause and effect, so it helps to explain why.”

Audits or master drainage plans provide the most cost effective solutions to problematic areas at a golf facility. “They can be ‘road maps’ to improvements and used as a form of communication to the golfers/members, boards, and committees,” Myslinski says. “Costs of implementation are typically associated with the plans so that the golf facility can evaluate the timing of the implementation, whether it be all at once or phased in over a period of time.”