High and dry

Golf course superintendents no doubt will agree that this year has been one to remember so far in terms of its weather conditions. They might even go so far as to file it under “weird” – a very mild winter that almost transitioned directly into summer with no spring.

Some superintendents might dismiss the meteorological abnormalities as freakish and not likely to ever happen again, but the smart ones are no doubt documenting the bizarre temperatures and noting the various tweaks to their maintenance programs that produced the optimal results.

One of the things superintendents had to do this year that went against the norm is turn on their irrigation systems earlier than usual. Now, it could have a huge impact on their budgets, especially if they use city water.

“I had guys who started filling their ponds with city water in April who usually wouldn’t do that till August,” says irrigation consultant Brian Vinchesi. “Even if you’re not paying for your water, your electric bill will go up. Depending where you’re located, it won’t be that bad, but it’s still going to go up.”

Bradley Anderson of Bittersweet Golf Club in Gurnee, Ill., is one superintendent who is feeling the pain of a depleted water supply. His irrigation reservoir, which holds six million gallons and is fed exclusively by run-off, began running out of water in mid-June, and his crews started transferring water from the ponds on the golf course to the reservoir. They shut the irrigation system off during the day, then hook up a pump and reverse the flow of water backwards through the system to the reservoir.

“Eventually, we may need to buy water from the village, but if we can hold out until the rain replenishes our supply, the water savings will be applied to better use,” says Anderson. “You hate to have to pay for water. I would rather apply that money to topdressing and other projects.” The rain, however, has been hard to come by with, according to Anderson, only two inches in the 60 days prior to June 20.

Another challenge Anderson is facing is that his irrigation system is antiquated. The solenoids and gear drives are failing, and every day, he runs as many heads as he can ahead of play to identify which ones are broken.

“On any given day, we’re fixing 10 to 12 sprinklers,” he says.

Anderson is currently taking quotes from several consultants on a new system but admits that spending $1 million on such a system right now is not feasible.

“Yes, we’re wasting man hours taking care of things but we’re still spending less money than you would on a new system – and in this economy, you have to make do with what you have until things improve,” he says.

Vinchesi says that’s one of the blessings of having such a strange season that is warmer and drier than normal: realizing the shortcomings of your irrigation system and being able to make the case for an upgrade.

“The thing about years like this one is that it shows you the deficiencies in your system which, in a normal year, you would never see. You might discover there is more wrong with it than you thought, or that it’s not as good as you thought,” says Vinchesi. “It’s a good year to document what’s wrong with your system and why.”

Greg Shaffer of Elcona Country Club in Briston, Ind., has no problems with water supply as he has his own wells. However, he is feeling the pinch from increased electricity costs from running the pumps more. Those costs could be higher, though, if the pumps didn’t have a variable frequency drive (VFD).

“The VFD ensures that they’re only putting out what they need to put out,” says Shaffer. “They slowly ramp up and slowly wind down so that there’s no water hammer, which leads to significant savings in the electrical department.”

Even so, more use equals higher bills. Check out these numbers: in May 2011, Shaffer used 1.5 million gallons of water. This May, he used 8.7 million gallons. Through late June 2011, usage was at 5.1 million gallons, compared to 11.2 million this year.

“For the entire year last year, we used 21 million gallons of water, so we’re already at half of what we used all last year,” says Shaffer.

Fortunately, Shaffer is reaping the benefits of a newer irrigation system installed in 2009 that features a weather station that enables him to monitor evapotranspiration (ET) rates. He will look at the ET rates for a three-day period, and if the ET rate each day was .15, he will irrigate the cumulative total of .45. Sometimes he will stretch it to a four-day period, but if he has two high ET days and the course really needs some water, he will stack two days together and water every other night.

“The theory is that we’re putting back out what we used and therefore we’re not overwatering,” he says.

To minimize wear and tear on the irrigation system, Shaffer divides the course into sections and waters on a deep and infrequent basis. For example, one night he will water fairways and greens heavily, about a half inch. The next night, he might put the same amount of water on the tees and rough. On the third night, he waters the practice facility and clubhouse.

Vinchesi believes the early start-up of irrigation systems for most supers was a good thing as the longer these systems sit idle, the more problems they tend to have. Still, Shaffer worries that the intense use of his system so far this year might lead to problems.

“You still have pumps turning off and on, pressure fluctuation in the lines, and more water running through the nozzles and rotors,” he says. “Since we have a new system, we’re not really seeing any side effects to this point, but you still have to account for the wear and tear over a period of time.”

While Shaffer normally does his preventive maintenance program in May, he still had not done it by late June because he has been using his irrigation system so much.

Chris Tritabaugh of Northland Country Club in Duluth, Minn., doesn’t have to worry about running out of water this year or overtaxing his irrigation system. He has gotten plenty of rain through spring up till mid-June. But, like with a lot of superintendents, the wacko weather has put everything ahead of schedule.

“Everything has been a month ahead almost to the day,” says Tritabaugh. “It has been pretty amazing to watch. We started to see disease in June that we normally don’t see till July 4.”

Tritabaugh’s biggest concern is for his labor budget. This year was the second in the last three years where they had to open early due to the mild weather. He typically plans his budget for opening in the third week of April and brings in some workers the first week of April. But this year, they were a good month ahead of that schedule.

“And being a private course, it doesn’t really result in a lot more revenue when you open early,” Tritabaugh says. “It’s tough when you’re on as tight a budget as we are. You almost have to try to make it up at some point during the season. It’s a little bit disheartening when the weather allows you to open early but you end up cutting back to make it work at the end of the year.”

When all is said and done, Vinchesi feels the biggest issue relating to irrigation this summer will have been the water supply. He feels that those courses on city water might be better off than those that are not, unless the city enacts a water ban.

“I would be more concerned about the guys who are on a pond or groundwater well where, as it gets drier, it gets lower and stops giving the amount of water it used to or the pond dries up and they have no way to fill it,” he says. “On the other hand, the guys who are using city water may not be able to hugely supplement it if it gets too dry and the city cuts them off. So it’s important to be cognizant of what’s going on with your water.”

Jason Stahl is a Cleveland-based freelance writer and frequent GCI contributor.