Update: #9 and #18 Drainage Concerns

I’m sure you’ve noticed we haven’t been able to make much progress on either #9 or #18.  This doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy continuing to solve the problems in these areas.  As we’ve been investigating the drainage issues, we’ve discovered old drainage on top of more old drainage on top of even more drainage.  Some of the lines are functioning to a point, but their outlets are severed so they are just acting as catch basins holding water with nowhere to go.  We have come across some 20+ year old hand drawn drainage diagrams in the Turf Care Centre that at least give us an idea of what we’re dealing with, but like I said, they aren’t of much use to us since the old drainage lines are no longer functioning properly.  We located 4 old drainage outlets alone on #18 approach that had nothing but a trickle of water coming from them during and after yesterday’s heavy rainfall.

Here is a photo taken after yesterday's heavy rainfall:

non-functioning old outlet near a newer outlet functioning properly

We cannot finalize a plan to address the drainage issues until we are confident we have discovered all the old drainage that is causing us problems.  I wish I could say there was a quick and easy solution to fixing these problems, but with something as important as drainage, shortcuts will only result in future problems that will cost at least double to fix.  Needless to say, this is a great time of year to identify drainage concerns, but it is not the ideal time of year to be fixing them as the saturated conditions make it very difficult to do so.   

In the meantime, we will continue to pump the surface water from these areas as we create a plan to properly address and fix the issues.  Our drainage contractor, TDS, will be involved in developing the right solutions, as will our drainage engineers, Kelly-Ami.  Both contractors will be in Vancouver in the coming weeks for a drainage project at Capilano, so they will make a site visit to share their expertise.  We must be very careful not to compromise the recently installed drainage, therefore it is paramount that both TDS and Kelly-Ami are involved.  It's much more complex than simply installing drainage tile where we see surface water.

Again, we sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding as we works towards properly addressing and fixing these problems.

Old Drainage Failing

As many of you know, we’ve been experiencing some drainage issues on #9 approach for quite some time now.  We have now begun investigating to determine the exact cause of the drainage concerns.  Our first plan of attack was to amend the profile of the approach as soil probing indicated very high thatch levels.  The best way for us to do so is by core aerating and topdressing frequently to continually improve the top 4”-6” of the profile.  To do so, conditions need to firm up to properly pull cores and achieve the desired results.  Being that the approach is so saturated, we decided to at least deep-tine aerate the area using solid tines (non-coring) to open channels for proper drainage until conditions firmed up enough to be suitable for coring.  While doing so, we discovered large pockets of water/air not far below the surface, which is a clear indicator that drainage tiles below are likely compromised.  We have determined that the top of a drainage line is only about 10” below the surface.  Being so shallow, it has likely been struck and damaged by deep tine aeration time and time again.

Here is photo of soil and water that rushed to the surface from one of the water/air pockets below:

clear indicator of drainage line trouble down below

We are in the process of digging up the area to expose the compromised tile and I’ve got good news and bad news with regards to what we've discovered.  The good news is that the drainage installed by TDS during the course project is working just fine.  The bad news is that we’ve discovered old drainage installed in-house well before the course project that is failing miserably.  Here are a few photos of what was discovered:

some tile connections completely severed

tile completely filled with mud and gravel

As you can see, the drainage lines are highly contaminated and will not drain.  We will continue to expose this old drain line and will then determine the best approach to correcting the situation.  I anticipate we will find the entire line to be far too contaminated to be deemed useful and if that’s the case, it will need to be completely removed and properly replaced to ensure that this high profile area drains properly.  A temporary green will be necessary at times for us to efficiently and safely work on fixing this problem.  There will not be a temporary green for weekend play, the regular green will remain open.

I suspect that improperly installed in-house drainage is the cause of other drainage issues we are experiencing on the course (i.e. – the right side of #18 fairway nearing the approach).  We will also investigate these other areas to determine why they are draining so poorly.

We will provide regular updates on our progress and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we take the time to properly address and fix these problems.

Course Care - Ball Marks & Divots

I've received comments from many members lately with regards to the great deal of ball marks on our greens.  Softer conditions this time of year result in putting surfaces that are very susceptible to ball marks. 

There's NO good excuse for not repairing this!

Unrepaired or improperly repaired ball marks create bumpy and uneven greens that putt very poorly.  Please take the time and do YOUR PART to repair your ball mark AND at least one other per green.  This will certainly help us to provide smooth and true putting surfaces as well as maintain healthy greens.

Here is an illustration of how to properly repair ball marks:

click on image to enlarge

Another hot topic of discussion has been the amount of unfilled divots on the fairways.  A divot filled with sand and seed mix will heal much quicker than one that is left bare.  The seed in our divot mix will germinate even in our cooler winter conditions.  

unfilled divot that will take weeks to heal

filled divot that healed in about 10 days

I have been asked countless times on whether it is better to fill the divot with the sand and seed mix or to replace the divot with the turf that was removed from the shot.  I always recommend and prefer to fill the divot with the provided mix rather than to replace the divot.  Chances are that a divot repaired by replacing the turf will ultimately be removed again by either a piece of maintenance equipment or even more often, crows or other birds searching for worms or grubs to feed on.  Birds have no interest in disturbing filled divots and our maintenance equipment rarely affects them either.  Another side benefit of filling vs. replacing is that a divot that has healed from sand and seed mix will take quite some time to accumulate thatch levels comparable to the turf that was removed from the divot.  It is essentially a part of our thatch management program.

Taking the time to repair ball marks and fill divots goes a long way in ensuring exceptional and consistent playing conditions for you to enjoy each and every time you play.  

PLEASE DO YOUR PART!!!