A well-maintained golf course, whether or not it is the season of the sport, entails the implementation of suitable and regular irrigation methodologies to keep the turf appropriate and ready. Turf health is directly affected by the source of irrigation and the system of delivery. There are a number of ways to maintain these details, such as the amount of water prerequisite for the irrigation, for instance. On the other hand, there are several other strategies that can be put in place to improve and aid in the upkeep of turf health and to make sure that the sources of water are kept in the best state as well.
Listed below are a few tips for irrigation water management for the golf course.
Audit the Irrigation System
Be certain to carry out a regular examination of the terrain of the golf course to inspect and identify the areas that need more attention and repairs. This would correlate to the enhancement of the efficacy of your irrigation water supply system. When examining, include all the documentation details and repairs pertaining to any operational malfunctioning of the irrigation heads, verification of the average output of the irrigation supply system, and any further improvements required for the dry or damp areas, which can be achieved by the regulation of the application time in these areas. Moreover, you must also look into the quality of the water being supplied routinely by collecting and inspecting samples and making any necessary changes corresponding to that data.
A proper irrigation application is marked by a scheduled irrigation. There is a possibility that tournaments, golf outings, or a play might be impeded due to this application. Nevertheless, it must remain your priority to stick to a fixed schedule to ensure the best upkeep of the terrain.
Lake Volume
It is advisable to have an approximate understanding of the lake volume so that the turf manager is competent to settle down on the amount of available irrigation water. For this purpose, a water measurement appliance could be deployed, which could further be amalgamated with the bathymetric data to arrive at the water availability data regardless of the climate. This data can also be combined and tallied with the results of the audit to structure the correct application amounts, while simultaneously having an indication of the amount of water that is left for the applications in the future.
Fertilizer and Pesticide
The turf manager needs to be conscientious of the right fertilizer and pesticide to applied onto the surface, both theoretically, and as a matter of practice. This is the reason why professional qualifications are favourable for a turf manager, as they would be aware of the chemicals and the corresponding reactions of the turf to them. A correctly fertilized turf would be functional all year round, even when the growing conditions are in swing. Nevertheless, over fertilization could hamper the health of the soil by necessitating too much water. On the contrary, under fertilization would engender the incapacitated of the plants to absorb nutrients from the soil. Apart from that, pesticides, inclusive of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides are also responsible for maintaining the health of the turf. With this too, the amount of water applied has to be optimally regulated to ensure that the plants are able to absorb all the nutrients.
If you would like to know more about these techniques, Pro Green Irrigation Services, based in Toronto, Canada, would be of great assistance for any consultancy or inspection regarding irrigation water management in the golf course.