What Happens When Things Go Wrong!

A beautiful Tuesday morning turned into a nightmare as an irrigation line in front of 4 green exploded 30 minutes before the start of an event. 

The force and amount of water caused bubbling of the turf.  Some water leaked onto the green as well. 

After turning off the water and letting the area dry for a couple hours, it was time to dig up near the head and see what  happened.   A coupling had pulled away from a 2"connecting pipe and began pumping 450 gallons a minute under the turf.

After reattaching new pipes and fittings, we filled in the hole with dry soil and packed it tightly.  Luckily we were able to re-use the existing sod.  Laying bentgrass sod can be very difficult, as it must be perfectly level to prevent scalping from the mowers.  Next, since the area was muddy from digging and the soil that had bubbled out, we took a hose and washed off the silt.  

It is important to remove the silt and soil from the grass blades as it can suffocate the plant.

The area was extremely wet from the cleaning process so we brought out our aerifier to create channels  allowing oxygen into the holes and expedite the drying process. 

This machine pokes little holes that are barely noticeable and will not affect play.  This will help dry out the area to get into playing shape faster.

After poking holes, the area was rolled several times.  The force of the water caused the turf to raise and sink in some areas.  Rolling will help level out the undulations and create a smooth approach.

Rolling the approach to smooth out the turf.

This will take a couple days to look normal again.  For the time being, we please ask that you stay off this area and refrain from walking through it if at all possible  It is marked as "ground under repair" and you may take a free drop.