#5 Green Irrigation Head Re-location

Over time, there are many changes that happen to a golf course. Some are influenced by human, and some happen naturally. This issue we were having on #5 is mainly human influenced. Every green at the Preserve has 4-6 sets of irrigation heads that cover either the putting green surface, or the surrounding approach and rough. These heads usually sit about 1-2 feet away from the first cut in the collar or approach. A particular set of irrigation heads on #5 have been inching their way into the putting green surface for a while and have almost completely made their way on to the green. This is due to the repetitive slight scalp of the collar during clean-up pass mowing. The clean up pass continued to widen until the heads were on the green. There are 2 good ways to fix this problem. The first is to let the grass grow back by burning in a narrower clean up pass, keeping the greens mower about 1-2 feet away from the irrigation heads. The second is to move the irrigation heads 1-2 feet away from the current clean up pass line. This method is a quicker fix, and that is why we chose to use this method.

This project started like most irrigation projects. The sod that surrounded the heads was removed.









The sand/soil that surrounded each head was cleared away so that the head casing and swing joints were exposed.



























As seen in the picture above, each individual head is connected by individual lateral lines. This made things a bit more difficult to adjust. Knowing that each head had to come back 1-2 feet, we decided to attach a 45 degree fitting where the swing joint began. This moved each head diagonally into the collar. From this fitting we glued on the beginning of the swing joint. and screwed on each head. We also decided to add an additional quick coupler. We tapped into the lateral that fed the irrigation head supplying water to the collar.









We then leveled each head so that it was flush with the playing surface and began to backfill with dirt. Here you can see it being compacted.









Anytime you are dealing with a repair project surrounding a putting green, you have to be very detail oriented. The compacting and leveling of the heads and dirt surrounding the heads was very meticulous.









Once everything was level, we put the sod back into place, and tamped the area to ensure consistent ground height and firmness.


















After 3 days, it was difficult to see the lines where we had cut the sod. This meant that the project was a success.