Water in the Ditch
Gravitational groundwater that is. Yes, all water is not created equally. It can originate from all kinds of sources, and mostly when you least expect it. XGD Projects Manager took this shot last weekend from the Knollwood Club above Chicago in Lake Forest,IL:
This gorgeous facility is built on well over 200 acres in 1924 and designed by the world famous firm of Colt and Alison. It was renovated in 1973 by Lawrence Packard, before Keith Foster and TDIGolf completed a major bunker restoration a few years ago. One of the greenpad expansions is draining poorly as well, so that is in our scope this time as well as a complete green and the putting green shown above.
The property at Knollwood has gentle movement and rolls, and as such is prone to high water table conditions throughout the property, but when these types of high groundwater table conditions persist in a greens cavity, that is when XGD is called in to review if our internal subsurface greens drainage system might be the answer to the above mentioned issues. Many clubs across the continent are experiencing drainage issues in places they have never seen them before. After 2 years of above average rainfall events in many locales, groundwater problems will rear their ugly head and force clubs to review their issues with industry professionals like XGD Systems.
In closing, the picture above always re-enforces in my mind the root cause of most all drainage problems: high groundwater table issues, not the volume of the water Mother Nature is raining down on us, but more importantly, the groundwater pressure all of the rainfall creates. After all, that water has to percolate in to the ground somewhere, and that being the case, in these saturated conditions, may “percolate” to the surface in some undesirable locations, such as the putting green above.
Matt and his two crews are all about Chicagoland this fall, so reach out to us if you might want to view a patient “under the knife”, or view several of our other crews stretching from the midwest to the northeast.
Bye for now, Poor Old Dirt & Grass Farmer
