from the FAIRWAYS

by Matt Sapochak, Golf Course Superintendent

Irrigation System Updates

When talking to private club members, the most common golf course priorities are greens quality, fairways, and in Hampton Hall’s case, drainage.

Nothing will give you a quality golf course without a good irrigation system. Hampton Hall’s irrigation system will turn 20 years old this summer and is still state-of-the-art, given its individual irrigation head control, computerized central irrigation control system, ability to apply .16 of an inch of water to the golf course in 9 hours, and central controls that can be accessed remotely along with a few other minor features. Our current system has all these features, but some of the components are getting old. Irrigation heads and satellite boxes, for example, require significantly more maintenance and parts replacement than just four years ago.

At the heart of the irrigation system is the pump station. Your General Manager and Golf Board have approved necessary upgrades to our variable speed pump station over the past several years. Upgrades consisted of a new variable speed computer drive, control panel, new software and the latest addition is a vertical turbine pump.

MEN’S MEMBER MEMBER

Due to the age of our three current pumps, it was time to start replacing them before they failed. Having a pump fail in the past was not a problem, since the typical turnaround time for a replacement was two to four weeks. However, the turnaround time today is three to six months depending on parts availability. I am currently working towards having the other two pumps removed and replaced by the beginning of summer 2024. Taking this action will ensure our irrigation system works at the optimum level required to maintain quality turf on the golf course that our members expect and enjoy.