Best Management Practices for Maryland Golf Courses

Figure 10. Pump station at Baltimore Country Club. Photo credit: Mark Jones.

Irrigation System Maintenance

Irrigation system maintenance on a golf course involves four major efforts: calibration and auditing, preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance, and record keeping. Personnel charged with maintaining a golf course irrigation system face numerous challenges. This is particularly true for courses with older or outdated equipment. Irrigation audits can be conducted to assess the system function, ensuring that the irrigation system works reliably and is cost effective. The Irrigation Association has published irrigation audit guidelines . Good system management starts with good preventive maintenance procedures and recordkeeping. Corrective maintenance is simply the act of fixing what is broken and may be as simple as cleaning a clogged orifice or as complex as a complete renovation of the irrigation system. As maintenance costs increase, an evaluation of whether a system renovation is needed should be conducted.

Best Management Practices

Calibration and Auditing

• Examine turf quality and plant health for indications of irrigation malfunction or the need for scheduling adjustments. • Evaluate pressure and flow to determine that the correct nozzles are being used and that the heads are performing according to the manufacturer’s specifications. • Visually inspect the entire system to identify necessary repairs or corrective actions and make repairs before carrying out other levels of evaluation. • Conduct an annual irrigation audit to facilitate a high-quality maintenance and scheduling program for the irrigation system.

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