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What will a Master Drainage Plan do for you?

Dennis Hurley January 25, 2011September 6, 2024PRODUCT, PROJECTS, TECHNICALconsultation, consulting, drainage plan, drainage project, master drainage plan, planning, professional

A master drainage plan can give you, the superintendent, a way to clearly present the status of your drainage problem to your committee or owner. Pat O’Brien wrote an article in the September, 2005 issue of the USGA Greens Section Record regarding the importance of starting a drainage project with a plan.

Trey Cutshall, Superintendent at The Farm Golf Club, says “Until we did the drainage plan with TDA, we didn’t have a real grasp on the scope of the project. By being involved during the planning process, I knew that the areas that I felt were important were being included, and I had a much better understanding of what the options were in each area. Once we did …

This one mistake can destroy your drainage system

Dennis Hurley January 9, 2011September 6, 2024TECHNICAL

Not a month goes by at TDA that we don’t talk with a golf course that has incurred major damage to their existing drainage system as the result of having had an irrigation system installed with a vibratory plow. The reasoning is always the same. “The cost difference to trench it in wasn’t worth it. Besides, the contractor told me that they do it all of the time and it isn’t a problem.”

Cutting a drainage line while installing an irrigation system isn’t like cutting an irrigation line when you install drainage. You may not know a drainage line has been cut for several seasons. Even rains right after the irrigation project is completed might not tell you all of …

Do geotextiles clog up?

Dennis Hurley October 30, 2010September 6, 2024TECHNICALclog, farbric, geotextile, socked pipe

The most common technical question we are asked “Doesn’t the fabric around the drain clog up?”

The answer takes more than a simple “no” or “yes.”

Most of the misunderstanding about geotextiles comes from their original introduction into the golf course industry when they were first used as “socked pipe.” The industry installed the “socked pipe” into a bed of gravel. When failed systems were removed from the ground it was noticed that clay and silts had accumulated around the sock and the sock was blamed for the drainage failure.

In reality, the gravel had failed because it was not sized properly for the native soils. If the gravel had been the proper backfill the fines would have never reached …

Non-Breathable Greens Covers Offer Best Choice In Certain Areas

Dennis Hurley July 9, 2010September 6, 2024CUSTOMER PROFILE, PRODUCT

Non-Breathable Greens Covers Offer Best Choice In Certain Areas

Oak Hills CC in San Antonio has hosted 24 PGA Tour events. It currently is home to the SBC Championship, a premier Champion’s Tour event.

Craig Felton, CGCS, golf course superintendent at Oak Hills since 2004, has 20 years of experience using greens’ covers to protect Bermuda grass greens in the south. Craig has always turned to TDA to manufacture his covers because of the wide variety of choices that they offer. Craig first worked with TDA when he was an assistant at River Oaks CC in Houston, TX. “After the freeze of ’89, we purchased plastic non breathable covers from TDA,” Craig explains. “In this part of the country, I …

Palm Beach CC installs new Turf Drain Siphon System during Renovation

Dennis Hurley July 9, 2010October 1, 2024CUSTOMER PROFILE, PROJECTS

Matt Tacilauskas, the new superintendent at Palm Beach C.C., picked up where Paul Crawford left off. Paul Crawford, who retired after almost 30 years at Palm Beach C.C., had installed some of the first siphons in the country with TDA in 1997.

The Turf Drain Siphon System is the first system that allows you to install drainage without grading the pipe. Siphons are ideal for coastal properties such as Palm Beach C.C., which sits on some of the most exclusive seaside property in the country.

Matt, who originally hails from Australia, is looking forward to a long tenure at the club. Matt was familiar with the Turf Drain Siphon System from his days on the Carolina coast. He also …

Drainage Project: Rent a Superintendent

Dennis Hurley July 9, 2010September 6, 2024PRODUCT, PROJECTSdrainage project, experienced job superintendent, in-house project, rent a superintendent

Do you have a drainage project that you don’t feel is large enough to bring in an outside contractor, but you would like some expertise to assist you with an in-house project?

Consider our “Rent a Superintendent” program. We are working with our authorized contractors to supply experienced job superintendents to clubs to assist with in-house drainage projects.

These superintendents have a long history of installing systems designed by Turf Drainage Co. of America. They typically have overseen and coordinated on drainage projects that have involved the installation of hundreds of thousands of feet of drainage. The superintendent will come in and work with your crew in any manner that you wish. They will train your crew on the proper …

The Farm Golf Club, Rocky Face, GA

Dennis Hurley January 24, 2010September 6, 2024CUSTOMER PROFILE, PROJECTS

East Coast Project: The Farm Golf Club

The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, GA sits on one of the most spectacular properties anywhere. The Farm was designed by Tom Fazio in 1988, and hosted the US Senior Amateur in 2005. Trey Cutshall worked with Dennis Hurley from TDA on a Master Drainage Plan that details every area that affects playability or maintenance. Once the planning was completed, the club quickly began the construction phase which will last approximately 6 months. The weather has been tough during the first month, dumping over 6 inches of rain and 3″ of snow on the contractor, Siphon Systems, Inc.

If there is any contractor in the country that can handle these conditions, it …

North Ridge Country Club – Greens Drainage Installation

Dennis Hurley January 9, 2010September 6, 2024CUSTOMER PROFILE, PROJECTS

When certified golf course superintendent Larry Johnson was fighting soft and soggy conditions on two of his cool season greens in Sacramento, California, he chose Turf Drainage Co. of America to solve his problem. Larry was familiar with TDA through the extensive work previously performed in his fairways, so he felt confident with proceeding to drain his two worst greens.

The installation contractor, Turf Drainage Co. of the West, mobilized a crew out of the Bay Area, and completed the installation on both of the greens in less than one week. Following the standards and methods TDA has established for greens’ installations, the turf was playable the day after the work was completed.

Prior to commencing any excavation, each …

East Lake Golf Club Shines during 2009 Tour Championship Despite Record Rainfalls

Dennis Hurley January 9, 2010September 6, 2024CUSTOMER PROFILE

Ralph Kepple, CGCS at East Lake Golf Club, talks about the amazing performance of the drainage system during the 2009 Tour Championship. The city of Atlanta experienced severe flooding in the week prior to the tournament, and East Lake Golf Club received over 12″ of rain. Ralph details how, in the face of these conditions, not only was the tour able to play the ball down all four days of the tournament, but how he only had to skip mowing one day!

Ralph was nominated for TurfNet’s Superintendent of the Year in 2007, and has been at East Lake since 1992. He has been involved in a major renovation by Rees Jones in 1994, a greens conversion and bunker …

The Turf Drain Siphon System™ is the first drainage system where you can install drainage without the need to grade pipe. Piping can go over mounding or into an ungraded trench.It has application in flat coastal properties where there is a need to take the water a long distance with little elevation change.

Any property where grading pipe may be difficult, such as rocky property or a course with lots of underground obstructions, can benefit from a Turf Drain Siphon System™.