Irrigation Source

Members and guests see the pond off the 4th fairway as a variety of things.  An appeasing landscape fixture, a reminder to hit that second shot cleanly, a hotbed for wildlife gatherings.  To the superintendent and crew, it serves another vital function.  Our irrigation system draws all of its thousands of gallons of water from the pond.  Besides communication, irrigation is the most important tool a turf manager possesses. 
On an average night watering over 200,000 gallons of water are applied to the course.  The irrigation pond holds almost 3,000,000 gallons of water and if we only watered 15 times during the entire season, that amount would be sufficient.  Obviously that is not the case and the pond needs to be refilled.  We are lucky enough at MCC to have access to aquifers that more than supply our irrigation needs.  When the pond reaches a certain level, a sensor triggers the three wells (reaching over 60 feet deep) to start refilling.
The on-site water source definitely has it's advantage in terms of not having to pay a water utility.  However, municipal water is extensively treated and cleaned.  Drawing directly from the ground will not filter out any impurities.  The majority of these are harmless to turf, there is only one chemical that causes concern.  Sodium bicarbonates destroy soil structure, leaving it compacted and inhospitable for grass.  The levels in our irrigation water are significant and after extended use of the irrigation system, the turf and soil show signs of declining health.  Besides timely rain events, there is another solution to this issue.  An acid injection system in the pump house would alleviate this problem, breaking up the bicarbonates before the water is applied to the course.  The quality of the irrigation water is always a high concern, so chemical applications made around the pond are conducted with the utmost caution, especially when applying herbicides. 
As mentioned before, the irrigation system applies 200,000 gallons of water during a nightly watering.  The ability to move that much water does not come cheaply and to decrease the costs of power to the pump house, MCC utilizes a variable frequency drive that controls the number of pumps running (three 60 horsepower pumps) to provide the bare minimum of horsepower required.  The new software for the irrigation computer shortens the water window (amount of time necessary to irrigate) as well. 
Recently, the motor and the well pump had to be replaced.  The wells were only out of commission for a couple days but the crew has noted a marked drop in water level.  A timely inspection and repair was conducted by a well drilling and installation company and the pumps are back up and running, returning 4 pond to it's original level.   
To provide tournament type conditions requires an extensive irrigation system and a comprehensive knowledge of moisture management.  The goal of Meadowbrook Country Club has always been to provide these conditions on a day to day basis, making irrigation a vital aspect of turfgrass management.   

Spring Fertilization

As of a couple weeks ago, the turfgrass in the fairways and rough has consumed all the nitrogen and other nutrients the crew applied last fall and the grass is hungry.  On Monday, May 7th, we contracted a fertilization company to apply product to our fairways in their entirety, and over 40 acres of rough.  With the heavy rate applied, the fertilizer should supply the turfgrass with sufficient nutrients into the mid-summer months. 

Normally a 3-4 day process, contracting this practice out saved the crew numerous man hours and some rather back-breaking labor (manually loading and unloading over 9 tons of fertilizer).  The rough received a separate fertilizer than the fairways.  To provide extended nitrogen, the rough was fertilized with a slow release product that will satisfy turf needs deep into summer.  The following slide show depicts the fertilizing process from the loading of material and equipment, to actual spreading of the fertilizer.