Yesterday, November 10, we started and finished winterizing the course's irrigation system. Several steps are taken to complete this task. First, as much water as possible is drained from the system through the pumphouse that sits on the lake below 16 tee. With an elevation change of approximately 100' from our pumphouse to 10 tee, gravity provides a nice little assist to the process. During this draining, the pressure in the system drops from 140 p.s.i. to zero.
Next, a large air compressor is hooked into the irrigation system near the pumphouse, and once air starts to fill the system, we manually remove as much water as possible from the low points on the course, such as 3 and 6 green. Once the air compressor has built up approximately 70 p.s.i. of pressure, we begin turning on each sprinkler until it no longer shoots a solid stream of water. We cycle through each sprinkler on an individual satellite twice and move to the next satellite, and once we get through all 18 satellites, the process is repeated once more. In the end, we are left with an irrigation system that is as dry as it can reasonably be. If we didn't winterize properly, the water in the system would freeze, expand, and crack the irrigation pipes that circumnavigate the course.
Yesterday, we were also able to remove the plastic intake pipes that extend into Lake Mendota. These pipes connect to the much heavier cast-iron pipes that connect directly to the pumphouse. Next Monday, we will be removing the cast-iron pipes as was detailed in a previous post.
Please note that the on-course restrooms also had to be winterized and are no longer open. The extended forecast is calling for much more seasonable weather, so I hope that you were able to take advantage of this week's pleasant weather.
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