Don,
This statement....
"Ian,
My issue is not really with your specific situation as much as it is with the new generation that can only maintain a course if everything is "perfect"."
....is about as broad as it gets, its just as off based and curmudgeonly as Tim Copelands. Id love to hear some examples where everything is "perfect". Does "perfect" exist in this business? And what does generation have to do with anything? The same can be said for, (and this is why your statement is broad and off-based) the older generation.
This statement....
"There is no irrigation system or equipment fleet or anything else that can take the place of a super that can think. Tools are nice, but interchangeable. How you use them is what matters. Tim Copeland's rants are a good example. I have a decoder system, no satellites; my radio takes the place of 30 satellites. If I screw up it's me, not the tool."
....is absolutely true. However, if this is based off of your first statement your again off-base. The age or generation of a super is irrelevant. There are plenty of guys spanning all ages that think and dont think. Dont stereotype.
And finally this one....
"And my parting shot, who said anything about a 20 minute cycle? The longest cycle on my system is 3 minutes. And I knew exactly how much H2O I put out as not only did I base it on what the math said, I'm also a certified golf irrigation auditor and I used catch cans to measure my use and Brookside labs to work up the math on how much water I needed to use to flush my salts based on my water quality and soil infiltration.
If you don't think a green can be flushed with 2" of water then we have nothing more to talk about.
I'll just agree to disagree with you."
....20 minutes was merely an example. Flushing.....so many supers dont understand what the difference between a true flush and a leach is. A leach is only a larger volume of water moving salts off the plant and away from the roots. A flush not only achieves that but it cleanses through the entire greens profile and most importantly creates an immense suction drawing down a ton of oxygen.
Im confident talking about this stuff because Ive spent alot of time and money doing my own research on flushing and its effect on nutrients taking dozens and dozens of soil and water samples that were analized by Brookside and interpreted by Dr. Larry Stowell.
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,34030.0.htmlI cant get specific about what you do without knowing your greens profile, the volume your heads put out and the perc rate. But what I can get specific about is that if after putting the 2" down and you dont have a full pipes worth of water instantly surging out of the drain outlet, you havent accomplished a true flush. And if you are using the full circles around the green, youre spending double the time and water to do it.