PUSHUP GREENS--preserving them with XGD

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

This is a fantastic old thread. If I read it at the time, I've since forgotten it.

As the Green chair at my club, I hope we will hear from more supers re: current developments in green drainage technology.

Bob

There's really nothing new in greens drainage. I'm not sure if PC drainage http://www.subairsystems.com/pcdrainage.html was discussed in the earlier threads. I have no experience with it so can't comment on it's effectiveness but I believe it is a more non disruptive method of drainage.
 

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

Interesting stuff, as was the earlier thread along a similar line.

A couple of questions if someone can help.

1) Does anyone know if XGD has been used in the UK?

2) I've heard of a method called I think, vertical drainage - where you drill down right through a push-up style clay-lined green with a 6 inch size bit. This is apparently done in a pre-determined spaced pattern all over the greens surface, maybe up to 100-300 times, and then the holes are lined and back-filled with a porous material. Has anyone heard of this or tried this approach and if so was it successful?

All the best

I'm not sure if XGD, the company, has done work in the UK but I believe some clubs there have used a similar method.

I have heard of a vertical drainage type system you describe (possibly in fairways/roughs) but don't know anyone who has done it, or for that matter, why they would do it on greens, as the disruption to play would be huge considering how long the holes would take to heal. 

Saying that, it is very similar to the drill and fill process which uses ~1" dia bits so the turf can heal reasonably quickly. Drill and fill works best if there is a free draining medium under the green soil or in addition to drainage like the XGD system as otherwise you run the potential of creating a bath, where the water will fill the hole but has no where to go.

[JSlonis]

It's funny that I saw this thread bumped back today.  I am the Green Chairman of my club (Tavistock CC, Haddonfield, NJ)  and was just out this morning to watch the crew from XGD start the drainage work on our 9th and 18th greens.  These greens were the only two non USGA spec greens on the course that didn't have the XGD system installed and even though they sit in a well drained part of our course, they were always the last two greens to drain after a rain storm.

It really is an excellent process and considering the amount of work that they do, there is almost no issue with playability once the process is completed.  The main drain trench was already complete when I arrived and they were beginning the process if installing the drainage pipe and getting ready to dig the offshoots of the main.  We've had great success at our club with this system and it'll be nice to have every green done now. It'll likely be a 3 to 3.5 day project at TCC. Our 18th green is really quite large which added some extra time to the job. 

[Michael Vogt, CGCS, CGIA]

He reason the XDG works is illustrated best in this old soils video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWwtDKT6NAw

I may be dating myself.

It's just another tool in the superintendents box.

[Lyne Morrison]

Gentlemen,

I would apreciate it if someone could assist me with broad costs per green for xgd installation.

Thanks for you feedback.

Lyne

[Steven Blake]

Lynn,

Cost is directly attributed to the square footage of the putting surface.  Also lack of drainage in close proximity will raise the price a bit so they can tie the greens drainage to existing drainage so that water can move underground. 

That being said, the system works brilliantly! We installed XGD on two of our worst draining greens a couple of years ago and it has completely changed the overall health of those greens.  Not only has health been influenced but the playing characteristics have improved as well because we can manage these greens like the others now where in the past we could not.  We plan to do some more XGD work in the near future ... that's for sure!

On a side note I have observed that the greens with XGD have warmer soil temperatures in the spring and cooler soil temperatures in the summer.  So greens rebound coming out of winter much faster on these two greens and are not as stressed in the summer because of cooler soils. Its about a 4-8 degree difference which is a big deal in turf management in my humble opinion. So other than strictly drainage it has other benefits.

I hope this helps.

Steve Blake
Golf Course Superintendent
Ridgeway Country Club