Good Information On Golf Course Irrigation

By Timothy Patterson


Irrigation is a method applied in agriculture to supply plants with water at specified intervals. Irrigation is not only applied to plants. In some cases, the water is applied to bare land to achieve different purposes. Irrigation in general has several different purposes. The purpose of irrigating a piece of land varies from one place to another. The purpose of golf course irrigation is usually to maintain the landscape.

Irrigation finds several other uses apart from landscape maintenance. For instance, it is used in supporting the growth of agricultural crops and revegetating disturbed soils during dry seasons. In crop production, people also irrigate their lands to protect plants from frost, prevent soil from consolidating, and suppressing weed growth. When agriculture is fully dependent on rain water without the need to irrigate, it is called dry land or rain-fed farming.

Systems used for irrigating land are also used in mining, dust suppression, and disposal of sewage. In most courses, irrigating is studied in combination with drainage. Drainage refers to the artificial or natural removal of sub-surface or surface water from a place. There is increased interest in these activities on a global scale, especially in places where adverse weather conditions make it impossible to grow crops under natural conditions.

The use of artificial system to support agriculture has been in existence for a very long time. Perennial irrigating started in Mesopotamia, while basin irrigating has its roots in Ancient Egypt. In pre-Columbian America, there is evidence of people using terrace irrigating systems. In general, the activity of irrigating crops has been in existence for over 5000 years now. Ancient people used very basic methods to apply water, but a lot of evolution has occurred in the industry, leading to introduction of some very sophisticated systems.

Today, several, better methods of irrigating have come up. These methods are placed into two broad categories, that is, surface and sub-surface irrigating methods. Surface irrigating methods involve moving water through above-the-ground systems such as furrows, level basins, artificial systems, and floods to the target ground. Once applied, the water is absorbed by the soil. Sprinkler irrigating systems and drip irrigating systems are common example of surface irrigating.

In localized irrigation systems, a network of pipes is used to release water at specific points on the land. Water distribution is done in pre-determined patterns at low pressure. Small amounts of water are emitted at the foot of the plant. Spray systems, bubbler irrigation systems, drip system systems, and micro-sprinkler systems are the main examples of localized irrigating systems.

The use of sprinkler systems is the most common commonly used method in watering golf courses. In sprinkler systems, overhead, high pressure sprinkler guns are used to distribute water from central locations in the courses. Water is fed to the guns through pipes, which connect to the main water supply on the facility.

In some models, the guns revolve as they release water on the landscape. A lot of sophistication has been incorporated into modern models that one does not need to be around for them to irrigate a place. The timing can be automated so that they systems go on by themselves and when a given period has elapsed, they go off again and return to the ground below.




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