12 Drainage

Yesterday we started a new drainage project on the right side of #12 near the fence and in the fairway.  It's a little different than the normal drainage projects we do because the water isn't actually going to drain anywhere.  This is an area that is essentially a bathtub and fills up with over a foot of water when we get heavy rainfall.  Unfortunately the nearest place that we can move the water to is the creek which is a few hundred yards away, so that water has to be pumped off the course.  

To make this pumping process easier, we dug a big pit that we can insert the suction hose of the pump into instead of digging a hole in the rough.  In the pit we installed a sump pump liner and surrounded it with gravel so that small amounts of rain can filter out of the pit and into the ground.

The hole with the sump pump liner.  The water in the pit is all ground water that filled the hole after it was dug.

Leading away from the pit we also trenched a drainline to the fairway so that the area in the fairway that holds water would also be pumped down when the pit is pumped out.  We used to have to squee-gee all the water to the low area.  There will also be a drainline that goes to another area in the rough that holds water.

After the pipe was laid in the ground, the soil and sod was put back over the top of the new line.  The fairway drain is visible in the picture.

The new sump pit.