The Flood Gates Are Open!!

The flood water on the 12th has created a massive concern, and has probably been one of the most difficult situations I have had to face in my short term as a HeadGreenkeeper. We have had meetings with the Highways Agency (because the main drain that was blocked actually comes in from the A519) and numerous contacts with our insurance company to try and get the issue resolved. All to
no avail unfortunately!! So, basically it was up to me and my team to come up with a plan!
I knew we needed an outlet for the water to go down which was proving very difficult to find. We knew we could dig a ditch with a fall but it would have had to go some 400 yards down into the stream to the right of the 12th which is a lot of digging, and a heck of a lot of spoil to move! We knew there must be an easier way!!

On Thursday last week we were digging about to try and find the main land drain which we knew ran 

Manhole found underneath path

parallel with the Bridal path that splits 12 and 14, when Simon luckily found a man hole cover buried underneath the path, which, when lifted, revealed a chamber with a large pipe at the bottom. The flow of water wasn't great so we put some drainage rods up there and we managed to find a blockage some 30metres up the pipe, this was then water jetted and unblocked by a drainage firm. The flow of water increased a little, however it still wasn't enough to quickly drain water from the pond that had formed, this is a very old section of pipe and has probably been infiltrated

Drainage ditch going in

by tree routes, as the blockage seemed to be in a copse of trees on the fence line. We decided it was best to bypass it and dig a new ditch alongside the fence line and then up toward the flood.

Finding the levels

The rest was rather simple but we had to make sure we were digging with a fall which is harder than it looks in all honesty! So a 'Dumpy level' was used in the process.

Away you go!

After a few hours we managed to reach the front of the flood and it started to flow away just as planned! 

Drain into 'Wetland' area

This has worked fantastically well, and if I'm being honest, probably better than what I first thought. We have also added another drain to help the right hand side (wetland) area to clear the flood from there too. 

Thursday Afternoon

As you can see by this picture the flood has gone by 3/4 the drain has been running for around 30 hours and its still going! There must have been a heck of a lot of water there! 

Moving forward

We need to allow everything to drain off, and dry out and then start to renovate the dead stagnant turf in the spring time. If readers would like me to blog about how we get the turf back then that's something that can be done. Who knows? You may be learn something you could bring into your own garden?

The spoil that has been removed from the ditch and dumped on the side will also need to dry out. This could be moved further up to the flooded area, and used to contain any more flood water to the right hand side wetland area. However, before we do this we need to decide on weather we are going to make a feature out of the open ditch or put some pipe in and fill it in.

Other news

I know we have a few trees down at the moment. I am waiting for the weather to turn, and the ground to get frozen before we take a tractor and trailer out there to collect the wood. At the minute it is too wet, and would make a lot of mess.

Some of you would have noticed that some tree copses have been cleared through, with the largest change being the woodland behind the 6th green and to the right of the 14th tee. The idea is to clear them enough to get the rough mower in their and keep them clear of long grass, bramble and Himalayan Balsam. We have had the digger in the 14th to scrape the surface clear, however the job has had to stop because of the wet ground conditions at the moment. 

The course

Its great to be able to keep the course open for as long as we have this without a doubt is because of the drainage work that was done to all greens almost 12months ago now for those who are interested THIS is what we did. With the greens being reasonably firm for the time of year. Other areas are getting wetter and wetter however, and there will become a point in the not too distant future (if this rain carries on) that we will have to close from time to time. More rope will be going out in certain areas just to help to direct traffic around the muddier areas soon. Please help us to help you by carrying your bag if you are able to do so, and repair all divots and pitch marks, but above all enjoy your golf!!
Thanks
Leigh