The Nozzle Dance

Nozzles being setup in the shop

I've seen this at most the courses I've worked at.  The staff does its best to improve the uniformity of the irrigation system by switching out nozzles in the sprinkler heads.  The original combination is not as effective as desired, so another set of nozzles is used, and another, and another.  Pretty soon, nozzles that don't match up or from different manufacturers are paired together.  It becomes a free for all because no set of nozzles really works all that well.

An irrigation system should put out water as efficiently as rain, right?  Each sprinkler head costs around $150 and a modern irrigation system could push towards $2 million.  So that kind of investment must translate to perfect applications of water, so you'd think.  The reality is, even the best irrigation system is only batting 85% efficiency and that is very rare.

There are many ways we can improve the distribution efficiency of our irrigation system and we'll start with the most simple and rapid improvement.  We've already determined the most effective nozzles for our sprinkler heads, our pressure, and our spacing.  We've also determined the second most effective nozzles so we can use what we have on hand.

Here is a good before/after example of a nozzle change.  This is taken about 50 yards into the fairway on #15.  The photo on the right is not perfect, but a huge improvement and perhaps the variation in color and density will disappear over time.  This was taken only 2 weeks apart in late September.

So this is the start, but there is much more to do.  This winter we will begin the task of raising many, many sprinkler heads which have sunk below the surface of the fairway.  We need all the heads to have the proper nozzles, the proper angel (flat), and the correct height.  We are also trimming, not removing, trees that block irrigation and aerifying many locations to improve water infiltration.  Plenty to do, and hopefully, plenty of success to show from our efforts.