ABSTRACT
Soil conditioning and/or artificial drainage offers a cost-effective solution to many poorly drained golf greens, tees and fairways.
A scientific analysis of the site and soil profile is a pre-requisite with any drainage improvement programme.
Measuring the permeability of soil profile horizons allows the depth to and thickness of any barrier layer to be identified.
A national study into the permeability of soil profiles carried by agronomists of the NZ Turf Culture Institute provided an insight to the drainage characteristics of golf greens. Permeability measurements illustrated that drainage performance is site specific, depending on properties such as construction type, nature of the sand used and age of green.
The cultivation equipment selected to rectify a drainage problem must also be site specific. A cultivation trial carried out on a fine sandy loam practice golf green showed significant, relatively long term improvement in root zone permeability using the HydroJect and Verti-drain.
