Winter Preventive Maintenance Practices for Golf Course Irrigation Systems

Exercising mainline valves should be done at least once per year as part of a good preventive maintenance program for your golf course irrigation system.

Winter is an excellent time to get caught up on necessary projects as other tasks on your golf course slow down. A critical area that should not be overlooked is maintenance of the golf course irrigation system.

Here are six important activities to include on your winter project list that will help make sure that your irrigation system is ready to go in the spring:

• Exercise all mainline valves to prevent sticking open or closed.
• Clean the pumps, pump house, and irrigation parts room; perform annual (semi-annual) maintenance on the pumps.
• Inventory irrigation parts, supplies, pipe, repair couplings, and place an order for needed items.
• Test and certify backflow prevention devices and air-release valves.
• Review irrigation programs in the central computer. Delete unnecessary programs, and perform a system back-up on an external device.
• Raise and level sprinklers, valve boxes, and quick couplers.

For a more complete list of preventive maintenance activities, review the following article by the USGA Green Section: Developing a Preventive Maintenance Checklist for Your Golf Course Irrigation System - USGA.