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75 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, August 28, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend July 23, 2004 RVCC approves funds for state-of-art irrigation By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune When you can control it, water is a good for a golf course. But when breaks in irrigation lines flood parts of the course, rendering areas unplayable and requiring many hours of expensive repair, that’s not good. Doug Mohler, who has been greens superintendent at Rogue Valley Country Club since March 1, and his staff have had to fix nearly 50 breaks in the 27-hole facility’s antiquated and deteriorating system. "Usually," said Mohler, "if you’ve had one or two breaks in a year, that’s a bad year." RVCC members agreed with that sentiment in a vote Wednesday night, overwhelmingly approving a $3.4 million plan for a state-of-the-art, computerized irrigation system and maintenance facility improvements. Advertisement "This has been a weakness of our facility," said Hugh Graham, general manager of the club. The five- to six-month irrigation project, which accounts for $3 million and is to start in mid-November, will include the creation of a pond and relining the existing pond east of the fifth hole on the inside nine. The proposed pond would be 3.4 acres, hold about 10 million gallons of water and provide insurance for when service from Medford Irrigation District is interrupted. It would be between the third and seventh holes, but its configuration is yet to be determined. Graham, Mohler, head pro Jim Wise and the club’s board of directors have been stumping for the improvements for months — placing informational boards around the course and clubhouse, leaving literature in strategic spots, holding meetings, etc. And while the turnout Wednesday was "average," said Graham, the results were not. There were 298 on-site and absentee votes cast — out of 574 eligible golf members — and 256 of them were ‘yes,’ for 86-percent approval. "In a club environment," said Graham, who was confident the members would go along, "you’d like to have 60 percent of the vote if you’re going to go forward on an issue." A major selling point, apart from putting the bloom back on the venerable course, was that members won’t see a change in their financial obligation for at least five years and it will increase only minimally thereafter. Monthly assessment payments for the clubhouse built in 1995 are $39 per month for golf members and $15 for social members. Under the new plan, the club has locked in a $5.2 million loan amortized over 25 years. After $1.8 million is used to pay off the current clubhouse mortgage, the remainder will go to the new projects. The original irrigation plans, drawn up in 1986, weren’t designed for full coverage of the golf course. Many sprinklers have since been added, but because pump capacity and pipe sizes were not changed, stress on the system has led to frequent breaks. Further, it originally took nine hours to water the course. Now it takes 12 to 13. The new system, to be designed by Bryant Taylor Gordon Golf, will require an eight-hour watering window and will reduce the number of hand waterers Mohler uses from eight to three. That’ll leave more hours and more bodies to tend to manicuring duties. The highlights of the system are: Wall-to-wall computerized irrigation; New pump station, intake pipe and wet well, proper size and strength piping and sprinklers; Individual controls at the greens, tees and approaches; Dual sprinklers for the fairways and rough; Mist sprinklers for mounds near greens and fairways. In all, there will be more than 220,000 feet of pipe, 1.8 million feet of wiring to control power and more than 3,000 irrigation heads. "There will be a small learning curve when we start the system while we’re getting it tuned properly to our region," said Mohler. However, there will always be 18 holes open, he said. The system will allow for consistent watering, which is expected to lead to consistent playing conditions year-round. "Ultimately," said Mohler, "our goal is to have the best possible turf quality for entire golf course, not only on the tees and greens and but in the rough also." The pipe and wire are expected to last 40 years, while the sprinklers, computers and controllers should last 25 years. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities