IE64041B1 - A construction of a green on a golf course - Google Patents

Abstract

A construction of a green for a golf course which green has a natural grass cover (16) on a layer (17, 18) of sand or a sand/soil and/or peat mixture supported on a layer (19) of pea pebble laid on a water impervious base foundation of puddle clay (20). A plurality of drainage pipes are embedded in the pea pebble layer (19) intermediate the depth of the layer. Each drainage pipe has an outlet member which may be adjusted to determine the level of retained water in the foundation of the green. A no fine concrete layer may be interposed between the pea pebble layer (19) and the base layer of puddle clay (20).

Description

A CONSTRUCTION OF A GREEN ON A GOLF COURSE This invention is concerned with a playing surface comprising natural grass on a growing medium under which is a layer of pieces of hard material, under which is a substantially water-impervious layer, there being drainage pipes between the growing medium and the substantially water-impervious layer, construction being such that when the water level above the water-impervious layer exceeds a critical height, water runs out of the drainage pip°s and away.

European Patent Specification No. 0018234, for example, discloses such a construction in which a perforated tube extends upwardly through the substantially impervious layer from a pipe beneath that layer, which pipe leads to a chamber containing a float which electrically or mechanically causes a valve to open to release water from the drainage pipe when the water level is above a desired height.

It is an object of the invention to provide a more simple arrangement in which, moreover, the critical water level height at which the water runs out of the drainage pipe, is adjustable.

According to the present invention, there is provided a playing surface comprising natural grass on a foundation consisting of top layer which is find sand or a mixture of fine sand, soil and peat moss or a mixture of any two of fine sand, soil and peat moss, a second layer beneath the top layer and being coarse sand or coarse sand mixed with soil, a third layer beneath the second layer and being pea pebble or gravel or other small pieces of stone and a fourth layer beneaidi -the third layer and being substantially water-impervious, there being a plurality of spaced apart-drainage pipes, between'the first and fourth layers, each drainage pipe having an outlet pipe connected to one end of it, the outlet pipe having a rising part lying in a drainage channel and being such that by performing a manual operation at the outlet pipe one can control the height to which the water level above the fourth layer must rise for water to flow out of the outlet pipe into the drainage channel.

In one example according to the invention, each outlet pipe has one end portion substantially hori zontal, which end portion is connected to the associated drainage pipe, and has its opposite end portion substantially at right angles to said one end portion, the outlet pipe being open at both ends and im perforate between the ends and being rotatable about the axis of said one end portion to alter the extent to which said opposite end portion is higher than said one end portion.

Another example according to the invention, each outlet pipe has one end portion substantially hori zontal, which end portion is fixed to the associated drainage pipe, and has its opposite end portion substan tially vertical and at a fixed distance higher than said one end portion, the rising part of the outlet pipe being formed with at least two holes at differing heights and there being at least one plug which can close the lowest hole or holes.

Preferably the substantially water impervious fourth layer is a layer of puddle clay which in addition to forming the base of the foundation is extended and contoured upward around the edges of the playing surface to form a side wall of the foundation. In place of puddle clay a water impervious plastics material may be used.

The Invention will be understood from the fol lowing description of an embodiment thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic top plan view of a golf green according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section through the green; Fig. 3 is a detailed vertical cross-sectional view showing an outlet pipe in a drainage channel; Fig. 4 is an end view of the outlet pipe in the drainage channel; Fig. 5 is a vertical section through a portion of another golf green illustrating the position of a drainage pipe; and Figs. 6 and 7 are vertical sections through portions of third and fourth golf greens.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings the green 10 illustrated is a two-tier green consisting of a lower level 11 and an up per level 12. Also illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings is the greenside fairway 13 and conventional greenside bunkers 14 and 15.

The green 10 comprises a natural grass cover 5 16rgrown on a 2 inch (5.8 cms) first layer-3 7 of mixed fine sand, soil and peat moss or a mixture of any two of these or fine sand alone. The first layer 17 is laid on a second layer 18 which is of coarse sand or a mixture of coarse sand and soil to a depth of 9 inches (22.8 cms). The second layer 18 is itself laid on a 4 inch (10.16 cms) layer 19 of pea pebble, gravel or other small pieces of stone which is laid on a water-impervious layer 20 of puddle clay or plastics material. The layer 20 is used first as a base for the layers 17, 18, and 19 and is contoured upward to form a side wall 20a of the foundation comprising the layers 17 to 20.

Two 4 inch (10 cms) diameter perforated land drainage pipes 21 and 22 spaced-apart 15 feet (457 cms) are embedded in the green foundation between the first and fourth layers 19 and 20, in fact in the third layer 19, one end 23 of each pipe 21, 22 being connected to a non-perforated pipe outlet 24. The pipe outlet 24 com25 prises a connection pipe 26 having one end fixed to the pipe 21 or 22 and the other end pivotally connected to a substantially horizontal end portion of an arcuate outlet pipe 27. The outlet pipe 27 lies in a greenside drainage channel 25. In use, rain water falling onto the green, and/or water poured on to the green in a predetermined manner through a conventional automatic water sprinkler system or through a valve system feeding hand held hoses, percolates down through the various layers of green foundation and drains into the 3S drainage pipes 21 and 22. The pipes 21 and 22 feed the water into the drainage channels 25 through the pipe outlets 24. The drainage channels 25 feed the water away from the green area.

The pivotally mounted arcuate outlet pipes 27 5 may be used to determine the water table level in the green foundation - bearing in mind that the water-imper vious layer 20 and side wall 20& trap the water by rotating the outlet pipe 27 on the connection pipe 26. If the outlet pipe 27 has the position shown in Fig. 3 with outlet 27fi at its high point, the water level will be at its high point. If the pipe 27 is rotated from the solid line position to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4, then the outlet 27a is at a lower point and the water table level in the green foundation will also be lowered. By rotating the pipe 27 one is able therefore to effectively control the water table level in the green to ensure that the correct water feed to the grass roots is maintained irrespective of varying climatic conditions.

As an alternative to the use of the pivotally-mounted arcuate pipes 27 one may employ similarly shaped fixed arcuate pipes having a series (at least two) of vertically aligned spaced-apart holes on the vertical portion of the arcuate pipe in its in use position. A series of complementary plugs are provided for the series of holes and by withdrawing a specific plug to open one of the series of spaced apart holes one determines the l.evel of the water to be retained in the green foundation.

The pivotally mounted arcuate pipe 27 or the fixed arcuate pipe with holes and plugs as described above is a feature of the examples described below with reference to Figs. 5 to 7.

Referring to Fig. 5 the drainage pipe 21 is located in the green foundation intermediate the top and the bottom of the third layer 19 of pea pebble gravel or other small pieces of stone. The location of the drainage pipe.21 in this intermediate position is considered important in that any dirt or foreign matter percolating down through the green foundation will in general by-pass the drainage pipe 21 and fall to the bottom of the layer 19. The conventional position for a drainage pipe is at the bottom of the conventional gravel layer and this often results in dirt and foreign matter entering the drainage pipe at that level to in due time build up to cause a blockage of the drainage pipe. In the green foundation illustrated in Fig. 5 the grass 16 is shown on a rootzone material 17 and 18 of a fine sand/peat mixture, which is laid on a coarse sand/soil mixture which is in turn laid on a blinding layer 28 of coarse sand which in turn is laid on a layer 19 of pea pebble or gravel laid on the water impervious layer 20 of puddle clay.

Fig. 6 shows a golf green having layers 16, 17/18, 28 and 19 as described in relation to Fig. 5.

The layer 19 of pea pebble, gravel or other small pieces of stone is in this instance laid on a three-inch (76 mm) layer 30 of no-fines concrete, being a layer of pea pebble mixed with cement approximately in the ratio of ten to one and with the layer 30 of no-fines concrete is laid on a water impervious layer or base 20 of dried puddle clay, λ pipe support 31 is placed on the no-fines concrete layer 30 to project into the layer 19 so as to locate and support the drainage pipe 21 in the desired position. Over the run of the drainage pipe 21 a plurality of spaced apart pipe supports 31 are placed on the no-fines concrete layer 30. A three feet (90cm) spacing between the pipe supports 31 would be suitable.

Fig. 7 shows a golf green according to the present invention including a rootzone 17/18 of a fine sand and peat mixture to a depth of 12 inches (30.48 cms) laid on a 2 inch (5.08 cms) layer 28 of coarse sand which in turn is laid upon a layer 19 of fine pea pebble to a depth of 4 inches (10.16 cms). The layer 19 is in turn laid on a layer 19ji of a coarse pea pebble which houses a drainage pipe 21 mounted on a pipe support 31 which is itself mounted on 3 inch (7.62 cms) layer of no-fines concrete 30 beneath the layer 19& of coarse pea pebble. The line between the coarse pea pebble layer 19& and the layer of no-fines concrete 30 may be a thin water-impervious layer of puddle clay 30^.

In this embodiment the sides of the foundation have a concrete surround 42 which has mounted therein a vertical thin sheet of plastics 43 which extends upward to about 1 inch (2.54 cms) of the top surface 16 of the green. As an alternative to the use of the plastics sheet 43 one may employ a vertical concrete surround which may extend upward past the bottom area of the rootzone 17/18 to about eight inches (20.32 cms) of the top surface 16 of the green to form a concrete side wall to the green foundation.

It will be readily appreciated that the present invention is directed towards providing a construction of playing surface based on the concept of retaining water in the foundation at a predetermined fixed level based on climatic conditions and plant requirements. Most known systems work on the basis of adding water to a green foundation as required.

Use of the present invention by providing a construction of playing surface which retains water in the foundation at a predetermined level, encourages downward growth of the grass roots as the roots seek to reach down to the level of the retained water. There is no need to provide artificial irrigation and this is very beneficial since artificial irrigation can encourage the growth of undesirable grasses, for example annual meadow grass.

The present invention has been described in relation to a green for a golf course. It will be readily appreciated that the invention is equally applicable to any area upon which one wishes to grow and maintain a grassed playing surface, for example to the standard of a golf green, namely a grassed area upon which one may wish to play bowls or to play tennis.

Claims (14)

1. A playing surface comprising natural grass on 5 a foundation consisting of top layer which is find sand or a mixture of fine sand, soil and peat moss or a mixture of any two of fine sand, soil and peat moss, a second layer beneath the top layer and being coarse sand or coarse sand mixed with soil, a third layer 10 beneath the second layer and being pea pebble or gravel or other small pieces of stone and a fourth layer beneath the third layer and being substantially water-impervious, there being a plurality of spaced apart drainage pipes, between the first and fourth 15 layers, each drainage pipe having an outlet pipe connected to one end of it, the outlet pipe having a rising part lying in a drainage channel and being such that by performing a manual operation at the outlet pipe one can control the height to which the water 20 level above the fourth layer must rise for water to flow out of the outlet pipe into the drainage channel.

2. A playing surface according to Claim 1, in which each outlet pipe has one end portion 25 substantially horizontal, which end portion is connected to the associated drainage pipe, and has its opposite end portion substantially at right angles to said one end portion, the outlet pipe being open at both ends and imperforate between the ends and being ro30 tatable about the axis of said one end portion to alter the extent to which said opposite end portion is higher than said one end portion.

3. A playing surface according to Claim 1 in 35 which each outlet pipe has one end portion substantially horizontal, which end portion is fixed to the associated drainage pipe, and has its opposite end portion substantially vertical and at a fixed distance higher than said one end portion, the rising part of the outlet pipe being formed with at least two holes at 5 differing heights and there being at least one plug which can close the lowest hole or holes.

4. A playing surface as claimed in any preceding claim in which a layer of no-fines concrete is laid on 10 the fourth layer and below the third layer.

5. A playing surface as claimed in any preceding claim in which the substantially water impervious material of the fourth base layer is extended and 15 contoured to form a side wall of the foundation.

6. A playing surface as claimed in any one of claim 1 to 4 in which the third layer has a concrete surround on which is mounted a side wall of plastics 20 sheet.

7. A playing surface as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 4 in which the third layer has a concrete surround which extends upward past the bottom area of 25 the rootzone to form a side wall to the foundation.

8. A playing surface as claimed in any preceding claim in which the drainage pipes are located intermedi ate the top and the bottom of the third layer.

9. A playing surface as claimed in Claim 8 in which a plurality of spaced apart pipe supports are pro vided in the foundation to locate and support the drain age pipes in their position intermediate the top and 35 the bottom of the third layer.

10. A playing surface as claimed in claim 2 in which the outlet pipe is arcuate.

11. A playing surface as claimed in claim 3 in 5 which the outlet pipe has more than two holes spaced apart along its length and each provided with a complementary plug.

12. A golf green according to any preceding 10 claim.

13. A playing surface substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1-4 of the accompanying drawings or Figs. 1-2 as modified in

14. 15 accordance with Fig. 5; Fig. 6 or Fig. 7.