Water Storage in Putting Greens Constructed with United States Golf Association and Airfield Systems Designs
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This research was conducted to facilitate utilization of the widely accepted United States Golf Association (USGA) recommendations for physical properties of root zone mixtures when designing a putting green using geotextile atop Airfield Systems' AirDrain in place of the standard gravel drainage layer. Water storages in greens that utilized geotextile atop AirDrain as the drainage structure were compared with water storage in standard USGA-design greens constructed with gravel drainage. Three root zone mixture treatments were combined with four geotextile-atop-AirDrain drainage treatments and three gravel drainage treatments to cover a range of possible combinations of materials for construction of a putting green. Each root zone drainage treatment was replicated three times in small test greens. After irrigation that produced drainage, water tensions at the bottom of the root zones of greens constructed with geotextile atop AirDrain were, on average, 56 mm water less than those in test greens constructed with gravel. As a consequence of the differences in tensions, about 12 mm (~1/2 inch) more water was stored in root zones of test greens constructed with geotextile atop AirDrain compared to those constructed with gravel. If the USGA recommendations for a root zone mixture were to be used for an Airfield System's designed putting green, it would appear that the tension at which the air-filled porosity and capillary porosity were determined should be lowered by approximately 50 mm water. Crop Science Society of America.
