“The biggest advantage of PCD, says Kennelly, is it’s very non-intrusive to the greens. For clubs that have a large amount of play, disruption is an absolute minimum. Probably the most work was to dig up the 4 inch pipe to tie in the PCD, Kennelly explains. If you install a normal drainage system you are removing the heavy soil, the organic and you are backfilling with sand so the percolation rates will probably double or triple just by taking out the old material and putting in the new sand, but the downside of conventional drainage is you have a lot more disruption to the surface. The trade-off to immediate results is the three most important factors of anything you do on the course – COST, TIME and THE AFFECT ON PLAYABILITY, states Kennelly. With the installation of PCD, I had golfers back on the greens the next day. You could see the small seams, maybe a quarter to a tenth of an inch wide, but that doesn’t affect playability for long, so playability is a non-issue.”
Terry Kennelly, General Manager, The Concession Golf Club, Bradenton, FLA