Z3 · Sports turf
Sprinkler systems for athletic fields and golf courses
Fleming Irrigation designs and installs field-scale systems from Palo, Iowa, from one small field to 100-acre projects. A site manager is on site for the whole install.
Chapter 01
Why a field goes thin in the middle and soggy at the edges
A field is the hardest lawn there is to water evenly. It is big, flat and played on. If the heads sit too far apart, the spray from one never reaches the next, and the gaps between them dry out first. Players then wear that thin turf down to dirt, usually right where the action is.
The fix is not more water. Run a system long enough to green the dry patch and the wet patch drowns, which is how you get a muddy sideline and a bare center in the same week. Even coverage means every spot gets the same amount in the same run time, and that is a design problem before it is a plumbing one.
Wind makes it worse. Heads set too wide throw short on a breezy afternoon over open Eastern Iowa ground. That is why the drawing puts each head close enough to reach the one beside it, with room to spare.
Large sprinkler arc across a football field with goalposts and a brick school behind
Land use and zoning first, then the drawing for the whole field
Before anyone draws a circle, Fleming evaluates the land use and the zoning of the property. A school field, a park complex and a golf course are each used differently, and the plan has to fit how the ground will be played on and mowed.
Then a certified designer lays out the sprinklers, valves and timers for the whole site, and the heads are flagged on the ground. Projects run from small fields to 100-acre sites, and the method scales: the drawing comes first, and nothing gets buried until the layout is approved.
An experienced site manager stays on site while the system goes in. A machine pulls the pipe, which spares existing turf the damage of an open trench, and the crew works from the drawing instead of from memory.
Chapter 03
Start-up in spring, blow-out in fall, repairs between games
A field system earns its keep over a whole season. In spring each zone is run and checked for broken heads and gaps in coverage, and repairs are made before the first practice. In fall the winterization notice goes out, typically in October, and the lines are blown out so freezing water does not split the pipe.
In between, service and repair run year round, and most requests are filled the same day. A head clipped by a mower or knocked sideways by a cleat is a quick fix when someone picks up the phone, and the office in Palo does, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Fields in Cedar Rapids, Marion, Iowa City, North Liberty and the towns around them are all a short drive from the Palo shop. Call (319) 393-9229 and describe the field, and the free estimate on a new installation starts from there.
Hundreds of commercial projects in the area, from large complexes all the way to 100-acre sites. Fleming has installed and serviced irrigation systems since 1983.
Sheet Z3 · Field plan, illustrative
Every head reaches the next head
Drawn at field scale, from small fields to 100-acre projects.
Small fields to 100-acre projects
One practice field and a multi-field complex get the same method: a drawn plan first, then pipe in the ground.
Athletic fields and golf courses
Turf that is played on and mowed hard needs even coverage, not just enough water on average.
Land use and zoning
Fleming evaluates both before the design is final, so the plan fits the property it is going on.
