Lightning destroys golf course sprinkler control
CITY OF MARYVILLE PHOTO
A sprinkler head bordering the ninth green at the Watson 9 golf course at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park was blown out of the ground Thursday night when lightning struck the sprinkler system’s computerized control unit.
Lightning hit the Watson 9 nine-hole golf course at city-owned Mozingo Lake Recreation Park Thursday night, destroying an electronic sprinkler control unit and generating enough force to blow a sprinkler head out of the ground.
Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland said access panels attached to the control unit’s three-foot-tall container, located to the south of the course’s ninth green, were blown off, and that device, essentially a wireless computer that turns the sprinkler system on and off and governs water flow, will have to be replaced.
Heiland said a new unit has been ordered from the manufacturer, the Torro Co., and is to be installed by park staff sometime within the next few days. It is likely the sprinkler head will have to be replaced as well.
Heiland said the control unit will cost about $8,000, and that most of the expense is covered by insurance.
It is not yet known if the strike damaged other parts of the system. Heiland said the first step will be to replace the control unit, turn on the sprinklers and check to see if all of the course’s 48 heads are working.
The damaged head is located at the edge of the ninth green.
Because there was rain in the forecast, Heiland said the system was turned off when the lightning struck, and that the resulting water loss appeared to be minimal.
While the sprinkler systems serving Watson 9 and the adjoining Sechrest 18 are integrated, Heiland said the damage appears to be contained to the south end of the smaller course, which opened last year and was designed by PGA champion golfer Tom Watson.
CITY OF MARYVILLE PHOTO
Scorch marks, visible at right, testify to the damage done by a lightning strike Thursday night that destroyed an $8,000 wireless unit controlling the sprinkler system at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park’s Watson 9 golf course. Park staff has ordered a new unit and expects to have it installed within a few days.
