Golf courses demand more than just great design — they demand infrastructure that delivers. Whether it’s lush, playable fairways, greens that roll true, or consistent performance from tee to green, it all starts below the surface.

At ISCO, we have helped build and maintain top-tier courses using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe solutions that are leak-free, low-disruption, and built to last 100+ years.

If you’ve followed along on our journey, you’re aware of ISCO’s place as the industry leader in golf course irrigation. Also, thank you for being so loyal. If you haven’t, you can read a bit here: Tried, Tested, True.

Smart Irrigation That Lasts a Century

When Jim Kirchdorfer Sr. installed an HDPE irrigation system at Quail Chase golf course in Louisville in 1987, there was risk involved. It was a new material. There was skepticism from the outside. Internal confidence in the qualities of HDPE pipe made it clear that the risk was minimal.

The use of HDPE pipe and fittings for golf course irrigation became the foundation that helped build ISCO into a global leader.

Today, HDPE is the irrigation foundation for courses across the country. It’s leak-free, corrosion-resistant, and engineered for a 100-year design life, delivering the long-term reliability superintendents can count on.

Its flexibility allows it to contour with the course, without cracking or separating. And its seamless fusion system means fewer joints, fewer issues, and water exactly where it’s needed.

You could put together a Grand Slam of HDPE functions on the golf course, and irrigation plays the role of the first Major.  I’ll let you designate if it is the Masters, PGA, US Open, or The Open Championship (The British Open for the non-traditionalists and confused North American golf fans).

(Golf Trivia Nugget Warning)
Since the first Open Championship in 1860, it’s been played every year except during the First and Second World Wars… 
 
And in 1871.
 
Young Tom Morris won three straight titles in 1868, 1869, and 1870, which gave him the right to keep the actual championship belt. No trophy was available in 1871.  So they didn’t play.(!)
 
The Claret Jug made its first appearance in 1872. And yes—Young Tom Morris won again that year, still not yet 21.

Since the 1860 Open, 233 men have won a major championship in golf.

In the name of gender equity, unfortunately, there have been four eras of LPGA Majors with eight different tournaments, so it is a bit more of a moving target to narrow down the total number of women.

The first leg of the HDPE slam (irrigation) should have been obvious. We’ll be impressed if you know the other three.

Load your best 14 clubs into your bag and let’s explore the final three legs of the HDPE golf Grand Slam.

Culvert Rehabilitation: Recovery Shots Without the Course Closures

While there are plenty of golf courses with zero water hazards—often—ponds, lakes, and streams add to the beauty, difficulty, and nuance of a course.

With that comes water HAZARDS—like failing culverts.

When you have a maze of cart paths crossing moving water on a golf course, you either need a bridge—or a culvert. Most culverts installed on golf courses are corrugated metal (CMP), but over time, exposure to the elements causes them to leak, collapse, crack, or rust.

If the culvert is lengthy or buried deep under the playing surface, replacing it is a nightmare. You’re looking at shutting down holes, turning your 18-hole course into a 15-16-or-17-hole course, or closing the entire course temporarily, diverting golfers or some combination thereof.

The better option is culvert rehabilitation by slip lining with SnapTite or Spirolite pipe into the existing culvert. It may be an alliterative mouthful, but it’s not complicated.

Instead of tearing up turf or shutting down holes, ISCO’s Snap-Tite and Spirolite pipe systems slide into place inside the old pipe. With smooth HDPE walls, you get better flow, fewer backups, and no need to reroute play.

No digging, no disruption, and when installed properly, it will last 100 years or more, which is as much as five times longer than some CMP culverts. Halfway home. Only 89 men’s golfers have won two of the four majors.

(Golf Trivia Nugget Warning)
 
If you ever wondered why “Young” Tom Morris needed an adjective—it’s because his father, “Old” Tom Morris, also won The Open Championship four times.  In fact, between the two of them, they won eight of the first 12 Opens. Old Tom also finished runner-up three times, including in 1868—to Young Tom.
 
It wasn’t until 1895, with the start of the U.S. Open, that players had a shot at a second major. By then, Old Tom — known as The Grand Old Man of Golf — would have been Really Old Tom. Sadly, Young Tom died in 1875 at just 24 years old, never getting that chance.

HDPE Wet Wells: Sustainable Water Storage for Smarter Irrigation

A wet well, also known as a sump well, is a portion of a wastewater pumping station that receives and temporarily stores wastewater before it’s pumped to a treatment facility or another location.

Typically constructed from HDPE or concrete, wet wells on a golf course allow you to store water that can later be used to irrigate the course.

An HDPE wet well is prefabricated and brought to the jobsite in one piece.  It can be installed in a day, and typically, the same machinery used to dig the hole can also be used to lower the well into place.

Concrete wells, on the other hand, are more expensive to transport due to their weight.  Once the pieces arrive onsite, they need to be assembled, which means longer installation times–plus the potential for missing parts, breakage, and other delays.

While bottom-line costs for HDPE and concrete wells can be similar, HDPE gives you a 100-year-plus lifespan, faster installation, and requires less inspection and maintenance over time.

Case in Point: South of Lubbock, Texas, Red Feather Golf & Social Club opened in 2023.

The site of the course is an old cotton field and playa lake.  The latter is dry during most of the year and accumulates water from surrounding areas during heavy rains.

Red Feather is capitalizing on that water retention with an HDPE wet well constructed of 72-inch Class 250 HDPE. The structure stands 24 feet tall and taps into the playa lake to irrigate the new 18-hole course.

That is 75 percent of the way there.

The number drops to 11 golfers who have won three different major tournaments.

(Golf Trivia Nugget Warning)
 
Jack Nicklaus played in a record 164 majors and won 18 — more than any other golfer in history. But he also finished second a record 19 times.
 
The Golden Bear finished in the top ten in all four majors in a single calendar year five times a year, which sets another record. And he finished in the top five in all four majors twice… within just three years.

Spillway Risers That Keep Courses Dry and Playable

Flooding is one of the biggest risks to playable conditions. Overflowing ponds and poor drainage can wash out bunkers, flood greens, and close entire holes.

One measure that can be taken is the installation of an HDPE spillway riser.

While similar to a wet well, the riser acts as an overflow drain. Picture a large-diameter vertical pipe on a small platform resting at the bottom of the lake or pond, rising (DING!) inches above the surface at full capacity. 

At the base of the pipe, a smaller pipe connects and runs horizontally, leading to a spillway or stream.

When the water level rises, it reaches the top of the riser and drains through the outlet pipe. No pump, no switch to flip, just gravity doing its job.

With a bonnet atop the riser to keep out debris, it serves as a constant defense against pond flooding, which can wash away bunker sand, ruin greens, close portions of the course, and potentially damage nearby homes or buildings.

At Hickory Ridge Golf Course in Carbondale, Illinois, they captured half of the HDPE grand slam by re-lining a 9-foot-tall, 96-inch CMP riser with 84-inch solid-wall HDPE pipe (Spirolite but without the profile wall). It connected to 220 feet of a 48-inch CMP culvert that was lined with 42” Snap-Tite to serve as the spillway pipe for the riser.

It was installed in less than two days.

A 100-year, eco-friendly, leak-free solution in less than two days.

Seems like that one is in the leather.

As of, and thanks to the 2025 Masters – only six golfers have captured all four major tournaments in their career: Jack Nicklaus (from 1962 to 86), Tiger Woods (1997-2019), Ben Hogan (1946-53), Gary Player (1959-78), Gene Sarazen (1922-35) and Rory McElroy (2011-2025).

Keep in mind that there were generations of golfers, both young and old, who did not have the opportunity to win all four tournaments, because the Masters was not played until 1934.

In 1974, The Players Championship was introduced, and it has evolved into a tournament that has been promoted as the fifth major.

Nicklaus (three times), Woods (twice), and McElroy (twice) have each won the Players. 

One for the thumb?

Pentabulous? High Five? (in my best David Puddy voice)

(Golf Trivia Nugget Warning)
 
The game of golf dates back to the early 1400s in Scotland. The Old Course at St. Andrews — often called the “Home of Golf” — dates back to 1552.
 
Many consider the 17th hole at the Old Course the most famous, legendary, and difficult hole in all of golf. A lengthy par 4, it features a blind tee shot, railway sheds, bunkers big enough to hide the entire Von Trapp family, and even a paved road.
 
Old Tom Morris, one of golf’s true pioneers, was both born and died in St. Andrews.

HDPE Water Features That Elevate the Course

Golf, to some, unofficially took the next step to five majors—is there a fifth HDPE candidate on the horizon?

Before hosting the fourth PGA Championship in its history, Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, overhauled the picturesque water feature on its 13th hole.

And they used HDPE—matching the irrigation system that was installed in 2011.

Four strings of 4-inch DR 11 HDPE pipe were fused on-site and connected to a pump that pulls water from a standing body of water at the base of the feature.

The four lines then curl uphill to four retaining pools, which, once filled, feed terraced limestone and flow back into the pool.

It took just a single day.

In addition, the flexibility of the HDPE pipe eliminated the need for multiple fittings that legacy piping materials would have required.

Not to mention the leak-free, eco-friendly, 100-year solution.

When infrastructure works this well, players never notice it. They just enjoy the experience.

Bringing It All Together: The HDPE Grand Slam

Like a golfer chasing all four majors, courses that use HDPE for irrigation, culvert rehab, wet wells, spillway risers, and water features gain something rare:

Total control beneath the surface. Legendary performance above it.

That’s what ISCO delivers.

If it’s a new course like Quail Chase or Red Feather, you can chart a course forward with a product that eliminates stress—a  100-year solution.

If it’s an existing course like Hickory Ridge or Valhalla, you can eliminate headaches with a low-impact installation that won’t interfere with daily operations.

Whether you’re an architect, consultant, or golf course superintendent looking for a proven partner, ISCO brings the HDPE pipe, fittings, fusion equipment, and expertise to get it done right. Explore what’s possible with ISCO’s HDPE pipe systems for golf course irrigation. The infrastructure behind legendary courses—designed to last a century, crafted to elevate the game.