Golf Engineering Associates Technical Help Series

Choosing Golf Irrigation Equipment

Rule #1: only use golf heads!

How to Choose a Brand:

Toro, Rain Bird and Hunter all have excellent quality irrigation equipment. In fierce competition, all three are continually upgrading their heads, controllers, software and other hardware. The sprinklers all have similar capabilities, features and construction. Computerized and/or radio automatic control is standard, and some software packages are so advanced that you can practically manage your entire golf course from the central irrigation computer. The kinds of improvements we now see are super-advanced central control software and re-configuring of existing nozzles, not revolutionary new sprinkler designs. To sum it up, we think a plateau of meaningful advancement has been made, with the rest seeming to be refinements of existing products.

Making a final choice most often relies on how strong the distributor of each brand is in your area. If a distributor has a reputation in your area for excellent customer service and low prices, that's probably the people you want to deal with regardless if it's Toro, Rain Bird or Hunter. In many cases owners, architects and superintendents go with a particular brand because they have had many years of good experience with them, or bad experiences with the other. One thing to look for is a strong distributorship who can offer a package deal on maintenance equipment, fertilizers and other services in addition to your irrigation system. If you don't have a strong preference for any one brand, give several distributors sets of plans and let them put together their best package for you. Golf Engineering Associates, an international irrigation consulting firm, almost always lets multiple distributors bid a project to give clients the best possible choices. A simple rule is to go with the distributor who has the best all-around product, price and customer service combination for your particular needs.

Pipe, Valves, Fittings, Wire and Hardware:

The pipe, valves, fittings, wire and hardware make up roughly half of the equipment cost, and these items will work with any brand of sprinkler or control system. Golf Engineering Associates has had projects where the heads and control system came from Rain Bird, with pipe and other equipment coming from the Toro distributor, and vice-versa. There are many courses with a variety of different brand heads, controllers and central computer software, although this is not the normal way to handle a new project. On the great majority of projects you will choose a distributor based on their pricing for an entire package deal. If somebody is making the equipment choice for you, such as a consultant or contractor, ask to get complete specifications on every piece of hardware. Look for American made equipment at all times, because our products are known world over for good quality. If your desired equipment still isn't available, ask to see complete information on the proposed replacements.

Like anyone else, however, distributors sometimes have a brother-in-law in the wire business or other such circumstance which could lead to getting inappropriate equipment. One of the most important things you can do before equipment goes in the ground is take a complete inventory of all the parts being delivered to see if quantities and brands match up to what you originally ordered. Occasionally, distributors or contractors may substitute one item for another due to pricing or availability. This kind of thing, for your sake, should be nipped in the bud before the project gets underway.