Bayville
Golf Club
Bayville Upgrades with Rain Bird’s “Reservoir to Rotor” Solution
Bayville Golf Club, one of Virginia’s finest clubs, sits near Virginia Beach in the Chesapeake Bay region. Like many courses built in the mid-1990s, infrastructure needs like the irrigation system and pump station needed an upgrade. Superintendent Scott Mauldin collaborated with Ewing Outdoor Supply Sales Rep Randy Chilton, the team at Rain Bird, and irrigation consultant Ian Williams to install a new Rain Bird CirrusPRO™ mobile-first irrigation Central Control system. The key to success? Rain Bird’s “reservoir to rotor” design fully integrates the Rain Bird Pump for seamless control of the whole system right from a phone.
The “Heartbeat of the Golf Course”
When certified superintendent Scott Mauldin reached out to Ewing’s Randy Chilton to begin the process of replacing the old system at Bayville Golf Club a few years ago, Chilton didn’t have to explain why Rain Bird was a good choice or why using a Rain Bird Pump Station was a wise move. Mauldin was a previous Rain Bird customer who also had the first Rain Bird Pump Station installed in Virginia in 2008 at The Foundry, his former course.
Bayville was underway with an important Andrew Green renovation and the time was right for a new system and pumphouse to replace the irrigation infrastructure that had been there since day one. The system upgrade was critical, but simple enough. The course had switched to Rain Bird in 2012, so much of the backbone was already in place when work on the upgrade started in 2019. However, the installation of the pump station was another matter because of the site and the construction challenges it presented.
Chilton has been the go-to irrigation expert in Virginia for two decades. Today, as the Ewing rep for the region, he’s seen more than a dozen facilities choose a Rain Bird Pump Station.
“The biggest challenge was the permitting of the new building,” says Chilton. “The pump station itself wasn’t a problem. It was construction of the new building and a 24’-deep wet well.”
Mauldin agrees. “The pump was delivered early, but we had some adversity getting a new, very deep wet-well done and dealing with all the utilities and stuff to change from the old pump to the new Rain Bird Pump Station. We ended up doing a midsummer switchover, which was not optimal, but we succeeded.”
As they overcame the pumphouse construction challenges, they also made one interesting addition to the pump install: a second Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) that’s already built into the pump station. “It’s an ingenious solution versus a traditional warranty,” says Chilton, “It’s really better than a warranty because it’s already there and ready to go to work. It’s something I think a lot of clubs should consider.”
Why was a Rain Bird Pump Station right for Bayville? “It’s the combination of the system and pump that Scott already knew well and cohesiveness…they are the only manufacturer that’s reservoir to rotor,” says Chilton. “What’s cool about the Rain Bird Pump Station is the controls for it are right there in CirrusPRO. It can also control the pump station, so the software talks to and integrates every aspect of irrigation. The two-way communication is critical. That’s all part of the reservoir to rotor philosophy. There’s something to be said for doing one thing and doing it well.”
Project Goals
- Install a new system that will serve the club for decades.
- Install an utterly reliable, easy-to-manage irrigation system that can be operated from a mobile phone.
- Replace the existing pump station with a pump that fully integrates with the Rain Bird system and CirrusPRO software.
- Prepare for emergencies by installing a second Variable Frequency Drive ( VFD) should the first eventually fail.
Under the Hood
“The one thing I’ve learned about the pump station is that it’s like the engine in my car,” says Mauldin. “I don’t look under the hood too much to check on it. I don’t care about how shiny it is or any of that…I just care about how it’s going to deliver water and who’s going to work on it if there’s a problem.”
He said the new Rain Bird Pump Station performed phenomenally well. “I had people calling me to find out more about the pump station. All I can tell you is I don’t even go down there. My irrigation tech and the service guy have keys, and they handle it. Even then, it’s just preventative maintenance. That was the most impressive thing I could tell them.”
“That backing, trust, and support helped me succeed,” says Mauldin. “I knew that Rain Bird was a dedicated irrigation company, and as long as they had the service techs to fix problems, we were good. It was just like my car…I trust my mechanic to keep it running right.”
Simplicity Matters
“What’s great about the Rain Bird irrigation system, with only having the four wires that run the whole system, is we were able to install the wire paths around the new greens. Makes it easier to have it all unified together. Rain Bird streamlined the components to make it easier to adapt to whatever the project is. And you don’t have to trench all the way back to a controller.”
Mauldin loves CirrusPRO. “We have the new software, and we’re still learning everything the new system can do with better features. The biggest thing I can say is they’ve done a great job with the software. It basically follows you around via GPS, so if you’re driving down a fairway and see a dry area or a problem spot, you can stop and correct it. Now you don’t have to spend all day searching for the problem. I use the mobile software more than I use the central control in the office. The mobile software is probably 75% of what we do now.”
Once the team finally finished the wet-well/pump station install, they simply plugged in the Rain Bird Pump, and it started running. “If we have a big blowout…the system will shut off the pump station and adjust the irrigation schedule until we can get in there in the morning and correct it.”
The Total Package
“What always impressed me about Rain Bird is they don’t have any other diversions,” says Mauldin. “It’s just irrigation.”
He says CirrusPRO is intuitive and super simple: “The ‘People Mover’ function takes you right to the problem, and once you tap that head on the map, you can know anything about it…when it ran, how it ran, how many minutes it ran, etc. You can add any program anywhere in the system from your phone. It’s the full central control in the palm of your hand.”
What’s Mauldin’s favorite thing about the whole system? “It’s just simple. I have four wires, individual head control and I can run it all from my phone…including my Rain Bird Pump Station. How can you beat that?”
Final thoughts from Mauldin: “Our lives are busy. If everything is connected from reservoir to rotor things are simpler and better. We’re all striving for better balance in our lives and easier solutions at work. It comes down to simplicity, ease of operation, and reliability. If our Rain Bird partnership can do that, it’s time and money well spent for the superintendent and the club.”
Testimonial
“What always impressed me about Rain Bird is they don’t have any other diversions. It’s just irrigation.”
-Scott Mauldin
Superintendent
Bayville Golf Club
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