Planning for a Golf Course Irrigation System Upgrade

Tyler Bryson is a Texas turfhead who came to El Paso CC in 2022, and a new Rain Bird irrigation system was in the works from day 1. It was completed in 2024. “I’m glad I got to spend two years with the old system because it was so bad it made me understand what needed to be fixed,” he says. How bad was it? Some of the original asbestos piping from the 1984 install was still in use.

“My biggest issue was the heads around the greens,” says Bryson. “We had single heads, but I have bentgrass greens and bermudagrass surrounds. I was trying to water two different types of grasses that required two different amounts of water with one head. Either the greens were too wet, or the surrounds struggled.”

Before Bryson arrived, the club had worked with Jeff Good of Irrigation Services, LLC, and other regional experts for several years to plan out a new Rain Bird irrigation system … and that was music to his ears. “I’ve always been a Rain Bird guy. I think they’re the go-to. I liked working on the heads because they’re easy to access, the operating system is a lot better, and the dashboard is great.”

Doubling Down on Rain Bird Pump Stations

Good, a leader in the southwestern U.S. irrigation business, says one of the standout features of El Paso’s new system is the dual-water-source configuration. “The idea was to provide a freshwater system for greens and tees and a second system using lower-quality water from the river and ponds for everything else,” says Good.

The key to the system is a 750-gpm Rain Bird booster pump that’s dedicated solely to the greens and tees. “The goal is to use city water with lower salinity, which is ideal for sensitive turf surfaces, to prevent salt buildup in the greens and tees,” he says. The fully enclosed, energy-efficient system increases water pressure and maintains extremely consistent pressure across all flow rates, reducing pumping costs and energy consumption.

The rest of the course (fairways and roughs) receives blended raw water and well water thanks to a separate 2,200-gpm vertical turbine Rain Bird pump station. Good says this pump station draws from the club’s recently renovated lakes through a new floating intake system. “The lakes hold a blend of river water and deep-well water with salinity levels that are manageable on fairways and roughs when monitored and flushed periodically,” Good says.

Bryson agrees that El Paso CC is unique in that it has three water sources to meet different needs. “Greens and tees are city water, so our mainline is our city water line and then we have our well-water lines. In the winter, we pull from the wells. But we also have river water from the Rio Grande when we don’t get rain.” He credits the floating intake with significantly reducing the club’s past sediment and contamination problems.

Upgrading to Rain Bird IC System™ with CirrusPRO™

Loren Dunlap of Winsupply Irrigation & Landscape is a former superintendent who’s “been in golf forever” and has worked with Rain Bird products for two decades. He helped to drive the process of educating El Paso’s leadership and members for years until the club committed to the new system in 2023.

“The old system was failing,” says Dunlap. “It boils down to being able to control that water, and they couldn’t do it. We now have a true valve-in-head individual-control irrigation system with proper spacing and an excellent rotor (all 752 Series heads). Their coverage is great now. It’s made all the difference in the world for the conditions of the golf course.”

The two Rain Bird pump stations were totally different. “On the raw side, we used a vertical turbine system to move the water from the lakes to the wet well. On the potable side, it’s strictly a booster system off the city water main. It comes to the course at 60 psi, and we boost it to 110 psi to get it where it needs to go.” Both stations are integrated into CirrusPRO, so the super can see and access them.

Good notes that a key advantage for the Rain Bird end user is the integrated map interface, which enables complete system control directly from the map. “It also enabled us to import the design and later the as-built drawings directly into the central control system, giving the superintendent instant visual insight into the entire irrigation network,” says Good. Remote access to the central control system was a critical feature for everyone.

What’s the most compelling thing about a new Rain Bird irrigation system from Dunlap’s perspective? “Water is gold. If you’re paying for water, you’re also paying for electricity to move it. Efficiency is everything. It’s important to choose a rotor that can give you very efficient coverage and distribution uniformity, but also have the control that CirrusPRO gives you to make whatever adjustments you want on the fly. Everything is fully fluid.”

Finally, CirrusPRO is almost a management system. “The team can communicate through the system,” says Dunlap. “It’s a really cool tool. The efficiency, fluidness of the system and the ease of use … it’s so simple, you can’t beat it.”

Bryson loves it. “The coverage is so great. And the operating system lets me know if something didn’t run or needs attention, particularly as we keep track of two pumphouses.”

How hard is it to track the operations of two different pump stations? “Not too difficult, actually, thanks to the dashboard. I have it on my screen all day. It’ll alert me if there’s a problem.” His team regularly cleans out sand and debris and changes the filters monthly to stay ahead of issues.

Dialing In the New Rain Bird Irrigation System

One issue with the old system was wet spots. “We’d go to key it off and end up with dry spots,” says Bryson. “Now, if we have a wet spot, I can turn a head or two off, let it dry, and turn it back on. That’s a big deal compared to the past.”

Before Rain Bird, he had to rely on long-tenured assistants to operate the old system and address wet/dry issues. “Now I can do it from home. I can even track the carts using GPS and avoid players.” Bryson already has 23 programs for specific uses. He has specialized programs for putting greens, surrounds, front nine, back nine, and for flushing greens or making various input applications. “This whole year has been about exploring the system and getting it dialed in.”

Is it complicated keeping track of all the data? “It’s really easy. We’ll have a few alarms or minor problems throughout the week, but they’re usually not serious. I really love the ‘dry run’ program that allows you to view what you’re doing tomorrow and track daily water use.”

And the course is box-free now. “Everything is now two-wire,” says Bryson. “I don’t have anybody running into those things (boxes) anymore. A couple of years ago, I had a contractor take one out, and it was a mess, so we don’t miss them.”

While the system was intuitive and easy to manage day-to-day, personalized support and technical coaching from the Rain Bird team proved essential to optimizing the course’s irrigation strategy.

“Loren would come by regularly and check in and make sure we were on track,” says Bryson. “Back then, irrigation wasn’t my strong suit. Having a partner like him and the team from Rain Bird made a huge difference in the process.”

One example: Bryson had always watered by time. “Then Loren coached me to use ET (evapotranspiration). We now have the weather station plus handheld TDRs to determine ET rates, and that makes things simpler, more effective, and efficient.”

And relying on Rain Bird 100% was also a big win for a busy super. “The best thing about continuity (reservoir to rotor) is the peace of mind. When I leave on a hot summer day, I know it’s going to do what I want it to do. No more surprises.”