THE BULL AT PINEHURST FARMS

Property First Acquired: 1845

Golf Course Construction Begins: 2000

Number of Cattle Named "All-American": 80

1976, 1980: Only herd ever to earn "Top Breeder" and "Top Exhibitor" in same year

Rotors Installed: G870

Control System Installed: Vista Visual Central Control with VSX Field Controllers

"People are saying this course beats the others in the area hands down because of its design, playability, beauty and how it fits within the terrain like it’s always been here," says Tony Rzadzki (known as TR), CGCS, superintendent at The Bull.

Spectacular and fun courses, with each hole shaped by the natural environment, is a trademark of Jack Nicklaus, who has certainly elevated the standards of golf course design.

For such a superior golf course, then, it only makes sense to choose superior golf course irrigation products, like Hunter Golf’s new heavy duty G870 Gear Driven Rotors. These rotors have provided TR with the very latest in rotor technology for outstanding reliability and even coverage during the critical period of grow-in. And, since the G870 Gear Driven Rotors are the first to offer complete serviceability from the top to all parts, maintenance for TR has been a snap.

For powerful and advanced control, TR also uses Hunter Golf’s Vista Visual Central Control System, the first golf course irrigation central system with truly automated programming and real-world visual control.

Now that’s what we call taking the bull by the horns.

Got Golf?

The Bull at Pinehurst Farms takes its name from the more than 400 acres upon which it sits, land once occupied by a farm widely known for breeding grand-champion Holsteins. Located about 50 miles north of Milwaukee, it’s dramatic property featuring 75 feet of elevation change. The 18 holes meander along the Onion River and through its uplands populated with mature maples, oaks, hackberries and ash. Each of the holes bears the name of a Pinehurst bull, names like Blueprint and Peerless, Starz and Fantasia.

With a long track at 7,250 yards and a par 72 rating, the course plays strong from start to finish. Spectacular par-3 and par-4 tees have most visitors summarizing them with a "Wow!"

Maintenance Made Easier

Growing in a new golf course is unlike any other phase of golf course maintenance, and TR certainly faced his share of challenges. But through it all, he relied on Hunter Golf’s G870 rotors for the necessary uniform coverage. While conventional golf rotors operate at high pressure and velocity to cover long distances, they often do this at the expense of close-in watering. This can lead to un-germinated seed right around the heads. But the G870’s patented Pressure Port™ system reduces the pressure and velocity of the primary stream, leaving more water for the smaller secondary nozzles and thus allowing them to distribute larger water droplets. These droplets are less affected by wind and cover more uniformly near the head.

"The G870s have covered well from the head all the way out," says TR. "We’ve had a uniform grow-in and it was due in large part to these rotors."

While even coverage is critical to grow-in, easy maintenance after the fact is paramount—and that’s where the G870 shines. The G870s are the first fully top-serviceable rotor on the market. Every component of the valve-in-head rotor is completely integrated into the sprinkler body and accessible from the top. That includes the gear drive, control valve, pilot valve, pressure regulator, solenoid, wire connection and filter screen.

"Instead of digging up the head to repair it, I can get to all the parts right from the top," says TR. "These heads are easy to service and they save much time and effort."

A Controller With a View

With the myriad of site and weather conditions TR faces — from full sun to dense wooded shade, high humidity to intense rainfall — he needed a flexible and powerful central control system. The Hunter Golf Vista Visual Central Control System delivers. It offers an ET (evapotranspiration) driven automatic base program, 999 customized programs and manual control in the field.

Incredibly advanced, Vista automatically creates the base program using daily ET data along with an Auto-CAD™ irrigation design, utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, that is provided by your design professional. Because of the GPS, it is a real-world, as-built plan of your system, displayed on screen in both map and 3-D animated fly-through views.

"You can use these tools to locate an individual sprinkler or group for scheduling adjustments," says TR. "And there’s a pop-up window that shows you every characteristic of the sprinkler."

After the basic program is created, you can develop custom programs and supplement with manual adjustments that won’t affect the custom programs.

The central communicates with the VSX Field Controllers via radio in TR’s case. Hardwire or phone connections are also available. These reliable field satellites can work as intelligent controllers with interactive central computer communications, or as powerful and easy-to-adjust stand-alone time systems for new construction grow-in or special applications.

"For grow-in, these field controllers and my handheld StraightTalk™ remote radio have been real time savers," says TR. "When it rains, I can make temporary adjustments to one or a group of sprinklers from anywhere in the field without affecting the program. The controllers have been amazingly simple to adjust.

"This system’s ease of use has definitely impressed me," he says. "I’ve never used a radio-controlled central control system, or radio-controlled field satellites, yet after one visit from Hunter I was up to speed. And, I read the manual and actually understood it."

To sum it up, you might say TR is bullish about his Hunter Golf irrigation system. "I’m glad we’ve got Hunter. The products are performing well and the company’s service has been outstanding."