This article is from a March 2000 article in "California Fairways" by Dr. Kent W. Kurtz
Similar to other turfgrass innovations, irrigation emerged as an adjunct to the management of golf courses. Many golf courses used mule-drawn water wagons to irrigate golf course turfgrass around the 1850s. The practice of watering putting surfaces originated in Scotland in the 1880s. By 1894, St. Andrews in Scotland had sunk a well for this purpose.
In 1897, the Twin Comet Lawn Sprinkler, developed by the E. Stebbins Manufacturing Company in Springfield, MA, was placed on the market. This was one of the first gear-driven lawn sprinklers to be mass produced in the United States.
Pioneers of the Early 1900s
One of the first inventors to obtain a patent for a sprinkling system was Charles Skinner of Troy, Ohio. He developed a system of galvanized piping with holes spaced two feet apart to water large areas. In 1904, John Ross of Pasadena, CA was the first to manufacture sprinkler heads for lawn and garden use. L.B. Harris invented one of the first gear driven sprinkler heads, the "Harris Precipitator" in 1910.
Another pioneer, W. Van Thompson, founded the Thompson Manufacturing Company in Pasadena in 1907. By 1915, the Thompson revolving arm roller sprinkler was being used on golf greens and at the Los Angeles CC in 1918. This was also one of the first clubs to install pipe and quick-coupler valves around WW I.
Another early pioneer, L.R. Nelson, the oldest, continuous, single-family owned irrigation business, developed a sprinkler for turf in 1906. Nelson is credited with the development of one of the early large traveling sprinklers. Nelson worked with the B.F. Goodrich Company to develop a five-inch hose that could be dragged along to work with the sprinkler.
George Moody developed the automatic sequencing, hydraulic controller in 1922. This was a major development and greatly influenced the creation of automatic sprinkler irrigation, which is a large industry today.
Another individual, W.A. Buckner, developed the first slow-rotating, hoseless sprinkler irrigation system. One was installed at Pebble Beach GC in 1912. Buckner further developed the quick-coupling valve, the sand resistant bearing, and the cam-driven sprinkler head. The Buckner name lives today in Fresno, CA under the name, "Buckner by Storm."
Pop-up sprinklers represent an important advancement in irrigation technology. John Brooks designed a brass pop-up turf sprinkler in 1916. By 1926, he had developed an electric timer that activated a hydraulic controller. When combined with the sprinkler heads, the clock made automatic irrigation a reality. By the 1930s, pop-up sprinklers made of brass were quite common. These were fixed-spray heads and were made of brass due to the metal's resistance to corrosion. In the Midwest, two brothers, Daniel and Bernard Wright of Chicago, combined their business with the Mueller Brass Company of Port Huron, Michigan to form an enterprise known as Muellermist. The company offered a complete underground turf sprinkler irrigation system with a ball-drive pop-up head as early as 1932.
Some of the earliest golf courses to install irrigation systems in the United States were Long Island's National Golf Links, the Merion Golf Club, and Pinehurst. When the game of golf spread West, golf course architects realized that without irrigation, building and maintaining courses was impossible.
The Great Depression Years
When the Great Depression disabled businesses through-out the country in the early 1930s, the irrigation industry continued to make many technological advancements.
* Rainbird The Rainbird Company was being launched in Glendora, CA during this period by Orten Englehardt and Clement LeFetra. Englehardt had experimented with two types of sprinkler heads: the gear drive which he attempted to construct and the vertical impact drive. Finally, he turned his attention toward a horizontal impact-drive sprinkler. Englehardt produced the prototype in 1932, and the patent was issued in 1934. Englehardt revolutionized landscape irrigation in the 1930s with his invention. This innovative design had fewer moving parts than most other sprinklers of the time, and they were more dependable and less expensive. By 1935, Englehardt wanted to return to farming, so LeFetra and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, assumed the manufacturing and sales rights to Englehardt's invention. The Rainbird tradition had begun.
One of the first turf customers for Rainbird was the Los Angeles Country Club. By the end of World War II, Rainbird was recognized as an industry leader.