Water is the big issue for many golf courses, what with the belief among superintendents that one day there might not be enough of it for irrigation. But not according to Robert Criste, vice president of sales for Golflinx, a manufacturer of soil sensors.

Soil sensor manufacturers say their technology will help superintendents better understand what's going on below the ground.

"It's not a water shortage issue; it's a water management issue," Criste says, echoing the words of the other two companies — Advanced Soil Technology and The Toro Co. — that also produce soil sensors for the golf industry.

Criste insists there is enough water, no matter what part of the country, if the water is used correctly.

To that end, the three companies have entered the golf soil-sensor market in the last three years with devices they say will allow superintendents to better understand what's going on below ground and ultimately lead to a reduction in water usage and pesticides as plant health increases. Joining Golflinx, an Australian company and manufacturer of soil sensors for the agriculture industry, is Advanced Soil Technology based in King of Prussia, Pa., and Minneapolis-based Toro, which purchased Turf Guard wireless technology in December. Turf Guard will remain based in California.

While the industry might be small and in its infancy, it is not without acrimony — AST has sued Toro for theft of intellectual property and patent infringement, to which Toro responded by denying the accusations and countersuing.

The technology works this way: sensors, about 1-foot long, are placed somewhere between 2 inches to 4 inches underground on various areas of the golf course to measure soil moisture, temperature and salinity at a variety of levels.

Soil sensors can also be used on problem tees. As on greens, soil sensors can benefit microclimates where shade might influence irrigation.

The information is relayed back to a base unit via repeaters mounted on irrigation control boxes, allowing the superintendent to monitor each unit and the three categories of information it is sending back.

Since each sensor has multiple nodes, there is a multitude of information. The AST and Toro models are wireless and battery-powered and, therefore, can be repositioned. The Golflinx model is wired into an irrigation pedestal and AC-powered.

Perhaps fewer than 100 courses around the country use sensor technology, but the superintendents at those courses say the information they are getting has led to substantial water savings and healthier turf.

David Major, the certified superintendent at Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine, Calif., has been using soil sensors for almost three years, acting as a test site for Turf Guard products (now Toro). The Tom Fazio-design, which sees more than 30,000 rounds a year, is built on poorly draining soil and is irrigated with effluent water.

"That's our biggest challenge in Southern California — reclaimed water and tight soil," Major says.

He has probes, 90 in all, placed in greens, tees and landing areas as well as a few unexpected locations. Major uses one probe to monitor the soil around a newly planted palm tree, and another floats in a holding pond to monitor water quality.

Sensors can also reveal when individual irrigation heads falter or distribute water improperly.

At the six-course Desert Mountain Golf Club near Scottsdale, Ariz., director of agronomy Shawn Emerson has AST sensors in place on his Geronimo Course. Since installing them, he says he has cut down on his water usage by 10 percent to 15 percent. Much of the savings has come from his reduction in water used for flushing of greens.

According to Emerson, because of the poor quality of his effluent, flushing greens to keep salts and other impurities from building up is vitally important for healthy turf.