Course maintenance technology

[Michael Morandi]

My club is now using technology on the back of its fairway mowers that reads moisture content.  This allows us to maintain fast and firm (and brownish) fairways without the risk of widespread burnout. This is a game changer that will lead to more extended periods of our desired playing conditions. And it takes a lot of stress off  the crew by taking guessing/hoping  out of the equation.

[Tony Ristola]

My club is now using technology on the back of its fairway mowers that reads moisture content.  This allows us to maintain fast and firm (and brownish) fairways without the risk of widespread burnout. This is a game changer that will lead to more extended periods of our desired playing conditions. And it takes a lot of stress off  the crew by taking guessing/hoping  out of the equation.

Golf maintenance equipment is going to go though a phase of massive disruption. Robots. GPS directed robots. No longer will a club need to invest hundreds of man-hours cutting fairways and light rough.


The benefits are multiple:


Does not require manpower to operate.
Can mow 24-hours per day.
Fairways are always freshly mown.
No diesel required. None. Zero. Nada.
No more hydraulics, no more hydraulic leaks.
No more reels to sharpen.
Accurate mowing, as their mowing boundaries are GPS controlled.
Lighter footprint means they can cut grass when larger, traditional machines cannot.
Less compaction, and less compaction in areas where mowers tend to turn (in front of greens).
Quieter.
Perhaps with solar panels, you can charge your mowers on your own!
This has a major impact on golf course presentation. Fairways can be mown as wide as one pleases.


All those man-hours can be focused on other elements; stuff that is often neglected because of time.
In countries with high labor costs, and where it's difficult to find labor, like much of Europe, robots are going to put a serious dent in the traditional mowing equipment market.
In Iceland I watched a fleet of robotic mowers maintain the larger playing areas. There was no stripping. Loved the look.

[David_Tepper]

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/green-section-record/60/04/rise-of-the-machines-autonomous-mowers-on-golf-courses.html

[Thomas Dai]

It will be interesting to see how the use of this kind of equipment (technology) trickles down through different echelons of clubs over the coming years and how long before it’s being used likely as secondhand equipment by lessor clubs operating on small budgets.
Atb


PS - the best fairway mower will still be grazing sheep!

[Rob Marshall]

My club is now using technology on the back of its fairway mowers that reads moisture content.  This allows us to maintain fast and firm (and brownish) fairways without the risk of widespread burnout. This is a game changer that will lead to more extended periods of our desired playing conditions. And it takes a lot of stress off  the crew by taking guessing/hoping  out of the equation.

Michael,
Do you know the name of that technology? We just got new fairway mowers a couple of weeks ago. Too two years to get from the time we ordered from Toro.

[Michael Morandi]

Turfrad

[Rob Marshall]

Turfrad

Thank you

[Tom_Doak]

Before we started working on Pinehurst #10, one of the big companies was out on a couple of old fairways from The Pit working on its self-driving fairway mower technology.


The goal seems to be to cut costs [from the owner standpoint] and eliminate jobs [from the laborers' standpoint].  Tony's suggestion that this is going to free up the crew to do other tasks that often get neglected is naive, or wishful thinking.


Maintenance crews -- often immigrants, sometimes naturalized and sometimes not -- have been the backbone of the golf business for 125 years.  Personally, I will be sad to see them displaced.  Their hard work was always impressive.

[Michael Morandi]

I’m happy to report that my club has not reduced maintenance staff with the addition of new tech, but I believe Tom is right when it comes to many if not most courses across the country.  Not sure how unionized labor is affected.

[Chris Hughes]

My club is now using technology on the back of its fairway mowers that reads moisture content.  This allows us to maintain fast and firm (and brownish) fairways without the risk of widespread burnout. This is a game changer that will lead to more extended periods of our desired playing conditions. And it takes a lot of stress off  the crew by taking guessing/hoping  out of the equation.

Golf maintenance equipment is going to go though a phase of massive disruption. Robots. GPS directed robots. No longer will a club need to invest hundreds of man-hours cutting fairways and light rough.


The benefits are multiple:


Does not require manpower to operate.
Can mow 24-hours per day.
Fairways are always freshly mown.
No diesel required. None. Zero. Nada.
No more hydraulics, no more hydraulic leaks.
No more reels to sharpen.
Accurate mowing, as their mowing boundaries are GPS controlled.
Lighter footprint means they can cut grass when larger, traditional machines cannot.
Less compaction, and less compaction in areas where mowers tend to turn (in front of greens).
Quieter.
Perhaps with solar panels, you can charge your mowers on your own!
This has a major impact on golf course presentation. Fairways can be mown as wide as one pleases.


All those man-hours can be focused on other elements; stuff that is often neglected because of time.
In countries with high labor costs, and where it's difficult to find labor, like much of Europe, robots are going to put a serious dent in the traditional mowing equipment market.
In Iceland I watched a fleet of robotic mowers maintain the larger playing areas. There was no stripping. Loved the look.

Sounds nice -- how much does it cost?

[Chris Hughes]

The goal seems to be to cut costs [from the owner standpoint] and eliminate jobs [from the laborers' standpoint].  Tony's suggestion that this is going to free up the crew to do other tasks that often get neglected is naive, or wishful thinking.

Exactly what I was thinking...

[Tony Ristola]

Before we started working on Pinehurst #10, one of the big companies was out on a couple of old fairways from The Pit working on its self-driving fairway mower technology.


The goal seems to be to cut costs [from the owner standpoint] and eliminate jobs [from the laborers' standpoint].  Tony's suggestion that this is going to free up the crew to do other tasks that often get neglected is naive, or wishful thinking.


Maintenance crews -- often immigrants, sometimes naturalized and sometimes not -- have been the backbone of the golf business for 125 years.  Personally, I will be sad to see them displaced.  Their hard work was always impressive.

We're talking two different markets; apples and oranges.


In the US, labor is much cheaper and courses have staff in double digits.


In Europe, labor is expensive and courses are being maintained by 4 to 6 people. I don't see them shrinking below that level.

[Kyle Harris]

A daily morning walk with a few clubs, including a putter, is still cheaper.

[Stephen Britton]

Before we started working on Pinehurst #10, one of the big companies was out on a couple of old fairways from The Pit working on its self-driving fairway mower technology.


The goal seems to be to cut costs [from the owner standpoint] and eliminate jobs [from the laborers' standpoint].  Tony's suggestion that this is going to free up the crew to do other tasks that often get neglected is naive, or wishful thinking.


Maintenance crews -- often immigrants, sometimes naturalized and sometimes not -- have been the backbone of the golf business for 125 years.  Personally, I will be sad to see them displaced.  Their hard work was always impressive.

There is rarely a cost savings for the owner, often these new fancy pieces of equipment cost a fortune. If it does reduce one worker from the crew, typically that payroll savings will be moved to the cost of the new piece of tech.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Before we started working on Pinehurst #10, one of the big companies was out on a couple of old fairways from The Pit working on its self-driving fairway mower technology.


The goal seems to be to cut costs [from the owner standpoint] and eliminate jobs [from the laborers' standpoint].  Tony's suggestion that this is going to free up the crew to do other tasks that often get neglected is naive, or wishful thinking.


Maintenance crews -- often immigrants, sometimes naturalized and sometimes not -- have been the backbone of the golf business for 125 years.  Personally, I will be sad to see them displaced.  Their hard work was always impressive.

There is rarely a cost savings for the owner, often these new fancy pieces of equipment cost a fortune. If it does reduce one worker from the crew, typically that payroll savings will be moved to the cost of the new piece of tech.

This....


GPS equipment, including sprayer require monthly data plans, upfront costs are even higher than current employee driven units (if you can believe that) & most equipment techs have not has any time to learn or service these units.


I think that we are a long way off from seeing these in a fashion that we have been pitched by the manufactures.

[Rob Marshall]

Before we started working on Pinehurst #10, one of the big companies was out on a couple of old fairways from The Pit working on its self-driving fairway mower technology.


The goal seems to be to cut costs [from the owner standpoint] and eliminate jobs [from the laborers' standpoint].  Tony's suggestion that this is going to free up the crew to do other tasks that often get neglected is naive, or wishful thinking.


Maintenance crews -- often immigrants, sometimes naturalized and sometimes not -- have been the backbone of the golf business for 125 years.  Personally, I will be sad to see them displaced.  Their hard work was always impressive.

In the northeast a club like Oakhill hires immigrants from a labor broker. At least I know they did at one time. At a small private club like mine we struggle to fill our crew. We rely heavily on a few retired guys and college kids.

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

Theres quite a bit to cover here.


First up GPS. I was an early adopter of GPS sprayers. We consistently saw 18% savings on chem and fert applications. However..... we never really saved that. Part of it went to the subscription to access the GPS network and the rest was used in other areas like spraying roughs - which were previously neglected. There were some small labor savings as the machines were more efficient (ie there was less overlap) but more importantly was it was able to put the product exactly where it was supposed to go so there was no overspray onto areas that shouldn't get it.


I've demoed some robot mowers recently. They are impressive but it will take a big change in how we do things to really see obvious savings. The subscription fees for the new fway mower is about the same as an operator for the year in the NE so there is no saving there at all (In the southern states they would see some savings as they mow year round so their labor cost is at least 30% more). There are hidden savings though as they're cheaper to run (BEV over diesel), there are few mechanical parts to go wrong and the lifespan should be greater than what we use now (the battery is guaranteed to still be at 80% after 7 years). The savings are there but at least currently they would take a long time to wash out. There is the environmental benefit of zero emissions and silent operation, which might be a reason alone for some to need them. The smaller ones should be able to offset labor to other areas due to their lower price point. As with everything as (if?!) the price (or the fees) come down the more viable they will become. The manufacturers are not selling these as labor savers in getting rid of jobs but by taking some tasks of the plate to concentrate on more important things (someone has to polish those sprinkler heads ). I was one of the first to use drones to spray hard to reach areas. These provided massive savings as they could spray the areas in a day, which would take 2 guys, at least 2 weeks to do - if we ever had the labor to put on it...


The Turfrad is great tech. I haven't used it but the data it provides can reduce labor - again indirectly - and better turf conditions. I have used Greensight in the past which does the same thing with drones and I am currently trying it with satellite info. I was surprised at how much info the drone provided and how my assistants started using it to plan their mornings. They use UV and IR cameras to read the health of the plant (by reading light wavelengths) so it can see stress before we can. That means instead of just watering areas we think needed it, we could see what needed attention before it became an issue and take care of it. We could see broken/stuck sprinklers so could send someone right to the correct spot and attend to it right away. I am not sold on the satellite version as the data isn't timely enough as it can't "see" though cloud cover. It shows the issues but it is not frequent enough to get ahead of it - which is the whole idea behind having it. The mounted version makes a lot of sense as it is reading the turf everytime it is mowed so it does not have to reply on when it can fly or clouds etc.


Some of it can be seen as a luxury and it still can't beat just using your senses, but at the same time, any tool that makes us more efficient by providing a heads up and helping to conserve resources like water has to be beneficial.