News and Updates

If you’ve been around the club at all since the summer or fall, you have probably noticed our small robotic mower. We affectionately refer to this machine as “Bender” and it has tirelessly taken care of the rough around the first tee, behind the pool, and the large field in the front entrance since the middle of June. It even changes height on its own has mowed the dew walk from the first tee to the first fairway over this period as well.

Bender represents the club’s foray into the world of autonomous turf care. A small initial investment was made to see if there was any value into incorporating the use of these types of machines into our everyday maintenance practices. After four months of testing, the results have been outstanding, and the decision was made to move into a second phase of product testing.

Two weeks ago, seven more units were installed. These units will mow a good portion of the rough on the front nine. This area is roughly (pun intended) from the main tee on two over to the forward tee on eight.

If you have played in the last week, you have seen these mowers out doing their work. This will not be a regular occurrence. Our intention next season is to run the mowers in the evening and overnight. However, like any new technology, the machines are not without their glitches. We are running them during the daytime right now to troubleshoot any issues so that they can be deployed smoothly next spring. Some examples of problems that we encounter are steep slopes, high roots, deep basins, or poor satellite reception. Every time a unit encounters one of these scenarios, an error code is sent to our phones. We can then modify the map or the area to avoid this problem again. If you see a unit not running on the golf course, please do not move it. It is probably in an error state that we need to see so that we can correct it.

Each mower is responsible for an individual section that we map out via GPS. We set these areas up with the expectation that the unit could cut its section completely once every two days. Additionally, because they are being mowed so often, there should not be any clippings.

This technology is still fairly new but based on our observations so far, the potential seems incredible. Imagine a world where you play the golf course with rough that is completely consistent because it is being mowed once every 48 hours! This consistency will not only occur from hole-to-hole, but also day-to-day, all while not using not using any manpower or fuel and having zero noise pollution. The future is here!