Cub Cadet’s RG3: http://www.lawnworld.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/03/RG3-Mower.jpg
Pittsburg Superintendent Josh Shaw introduced an entire line of robotic greens mowers this past season at Valley Brook Country Club. In an interview with Golf Course Industry, Shaw explained that autonomous greens mowers have been beneficial to Valley Brook CC and he is ready to continue moving forward with the new technology.
A full implementation of Precise Path Technology may carry some skepticism within the industry considering just a few years ago superintendents most likely viewed autonomous mowers as fantasy rather than a reality. Now that major equipment manufacturer Cub Cadet has acquired Precise Path, the concept of robotic greens mowers carries some weight.
John Deere Walk Behind Mower: https://www.deere.com
Golf courses with enough budget for labor usually conduct greens maintenance where 4 to 5 employees, per 18 holes, manually operate a walk behind mower. The transition to robotic greens mowers may flow fairly smooth for these courses but what about a course where a triplex mower must be operated due to a smaller labor budget and staff? Never the less reducing labor cost is attractive to any club. Shaw says he was able eliminate two employees from mowing greens each morning and assign them other duties during those crucial morning hours. Essentially, Shaw was able to add two new staff members with no increase in labor cost. While the RG3 is mowing the green a staff member can rake bunkers and repair ball marks. Jobs that are can often be neglected are now taken care of each morning.
Golf Course Mechanic: https://www.pitchcare.com.au/magazine/what-a-relief.html
Robotic greens mowers are new and with anything new comes resistance. One major problem that a course may face would be keeping a robotic mower operational. Every course in the world has a Mr. Irreplaceable that can fix just about any issue but those issues are different from Precise Path Technology issues. When a wire fails, frustration may build and a course must choose between known problems and the unfamiliar. To make the decision golf clubs and their superintendents must weight the negatives and positives of both mowing practices.
The RG3 greens mowers save on labor and have been proven to increase green speeds. Superintendents who are looking for that extra edge may need to take a leap of faith when it comes to robots stepping foot on their greens. They have to be patient with new issues that arise but believe in the process of advancement. Only time will tell if walk behind greens mowers become as prehistoric as sheep grazed fairways and scythe chopped greens.
Great job introducing this very new technology, its advantages and the reasons for resistance. Great job integrating hyperlinks and images. Powerful, creative last line!
Mousumi, my guess would be by the time I am looking to retire a lot of golf courses will be using autonomous greens mowers. I believe the technology will advance at a high pace and eventually make for a logical investment for golf clubs everywhere.
This post was very well written and it taught me a lot about what work related to grass maintenance on country clubs must be like. For someone who isn’t in the field of Turfgrass management, I was able to appreciate what this new technology could do for superintendents. What especially helped was the placement of pictures; it separated the information into compact blocks that gave way to good readability. I can see how the new Robo Mower could lead to both advantages and disadvantages. I think it’s worth taking the risk and testing it out in multiple country clubs though so that the transition to robotic green mowers could be adopted on a large-scale. Do you think that this new advancement will make it’s way to most industries that could use it?
-Mousumi Reja