Every golf course manager knows how complicated it can be to manage manpower and maintenance. You have to meet the players’ needs without hindering them. Then you also have to consider the seasonality of club attendance. Automating the maintenance of your course will allow you to face these challenges more easily as well as saving time and effort.
Many types of robots to cover a maximum of needs
When you think of golf courses, you immediately think of course care and the robot mower that is such a help. But you can save much more time, and money, by combining their use with the ball-picker robots and the automatic golf ball washing and redistribution systems. Overview of the benefits of multi-level automation.
The robot mower to maintain your golf course
Unlike a human, a robot mower can work 24 hours a day. So you can mow larger areas, faster. GPS RTK technology allows you to mow in precise strips and avoid going back over areas you have already mowed, saving energy and time. Strip mowing is possible even on golf courses with the most complex shapes.
And no more buried or damaged balls. Modern robots are lightweight. They don’t bury balls. Their cutting heads are also equipped with protective discs that protect the balls.
Another plus, the robot’s mulching function allows you to fertilise the soil in a 100% natural way and saves you the time you would otherwise have spent on fertilising the course. This also reduces your maintenance costs.
The robot ball picker
Besides cutting, thousands of balls still have to be picked up from the course every day. An especially costly and laborious task for employees. Opting for a robot ball-picker offers numerous advantages:
- Easier adjustment to seasonality: The busier the course the more you have to pick up the balls. If it is less crowded, you do not have to spend so much time on the course. If your current systems require human intervention, you probably already know the difficulty of finding flexible staff. No more worries with these robots. You instantly decide if you run them more or less often.
- Almost no more lost balls: as with the robot lawn mowers, the ball-picker robots are lightweight. They do not bury the balls, so almost all of them can be recovered.
- Navigation by patterns: you can even collect the balls by pattern navigation.
- Energy savings: Did you know that a ball-collecting robot has a consumption close to that of a refrigerator? It also reduces CO2 emissions by 90% compared to equivalent thermal machines.
- A golden silence: the robot golf ball-collectors generate very little noise, so, even when running, they allow players to concentrate on their game.
Once the balls are all picked up the robot takes them direct to a drop-off pit. Here again, you can automate the following actions.
Automated cleaning and distribution
Once the balls are placed in the drop-off pit, the robot ball-picker activates a system that runs the balls on down to the washing station. The balls are then washed, sorted and dried automatically. The system then sends them on to the various distributors so that the players can use them. You don’t have to do a thing. Just occasionally check that the machines are full and everything is working properly.
Completely autonomous machines that combine perfectly
As you will see, the work of the various machines is complementary. This makes it possible for them to work in synergy and in a logical sequence. Results:
- your staff spend much less time out on the course, leaving them free to attend to work with more added value,
- you can increase the frequency of mowing the course and picking up balls, so you can extend your opening hours,
- you members are not disturbed by human presence or the noise of machinery,
- mulching makes your golf course more resistant without extra effort on your part,
- the course is cut more precisely, giving time savings and increased aesthetic appeal.
Even easier remote control
A further advantage of working with robots: they are connected and can be controlled by remote via an application. Use your smartphone or tablet to control the maintenance history of your devices, manage your fleet and benefit from a GPS anti-theft solution and geofencing.
You are tempted by automation, but you want a bespoke offer, tailored to your real needs? Don’t hesitate to ask for a online quote, we are here to help.