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Golf

Palmer Hills Golf Course experiments with new robotic mowers

By Joel Kellar,

15 hours ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=18Ggjg_1GMryTNK00

Golfers at Palmer Hills Golf Course may have noticed a Roomba-esque machine roaming the 18-hole course. It's a new electric robot mower from Toro that the course is currently trying out.

"To see if we can kind of automate some of our mowing practices out here," said course superintendent Brian Hickey.

Before the addition, the staff would have to mow early in the morning before the golf course filled up. This machine can run during even peak play hours. It's no danger to players, and with how low the blades are to the ground, it's hard for balls to get stuck.

Automated mowing would also free up time for the staff to work on other things.

"Filling divots, repairing more ball marks on the greens, weed eating," said Hickey. "Just any detail work. More landscape bed maintenance. All of those types of things that just take a lot of labor hours to do."

The mower has 30 blades to cut through the grass at precise levels.

"They can adjust to the ground, that they can go down to about half an inch," said Hickey. "So far, I've really liked the quality of cut. I'm very impressed by it."

The mower is run by an app on a phone, creating a map of the fairways and learning to stay inside. The mower also knows how to create patterns and change the angles of the cut each time.

The mower is electric, which would help cut back on fuel costs for the traditional diesel mower.

"In the $24,000-$30,000 range a year is what we're spending on fuel," said Hickey. "I think the return on investment would be outstanding and fairly quick on these units."

Each mower would cost about $36,000. An antenna would cost $4,000, which keeps the mowers connected to the system. Hickey said the course would need to buy four mowers to fully automate the mowing of the fairways. They are still working with the city to decide if moving forward with that plan is a viable option, but Hickey said it's a sign of where the future of course maintenance and turf management is headed.

"As we transition away from traditional golf course equipment into newer technology, electrification is certainly coming to the golf course industry," said Hickey.

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