Many years ago a machinery sales rep paid me a visit one morning and said “One day, Alan, you will be able to have all of your golf course mown without using greenkeeping staff”.

I looked at him in bewilderment. He went on to explain that mowers would be able to cut the entire golf course using GPS co-ordinates. These mowers would know exactly where to mow (and more importantly know where not to mow). The sales rep continued by saying that the same technology will also be used in sprayers to carry out automatic fungicide applications and liquid feeding as well as fertilizer spreaders. I remember it was on a Monday morning when he said all this to me so I put his chat down to him having too much to drink in his local pub the night before.

That sales rep may have been fully sober after all as that day is already with us. The sales of robotic mowers this year is on the rise and increasing. Most of the sales are for the domestic market, used in home gardens. However, there are some manufacturers developing robotic mowers for the professional turf sector, especially for sportsgrounds and schools. Belrobotics, Husqvarna and STIHL are examples of such companies. They have models that can mow up to 1 acre and more. Toro have partnered with TurfTroniq to develop and deliver the technology for automated steering of Toro mowers. TurfTroniq have developed two types of automated mower steering systems, the Assisted Mowing System (AMS) and the Robotic Mowing System (RMS). The latter allows the machine to mow independently.

I must say I like the idea of the assisted type mowing system technology. I wish it had been around back in the days when I was a greenkeeper. I remember many frustrating training sessions with new staff trying to get them to mow in a straight line. The advantage with AMS is that you still require an operator but you know you will end up having perfectly straight lines on your greens, fairways or football pitches. As a result, the presentation of your golf course or sports pitch will be greatly enhanced.

Having said that, will all of this advanced technology be a good thing? First impressions would make one believe that this would be the case. Benefits of robotic mowers would include a saving in man-hours, a reduction in mowing costs, as well as environmental benefits. It would mean that course managers and groundsmen could redirect their staff to do those much needed jobs around the course that were always put on the long finger. Happy days - or is it?

Golf course and sportsground owners/directors could see the advantages of robotic mowers in a different perspective than the groundsman. The danger for sportsturf managers is that their employers would see these automated machines as a way of reducing staff numbers, despite the pleas of greenkeepers not to do so. As we know already, grounds staff numbers in Ireland have declined significantly since the financial crash of 2008, which has put a lot of pressure on sportsclubs to keep the standards of turf maintenance at the same high level pre 2008. Reducing the number of staff even further would put a lot of strain on head greenkeepers and pitch managers, thus opening the door for the potential loss of quality in sports pitch and golf course maintenance standards.

Robotic mowers look like they are here to stay, especially in the domestic market place. I can see the benefits for their use in sportsgrounds and golf courses.
I’m all in favour of new technology benefiting the greenkeeper or groundsperson. As long as it’s not to the detriment of people losing their jobs. So be careful what you wish for.