I recently attended a robotic solutions seminar, held at the prestigious Beau Desert GC in Staffordshire. The event was organised by local dealer Buxtons, based near Penkridge Staffordshire. Having been kindly invited by the company’s MD Kelly Burgess, I went along to hear the latest developments of their Husqvarna range of robotic mowers.

With over 20-plus greenkeepers in attendance representing several local golf clubs, it was a great opportunity for me to ask them their thoughts on how robotic technologies could help them in their roles.

The day began with a welcome from Ellis Adderley, Buxton's commercial sales manager who organised the event and gave an introduction to the day’s proceedings, introducing Craig Stoba from Husqvarna.

Ellis Adderley

Craig Stoba, key account manager, Automower Pro for Husqvarna, was in attendance and highlighted the benefits of golf course automation. His presentation stated that robots can handle basic tasks like cutting fairways and roughs, freeing up greenkeepers to focus on more skilled tasks.

Craig Stoba

He argued that robots offer increased safety, reduced carbon footprint, low noise emissions, and flexibility in operation. A single machine can cut up to 1800 square meters per hour, and fleets can be managed remotely. Clubs like Hillside and Royal Birkdale have significantly reduced labour costs and improved course conditions, he said. The robots, made in the UK, offer 83% lower carbon impact compared to diesel mowers and can handle steep slopes and various terrain.

We then went outside to see one of their robots in action out on the course. Husqvarna had set up it up to mow a fairway at a height of cut of 10mm.

Whilst out on the course, Craig was able to show the cutting deck and explain how easy it was to set up, run and clean. Craig outlined the versatility of their robots to handle a range of golfing environments - for smaller areas or hilly, more complex roughs, semi-rough or fairways, he said the Automower can make easy work of the most difficult of challenges and are suitable for maintaining areas up to 16,000 m² every second day. The all-wheel drive model is capable of handling steep slopes up to 70%, said Craig, making it useable in areas unsafe for brushcutters, hover mowers, or traditional ride-on mowers.

Also available is their Ceora, which Craig said was suitable for a wider range of turf applications, including fairways and semi-rough, and for golf course areas of up to 50,000 m².

Craig told us Husqvarna's range of robotic mowers can cut the following areas of turf :-

• The Ceora can mow up to 25,000m2 per day. 
• The AWD model can mow up to 2500m2 per day
• The 580L can mow up to 8000m2 per day

As for costs, the Ceora, 546 robotic mowers are around £30,000, whilst the Automower 580L EPOS is £7,799.00.

The number of robots needed to maintain an 18-hole golf course can range from approximately 4 to over 10, depending on the specific layout, terrain, and desired finish. A typical fleet will use a combination of large-area mowers and smaller, more agile models.

The Ceora can cut down to 10mm, but the Beau Desert fairways were being cut at 14mm

I spoke to several of the head greenkeepers who all said they feel there is a place for this new technology on their courses - especially if it frees up time and helps (but doesn’t hinder) their work.

However, the worry for many is the concern that over time some golf club managers will see the robots as an excuse to reduce staffing levels and reduce costs.

For me personally, it still early days on the performance of robots working on fine turf playing surfaces. Expectations are high at the professional level of facilities. Having said that, Husqvarna have being developing robotic mowers for a long time now and have developed high-quality machines that are capable and are steadily turning heads in the golf industry. As for other brands, they too will start to catch up and will bring to the marketplace a range of robotics that can serve our industry well.

Currently, I believe it is a case of choosing the right robotic technologies that compliments the traditional mowing equipment to deliver the expectations of your end users. I think it will be a collaboration of innovative machinery that helps us all to deliver customers’ expectations.