Recently, I had the pleasure to meet up with John Quinn, course manager at the Mere Resort in Cheshire.
The course is set in an affluent corner of northeast Cheshire. The estate at Mere can trace its history right back to the 11th century, when it merited a mention in the Domesday Book. There's been a golf club here since 1935, and the Championship course is still the main attraction, however in recent years it's transformed into more of a country resort.
John was keen to discuss his recent acquisition of some Kress robots as well as to show me them working around the course.
We were joined by John’s assistant, Scott Kellard, whose job is to oversee the management of the robots. We were also joined by Gregg Cain, sales manager for Kress who had suggested I came to see the robots in action and meet John to discuss how they had been received and have helped improve the condition of the golf course.
John came to work at the Mere GC in 2015 and was soon promoted to the role of course manager in 2018. The course is primary a hotel resort catering for corporate golf but also has a membership of 250 that are allowed to play the golf course throughout the year. The course is parkland / heathland, set around the impressive Mere.
Whilst there, I also had the chance to speak to the resort’s general manger Gary Johnson. He fully supports the greenkeeping staff and has a good working relationship with John.
With so much work going on, they tend to meet on a regular basis to ensure the golf course delivers on the standards the resorts expects. The club have recently invested in a brand-new Rainbird irrigation system for tees, greens and approaches and one fairway with additional pipe work, tanks and valves put in place to enable them to install a full fairway irrigation system sometime in the future.
Also, John is currently negotiating a new machinery deal in the coming months and has had several conversations with leading machinery manufacturers. The club currently run with Toro machinery.
John has ten members of staff, but is looking at eventually building up the team to around fifteen to cope with the amount of work required and standards expected.
The idea of utilising robots came via a meeting with Greg who John knew from when Gregg worked for Cheshire Turf. Gregg suggested they conducted a small trial with a single robot. However, it soon turned into three robots being trialled with the aim of cutting areas of the course that tended to be too wet to get on with ride-on machinery in the winter months.
They currently have the three robots cutting most of the rough areas around the course and told me they have found them to be reliable, proving to be labour-saving. All in all, the work they can do collectively is saving about twelve-man hours a week. This enabling the greenkeeping staff to get on with other additional work. One example of this has enabled John to improve the presentation and playability of the course by focussing on additional mowing of collars and approaches on all the holes.
I was told there had been some teething problems with the robots in terms of setting cutting heights, but this has now been resolved. The club are currently using three Kress 236E RTK models capable of operating at a speed 0.8m /s speed, fitted with a 10 Ah battery and able to cut up to 36,000m2.
John said that the robots are set in different parts of the course where powers is available and they are working well with no glitches in terms of loosing a signal when in operation. They are set on a 24hour cutting cycle and are cutting at a height of 60mm.
John says he and his team have been impressed with the robots’ productivity. They are now considering enlarging the fleet with three additional units, with the opportunity to take on Kress’s newer model the 237E. This offers increased cutting area, (42,000m2), increased speed 1.2m/s and increased battery size (20Ah). The 237E also offers enhanced cutting performance and can cut much lower down to 10mm making it suitable for mowing fairways.
John and Scott did consider other makes of robotic mowers, they told me, but their final choice was centred around what they described as the robustness, easy to programme nature and speed of the Kress robotic mowers. Scott showed me the Kress App for the robotic mowers; each one having their own name making them easily controlled and programmed.
As for future challenges, they might be centred around power infrastructure, eg placement of charging stations; the Inability to create perfect striping patterns; the potential for increased thatch buildup; and, finally, limited battery and solar charging capabilities at present.
I believe the key is viewing robots as tools to enhance, not replace, human greenkeeping expertise. Continuous feedback and technological improvements will be crucial for successful long-term adoption of robotic mowers here at the Mere GC.
So, what did I take away from my visit and chat with John?
Firstly, that the use of robot mowers definitely frees up resources and can mow in conditions not always suitable for heavy triple mowers in wet areas of the course. The RTK system is reliable, and the robots can mow in challenging weather conditions. And in general, they are cheaper to run and service than traditional cylinder / rotary mowers.
