In the wake of a multi year battle over banning gas leaf blowers on residential properties, the Rye Golf Club is quietly acquiring electric robotic mowers.
“The technology is just advancing quicker than we could even imagine,” Rye Golf Club General Manager Chris Correale told MyRye.com. “We’re getting three of them as a demo for this year. The idea behind them is to eventually get a full fleet, a full 18 mower fleet. They’re really cool. They work exactly like a robot vacuum.”
Correale said other area clubs already have full fleets of robot mowers including Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich and Fenway Golf Club in White Plains. Fenway also uses a drone to spray herbicides.
“I think it’s time to just keep up with the way the industry is going. And then the sustainability impact, the green impact,” said Correale. “They’re electric. They’re quiet as a mouse.”
This year RGC will be running the mowers as a test on holes 12, 13 and 1 where Golf Course Superintendent Chip Lafferty can keep a close eye on the operation. They will also test them in other areas to see how they handle inclines and slopes.
“Everything is so AI integrated,” said Correale. “Now, I mean our lightning detection system, rain system communicates with the irrigation system, and I’m sure at some point this is going to communicate with the mowers. And the spray rigs are all autonomous now. The spray rigs, they drive themselves and spray within the exact inch of the specific designated area that’s supposed to be sprayed.”
The mowers are commercial from Husqvarna – and the RGC will lease one large and two medium mowers. They will be used on the rough, fairways and teeboxes–everything but the greens. One of the mowers was used at the pool last year and performed well. The mowers can be recharged with direct electric but also with solar chargers at the more remote areas of the course such as holes 17 and 18.
The RGC said it expects the maintenance costs to be lower – as there are no gas engines and no need for sharpening blades on mowers. The electric robot mowers have simple replaceable blades just like a “disposable razor”.
“It’s all app driven, it’s all computer driven. It’s an adjustment for these guys for sure,” said Correale when speaking about the maintenance staff of 15 that work under Superintendent Lafferty.
Correale said the robot mowers will provide for a reallocation of labor so the staff can focus on more of the detailed work. Other clubs have staff two to three times larger, so the benefit is significant.
“They’re providing a country club like golf course with a fraction of the budget and a fraction of labor,” continued Correale, who said the new equipment is less expensive than buying gas equipment.
“It’s probably way cheaper, to be honest with you, I think one of these [new robot mowers], like one of the big ones, is somewhere around $35,000. If we were to buy a full [gas] fairway mower now – $110? If it was used – $90,000, new? maybe $120,000.”
“The golf industry as a whole is feeling the pressure. They know it’s a good old boys club for years, and the demographics changing in golf, and so is the feel around golf. And they know, to keep up, they have to show that, yes, we are mindful of the environment.”
