Editor's Notebook: Heavy-metal maintenance

John Shaw, the superintendent at Valley Brook Country Club, implemented a fleet of RG3 robotic greens mowers this season at the 27-hole facility in suburban Pittsburgh. Cub Cadet acquired the Precise Path Technology earlier this year, but Shaw spent 2014 using two robotic mowers on nine holes and the putting green.

One of his goals involved reducing turf stress from rolling, a necessary process to provide the surfaces members demanded. Shaw collected data twice a day, comparing the nine holes (the gold nine) mowed by the robots to the 18 holes (red and blue nines) maintained by double-cutting and rolling. The robots mow and roll in the same action, and the greens on the gold nine were running six inches faster than those on the other two nines, according to Shaw.

Selling robots to the membership ranks among his biggest challenge, especially considering only the Bayou Club in Largo, Fla., was using the technology. The concept led to initial member “pushback” and some employees “seemed a little bit nervous” about learning the computers. With his standing with members on the line Shaw lobbied the club to purchase six robotic mowers, but last season’s improved putting surfaces were worth the risk.

The RG3 is programmed to mow in seven directions, a different one for each day of the week, and Shaw says the mowers are allowing Valley Brook to create dramatic stripping without sacrificing ball speed. Six employees operate the mowers on a typical morning. An employee removes the flagstick and starts the mower upon reaching a green, and repairs ballmarks and rakes bunker edges as the robot mows. Before this year, it took 10 employees to maintain greens each morning, with seven double-cutting turf and three more rolling surfaces and changing cups.

“Certainly it hasn’t been full-proof. We have had issues throughout the year, where a wire goes bad here or there. It might drive some guys crazy, but it doesn’t drive me crazy. It’s just a new challenge... I’m very, very satisfied with it and plan on continuing to go through with it.”

To learn more about the mowers, type http://bit.ly/1iPdR9K into your browser for a Superintendent Radio Network podcast featuring Shaw.