To produce the conditions necessary to keep his members happy at Valley Brook Country Club, John Shaw, CGCS and his crew once double-cut and rolled greens on a daily basis. Those days are long gone since the Pittsburgh-area club made a drastic change to how it maintains its putting surfaces.
Beginning this season, six RG3 robotic greens mowers that cut and roll all in one pass produce straight lines, fast putting conditions, crisp and clean turns, and what Shaw calls the neatest clean up pass you'll ever see.
He even can program varying turning points so that the mowers do not repeatedly reverse direction in the exact same spot every day
"We all think we're some of the best greens mowers in the world," Shaw said. "We still can't do what this mower's doing as far as a nice gentle drop. There's never a mark on the collar."
Shaw began using a pair of RG3 mowers last year to maintain 10 greens at 27-hole Valley Brook, including the nine holes on the Gold course as well as the club's practice green. It wasn't long before he was convinced the robotic mower, which was acquired from Precise Path last year by MTD (under the Cub Cadet label), was more than up to the task of producing the conditions that members demanded.
The battery-powered RG3 works by programming boundaries for each green into an onboard computer system. A collection of beacons placed around each green guides the mower using sound and light waves that control where it goes and doesn't go. A wire buried beneath each green controls where the mower travels to complete a clean up pass.
Traveling at speeds up to 3.4 mph, the RG3 produces green speeds at Valley Brook that are up to 12 inches faster than traditional mowing and rolling. The difference, which Shaw attributes to increased frequency of clip on the RG3, was so significant, that he raised the height of cut on the greens mowed with the robots to match the conditions on the other greens throughout the property. Greens mowed with the RG3 also pass the eye test for visual quality.
"The perception is that if you have stripes when you mow, then your greens are slow, and if your greens are fast, then you don't have stripes," Shaw said. "We have stripes, and we're fast."
His staff is able to mow five greens on a single battery charge in about 3:25. The RG3 frees up staff to complete other tasks, such as rake bunkers, change cups, repair ball marks and more. One downside, he said, was cost ? each unit carries a price tag of about $45,000. The tradeoff in labor savings, however, was such that he was able to offset the cost of a five-year lease program before the ink was dry on the contract.
When the RG3 debuted before superintendents at the 2009 Golf Industry Show in New Orleans, many attendees were intrigued but admitted they would have a difficult time turning a robotic mower loose on their greens. When Shaw first saw the RG3 in New Orleans, his first reaction was: "I wondered if (the RG3) could do a better job then what we were currently doing."
Members also noticed a difference in visual quality and playability, and were intrigued by the technology. They also were hesitant for their course to be a pioneer in the use of robotic technology on greens. In the end, they entrusted Shaw, who has been at Valley Brook for 13 years, with the final decision.
"My chairman at the time told me ?if we get some weird disease, you know everyone will blame the robots,' " he said.
"It was the hardest sell I've ever done. What it came down to, I told them that if I was willing to stick my neck on the line, they should be willing to put it out there with me.
"In the end, they trusted my judgment and willingness to put my reputation on the line."