Getting Technical

From computers and cell phones to sub-surface sensors and GPS mapping, the latest technology is changing—and improving—the way that superintendents do their jobs.

by Betsy Gilliland (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
November 2009
 

SUMMING IT UP Technological advances in the turf industry have helped superintendents conserve water, reduce costs and labor, keep more accurate records and run more efficient operations. Technology helps superintendents manage their turf on a site-specific basis, rather than under a broad spectrum. With the use of technology, superintendents can monitor turf conditions from any location including their golf courses, their offices or even their homes.

 

Two freestanding, on-course weather stations (above)—one on higher ground and one in a low-lying peat area—help Rick Fredericksen, Golf Course Superintendent at Woodhill Country Club (right), monitor course conditions.

When Certified Golf Course Superintendent Rick Fredericksen entered the golf course maintenance field 30 years ago, computers weren’t a very big part of the profession that revolved around green grass and open spaces. Three decades later, maintaining grass in mint condition is still very much a part of the job—but few superintendents could now keep their turf in optimum form without everyday use of modern technology.

At many properties such as Fredericksen’s Wood-hill Country Club in Wayzata, Minn., turf technology has advanced beyond even the most farsighted expectations. Today, the superintendent is not the only member of the club’s course maintenance staff who relies heavily on a technological edge; Fredericksen’s two assistants and mechanic are plugged in as well. All told, Fredericksen says, technology has propelled Woodhill from broad-based turf maintenance to site-specific grounds management and agricultural use of global positioning system (GPS)-based mapping.

“It all comes down to precision turf management,” he says. “How can you give the players the best conditions possible?”

Rick Fredericksen

Using Your Sensors
While computers have become an indispensable staple in every business, including golf course maintenance, technology continues to move in exciting new directions. And in turf management, much of that direction is now downward. One of the newest technological advances in the turf industry is underground wireless sensors.

Card Sound Golf Club, in Key Largo, Fla., installed wireless sensors in six greens and one fairway in April. The sensors monitor the moisture, temperature and salinity of the soil.

“I wanted to improve our water management practices and improve the playability of our greens,” says Golf Course Superintendent Sean Anderson.

The system operates by a wireless mesh network in which underground wireless sensors transmit data to aboveground radios. The radios then feed the data from the sensors to the computer system.

Anderson says he gets readings every 20 minutes, and he has been able to mine “tons of data” from the system. He can determine the temperature thresholds that the greens can reach, track conditions, and retrieve historical data. He also can determine why the grass responds to conditions in certain ways.

He also expects the sensors to help him adjust his maintenance practices to the course conditions that vary with the seasons.

During Card Sound’s peak golf season from November to May, the course gets extremely dry because of a lack of natural rainfall. In addition, notes Anderson, “We’re pushing our greens to the limit with double-cuts and rolling. They get compacted and stressed.”

Card Sound Golf Club’s wireless sensors monitor the moisture, temperature and salinity of the soil. Based on the data collected, Superintendent Sean Anderson can determine the best course of turf maintenance.

The property generally receives more natural rainfall during the summer months, when other tasks such as aerification and verticutting greens take precedence. Anderson also says the data he gathers from the sensors can help him with his scheduling and daily planning.

Three underground sensors were installed on each of the six greens in an identical pattern. One sensor was installed in a stress area on a mound; one was placed in the middle of each green; and the third sensor lies in a low area that holds excess moisture. The sensors were installed in the property’s two best greens and in two greens that the crew struggles to maintain. They were also installed in two greens where the maintenance challenges fall in between the best and the most difficult greens.

Mapping New Paths GPS mapping of golf course features quickly has become a favorite tool of superintendents, and the technology offers a number of benefits. Through the process, superintendents can: Improve water conservation efforts; Pinpoint the size and locations of features such as greens, tees, fairways, bunkers, ponds, cart paths and trees; Control fertilizer and plant protective applications; Save time and labor costs; Create accurate records for current and future golf course maintenance staffs.

Salinity readings from the sensors have already benefitted Card Sound, which irrigates the course by using recycled water from reverse osmosis. This process, along with the property’s proximity to the ocean, leads to an increased sodium buildup on the grounds. In the pre-sensor days, the grounds crew flushed the greens every two weeks. Not anymore.

“We realized we didn’t have to flush the greens every two weeks,” notes Anderson. “We could do it every three weeks, or once a month.”

As a result, he says, the property has been able to cut its water usage in half—and these days, any type of water savings is a plus for a golf course.

Tim Glorioso, Certified Golf Course Superintendent and Director of Golf Course Operations at Toledo (Ohio) Country Club, started testing three different types of wireless sensors at the beginning of the summer. Two were underground, and one was handheld.

This technology has quickly become one of Glorioso’s favorite tools—particularly the handheld sensors. While the in-ground devices allow him to check only the spots where they are located, he notes, “With the handheld sensor, I can walk around and check the greens.”

The sensors have allowed him to reduce the amount of water he uses on the greens. “I can check them in the morning,” Glorioso explains. “If I have enough moisture in the greens, I won’t have to water in the afternoon or bring in additional labor to syringe the greens.”

He also controls water usage with a computer-controlled irrigation system, which gives him 24/7 access to the data.

“I can adjust it anytime,” he notes. “I can do it from home.”

At Card Sound, Anderson says he is looking forward to gathering and interpreting additional information from the wireless sensor readings.

“It gives us scientific data, and that’s going to help correlate into better management down the road,” he adds. “It will be interesting to see how far this will take us. I’m excited about it.”

Getting Site-Specific
Technology is also bringing new efficiencies to Woodhill’s conservation efforts, through GPS mapping of its irrigation system. The system divides the golf course into zones that range from a peat marsh area that once was a lake to a high-and-dry glacial ridge of sand and gravel. The GPS system focuses on three areas—irrigation, fertilization and the application of plant protectives.

Because of the GPS data, the Woodhill crew now waters the turf only every three or four days. In addition, the staff has reduced its use of fertilizer and plant protectives by controlling water usage.

The GPS coordinates, which were mapped as part of a research and development study with a major turf industry manufacturer, help Fredericksen determine the turf’s volumetric water content, compaction and stress level. Using an infrared spectrometer, a red light indicates stress areas while a blue light signals no danger signs are present.

Toledo CC’s Tim Glorioso, Director of Golf Course Operations, uses both underground and handheld sensors to monitor turf.

Fredericksen puts this data about the sprinkler system on a spreadsheet, to see where the grass is under the most stress. “We found that the peat areas held more water, and in the high areas, the sprinklers were inadequate,” he reports.

The property has performed GPS mapping of the locations of its trees, ponds, bunkers and cart paths. This data includes the size of the bunkers, as well as how much sand the hazards contain and the square footage of the tree and pond areas.

“We can make sure that we’re treating the areas properly,” adds Fredericksen.

Toledo CC has also conducted GPS mapping of its irrigation heads, as well as the locations of its greens, tees, fairways and bunkers.

The Woodhill staff has even installed GPS units on equipment at various intervals during the year, to track the fuel efficiency of their maintenance and mowing practices. The crew ran its equipment with the attached GPS units during the first two weeks of the year, two weeks in June, and two weeks at the end of the summer. As a result of their findings, reveals Fredericksen, the golf course has been able to reduce its fuel consumption by 10 percent to 15 percent.

Two freestanding, on-course weather stations—one on higher ground and one in a low-lying peat area—also help Fredericksen monitor course conditions. The weather stations measure rainfall and track wind speed, air temperature, solar radiation and evapotranspiration rates. All of this data is fed back to Fredericksen’s computer, which enhances his ability to maintain the turf.

Always Connected
New and improved portable devices have become some of the most useful technological advances in the turf industry. Glorioso says his BlackBerry has become an indispensable tool of the trade that helps him communicate with his staff.

“It makes it so much easier,” he explains. “We used to have radios, but now my whole [management] staff has phones.”

These people include his two assistants, his mechanic and a foreman.

His contact numbers are readily accessible in his cell phone or on his computer. He also can take and transmit photos with his BlackBerry, so other staff members see what he sees in real time, and  can get updated weather reports.

“I don’t have to run back to my office and keep checking,” he notes.

Although superintendents have come to develop a strong new reliance on high-tech tools such as cell phones. computers and underground technology, the grass isn’t always greener in this world of timesaving and efficiency-producing devices.

“When [technical devices] are down, you don’t know what to do,” Glorioso laments. “That’s one thing I can’t fix.”

Nevertheless, superintendents show no desire to return to the bygone days of limited technology—and for good reason.

“[Technology has] made us much more efficient, and better managers of our turf,” Fredericksen says.