Turf Talk By: Geoff Sheffield

The maintenance team has a unique new team member, I have been looking at robotic ball pickers for some time now and  finally found one. The Pik’r can now be seen on the range daily doing its job.

The crew will be getting trained over the next couple of weeks on how to manage this employee.

We will be developing new procedures for the maintenance crew as we fine tune our operations.

The Pik’r is Canadian made and we are the 2nd golf course on the island to have one. 

This robot has some features that will help us have a better turf surface. The discs that grab the balls will not dig into the turf as it turns, they are designed to rotate as it turns not dig in. The machine has castor front wheels and large drive wheels which will also help the turf. 

We will be monitoring its effectiveness closely for labour and machine cost savings. The labour saved on picking balls can then be redirected to course service. As we learn you may see it just sitting there waiting for us. As I write this the Pik’r is on pause in front of the flag near the small pond, It notified me of a problem. After lunch we will go find out what is happening.

The communication alerts go directly to the operator’s phone when there is an issue or if it’s full and on its way back to the club house.

Other maintenance news.

The crew is finishing up with the irrigation upgrade to Pacific #4 and 5. We have had to install some drainage in the boxes and run some basic tests. Very soon we will try the computer testing of these holes. Spring and summer is coming, we are going to need these sprinklers. Thanks again to these guys slugging it out in some ugly weather and muddy conditions.

Have a great spring.