It’s not just the greenkeepers that are impressed with the fleet of six Echo TM-2050 robotic mowers installed by GroundTech at Hartsbourne Country Club, the members are too.
Less than a month after their delivery, players and staff alike have recognised the transformation in presentation of some of the club’s perimeter areas which previously proved near impossible to maintain in challenging winter conditions.
Like many heavy clay soil courses, this 27-hole club in South Hertfordshire can often lay wet during prolonged periods of rainfall, creating problems in getting machinery out to regularly cut the rough and fairways.
General Manager Terry Mulford-Lawlor explains that the knock-on impact extends well beyond the winter, “Both presentation and playability suffers and then, come the spring, the grass is so long and dense that it takes a lot of hard work to get them back to where we want them to be. The proposition that the Echo robotic mowers could be cutting consistently whatever the weather was of great interest.”
Terry was assisted in his search by Marcus Glover and Sam Baker from GroundTech, along with Sam Daybell from Echo, who paired the club with six TM-2050 robots with solar array and portable battery chargers.
The largest of the Echo range, the TM-2050, offers the pinnacle of productivity, capable of mowing areas of up to 75,000m2 while simultaneously providing precise mulching of material for an immaculate finish.
Says Terry: “It’s no exaggeration to say that these mowers have been a gamechanger for us. The intention was that they’d be used only for the rough. However, the GroundTech team mapped all of our fairways and with the results so outstanding we’d be mad not to use them everywhere.
“The work these robots are doing has already freed up our skilled team of ten greenkeepers to then focus their efforts elsewhere – hand-cutting areas such as aprons which we’ve not previously had the resources to do and focussing on the technical and agronomic aspects of course management that will take our offering to the next level.”
Terry adds: “Our members have been quick to comment that the rough has never looked better, but what’s more they just love watching the robots at work – we’ve even been asked if it’s possible to name and sponsor them!”
Terry concludes, “The process from start to finish has been smooth, personalised and professional. GroundTech supported us and went the extra mile to ensure we had the right set-up and infrastructure to get the most out of our machines. They didn’t over-emphasise what the mowers were capable of, but then they didn’t really need to. We already see this is the future for us.”