Designing the future: preparing golf courses for autonomous and robot mowers
In the modern golf era, mowing has been one of the most time- and labour-intensive jobs in course management. Now, however, the rise of fully autonomous mowers is redefining turf maintenance and soon how courses are designed.
As this new technology becomes an everyday solution to maintain fairways and roughs, golf clubs face a new challenge: optimising courses to ensure autonomous machines operate at their best. In this article, we’ll explore how Reesink and Toro are supporting clubs as they prepare for an increasingly automated future.
How autonomous and robotic lawn mowers work
While robot lawn mowers used in small residential gardens often rely on perimeter wires, Toro’s autonomous mowers – powered by GeoLink and high-accuracy GPS with RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) correction technology – are capable of achieving 1cm positional precision without physical boundaries.
As explained by Lee Rowbotham, GeoLink and Digital Specialist at Reesink: “Toro’s Greensmaster eTriFlex 3360 with GeoLink Mow doesn’t simply go out and cut. Operators can choose desired settings and draw a virtual perimeter, selecting a desired mowing path and highlighting no-go areas that should be avoided by the machine – while still maintaining the ability to adjust speed and cutting functions in real-time through a control panel app.”
How do they navigate the course?
Before you purchase an autonomous mower, we’ll first visit your golf club to ensure there’s sufficient satellite coverage for the machine and advise you on how to best prepare the course.
Once everything is cleared, we’ll help you create a virtual map of the course that the autonomous and robot machines will use as reference, utilising GPS antennas and RTK systems to locate their position and the areas to be mowed in real-time.
What about slopes, uneven terrain and hazards?
With a virtual map, autonomous mowers can navigate your golf course and find optimal paths for operation. But what happens when they encounter an obstacle?
These machines are designed to respond intelligently within the boundaries and rules you set, through a combination of:
- Slope detection and speed adjustment sensors
- Memory-based decisions to avoid hazards mapped out in advance
- Optimised route planning to reduce unnecessary travel
- LiDar, Radar and Sonar sensors to detect obstacles and terrain changes
What are the benefits of GPS robot mowers?
Autonomous mowers are quietly revolutionising course management with a wide range of advantages. These include:
- Unmatched mowing consistency: autonomous mowers are accurate to approximately 1cm and follow optimised paths to avoid gaps and overlaps, removing operator errors and ensuring more uniform turf quality across the course.
- Greater productivity across large areas: one team member can supervise multiple autonomous units at once, enabling clubs to mow more turf in less time.
- Free up your team: requiring minimal supervision, autonomous machines free greenkeepers from time-consuming labour tasks and allow them to focus on specialised work that requires strategic thinking or decision-making.
- Quiet operation, flexible schedules: electric-powered autonomous mowers operate with very low noise, allowing for early-morning or night-time mowing without disturbing golfers or wildlife.
- Predictable, repeatable turf quality: as mower settings and paths can be mapped and saved, turf can be cut to championship standards every time, regardless of operator experience.
For a full breakdown of how autonomous mowers can benefit your course, see our in-depth guide.
Adapting golf course design and infrastructure for automation
While autonomous mowers bring clear advantages, introducing them to your venue requires thoughtful planning and, in some cases, subtle course design adjustments.
As Lee reminds us: “These machines aren’t decision makers. You have to adapt your terrain to them. They will stop if there’s a problem or if it’s not safe, but they won’t think, ‘How can I get around this problem?’ So that’s where a dedicated autonomous expert at your club can help; we’re on hand to give them the training they need.”
1. Strategic power placement and charging infrastructure
Toro Turf Pro robotic mowers typically operate in cycles of work–charge–work and run for roughly 110 minutes, depending on grass length, terrain and mowing height. That makes charger placement critical.
Lee explains: “With approximately 110 minutes of operating time, Turf Pro mowers need power to be added strategically, allowing one or two chargers to service several fairways. It’s an investment in the future: once the infrastructure is in place, your course is ready to reap the benefits of robotic mowing for years to come.”
This will influence course design in multiple ways:
- Electrical trenching may be needed along cart paths or boundaries.
- Charging stations must be installed discreetly but accessibly.
- Power capacity must be able to sustain multiple chargers and future expansions.
- Strategic placement of stations can minimise machine travel time and energy loss.
2. Satellite mapping and polygon-based course planning
Before autonomous mowing can begin, courses must be digitally mapped. Reesink can support clubs through this process by:
- Leveraging satellite imagery
- Using polygon creation for fairways and mowing zones
- Tagging hazards and no-go areas
- Performing site surveys to validate GPS accuracy
3. Rethinking transitions, edges and boundaries
Autonomous mowing requires clean, uninterrupted transitions between fairways, approaches, greens and roughs.
Sharp ridges, abrupt transitions in grass height, steep drop-offs and narrow mowing areas can all affect the efficiency of these autonomous machines. Robot-friendly course design, instead, might include:
- Smoothing abrupt level changes
- Adjusting bunker edges to reduce unnecessary hazards
- Widening access points between turf areas
- Ensuring mowing lanes are wide enough for autonomous navigation
4. Reducing hidden obstacles and hard-to-navigate features
While autonomous mowers can navigate complex terrain, unexpected obstacles should be reduced as much as possible to ensure consistent performance. Site adjustments include:
- Ensuring sprinkler heads are level with surrounding turf
- Eliminating low posts and temporary barriers
- Repositioning tees or markers to reduce clutter
- Simplifying narrow walk-off areas
The best part is that these changes often benefit manual mowing teams, too, helping create a cleaner landscape overall that is also easier to maintain.
The future of golf course design
As autonomous mowing becomes a standard part of modern turf maintenance, the design and layout of golf courses will have to evolve accordingly. “We’re working hard to support this transition, training dealers and clubs, and conducting one-to-one follow-ups on installations,” explains Lee.
“The demand is growing fast,” he adds. “The more support teams get early on, the easier the long-term transition becomes – and, therefore, the more benefits clubs and venues can enjoy from this exciting new technology.”
Leading the way with Reesink
As it becomes more accurate and intelligent, autonomous mowing will play an increasingly important role in re-shaping the infrastructure and design strategies of clubs across the country.
Every course is different. That’s why, at Reesink, we provide hands-on support through:
- Full site evaluations to determine robot suitability
- Infrastructure planning for charging and power
- Digital mapping and configuration
- Installation and setup training
- Long-term dealership and technical support
Ready to explore autonomous mowing for your course? Visit www.reesinkturfcare.co.uk/autonomous to learn more or call 01480 226800 to speak with one of our experts.