Applying fertilizers, pesticides, wetting agents, and other plant protective products to golf courses is simply one of those tasks that has to be performed to provide the healthy, quality conditions demanded by today's golfers. Golf course superintendents are always looking for ways to reduce the need to spray, to find ways to more accurately apply the products to ensure they are being applied where they are intended, and to reduce expenses and use of natural resources.
On a typical sprayer used on tees, approaches, and/or fairways, eleven nozzles are combined into three "sections" or "booms". Four nozzles on the right, three nozzles in the center, and four nozzles on the left. The down fall to this system is that when one of the nozzles on the right boom needs to spray, all four of the nozzles spray. This results in overspray of product outside of the desired area which wastes products and water. It can also cause harm to turf which might be sensitive to the product being applied on one area.
One of the best assets that has come along for golf course superintendents in a long time is individual nozzle control made possible by the integration of GPS technology on to the sprayer. Earlier this season we were able to purchase the Smart Guided System GPS sprayer control system for our greens sprayer. This system allows us to map the different areas on our course such as greens, approaches, fairways, and with the individual nozzle control apply the fertilizers and chemicals within 2" of exactly where we want them.
This technology has been a complete game changer for us. By being able to apply the products only to the greens surface and not having to account for overspray with a non individual nozzle control system we have reduced our square footage sprayed on our greens from 130,000 square feet to 98,000 square feet. This has resulted in a reduction of products and water used by over 23%. Our approaches have seen even bigger savings with over 33% reduction in products and water needed since we control which individual nozzles spray and which ones do not.
Here is a video of an application of product to #18 green at Harrison Bay. As you watch it you can see the individual nozzles (indicated by the 1-11 circles at the top) turning on and off as needed and as they enter and exit the boundary of the greens surface which is outlined in green. I have our greens set up to spray 6" outside of the actual boundary of the green so you will see a little activation outside of the green but it can be dialed in to spray any area we choose. The video pixelated a little during recording leaving a couple gaps but all the area was sprayed.
Here is an example of an application of product to #15 approach at Harrison Bay. Again as you watch the video you can see the individual nozzles turning on and off. The approach is outlined in green and the golf green is considered an "obstacle" and will not have any product applied to it. We can spray these narrow areas between the green and the bunkers without fear of spraying products on the greens or overspraying the area as the Smart Guided System will turn on only one nozzle at a time if that is needed.
Set up of the Smart Guided System was easy and with the mapping attachment we chose to use, which mounts to the front of the sprayer, we can drive around our course mapping all the sites or areas we want to record. It is a simple process to record the areas and they are saved in the "cloud"
We have looked at several different GPS sprayer control systems and decided on Smart Guided Systems due to ease of use, the ability to adapt to our existing sprayer, and the very economical price compared to other GPS systems on the market today.
Whether it is the Smart Guided System, or another manufacturer of GPS sprayer control, reducing the amount of products used, the water needed to make each application, and the ability to greater protect the environment and non-target areas from over application of chemicals is here and very accessible to most every golf course. The savings we are seeing in products used compared to previous years will allow us to pay for this system in one season and provide better playing conditions for our golfers and guests.
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