The golf course upkeep trade has neither shunned nor totally embraced expertise. In our travels, we discover soil moisture inside utility autos, places of work and upkeep services. Computers providing real-time irrigation knowledge are widespread sights, particularly within the arid West and unpredictable Southeast. We encounter digital job boards in breakrooms. Industry firms are figuring out early adopters for battery-powered handheld gear and mowers. Some of you have got satisfied your bosses to buy a GPS-guided sprayer. Nearly each certainly one of you makes use of a number of apps to trace the climate.

Turf expertise is elevating the expertise for hundreds of thousands of golfers and creating upkeep efficiencies within the heavy-play, tight-labor period. But lukewarm attitudes towards expertise proceed to permeate segments of the trade.

Thousands of profitable turf professionals use solely their senses to find out moisture ranges and illness strain. A superintendent just lately advised us he can “smell what the turf needs.” The grounds smelled as nice as smoked brisket on the day of that go to.

Messages nonetheless simmer in lots of inboxes, as a result of a big portion of the trade meets or exceeds expectations with out recurrently utilizing digital communication. Thankfully, information and product data continues to be distributed through month-to-month printed magazines and annual catalogues. Email and social media, even in 2023, aren’t for everybody.

We haven’t noticed any chalkboards in current travels, though dry erase boards and handwritten directions nonetheless get crews to the proper locations every morning. Manual punch time clocks are nonetheless close to workplace and store doorways. Labor hours and budgets are nonetheless tracked through pen and paper.

Earlier this 12 months, we profiled programs that don’t want irrigation computer systems to watch water utilization on fairways — as a result of they don’t have fairway irrigation methods. Operating with out a fairway irrigation system makes it difficult to water in rising plant protectant expertise.

Compared to the garden care trade, golf upkeep is within the primitive phases of adopting electrical mowers and handheld gear regardless of the specter of looming regulation and on-the-books noise ordinances. The hurdle? Many superintendents stay skeptical that electrical gear can carry out on the similar ranges as gas-powered gear. Similar skepticism surrounds robotic mowers. Just a few high-profile flubs involving electrical and robotic mowers have curtailed superintendent belief.

Reasons why segments of the trade stay tech-resistant embody:

• High upfront prices
• Perception that new choices are just for “high-end” programs
• Personal intimidation
• Personal complacency
• A survive-the-day mentality that limits obtainable time to be taught and undertake new practices and merchandise
• Industry failure to place itself as tech-minded
• Satisfaction with present outcomes beneath given budgets
• Lack of consciousness round new applied sciences

To assist our readers, followers and listeners turn into higher acquainted with rising golf upkeep expertise, we’re launching the “2023 Golf Course Industry Turf Technology Showcase.” The dwell on-line video occasion begins at 1 p.m. EDT Thursday, July 20. Register for FREE at events.golfcourseindustry.com/gciturftech/. Representatives from trade firms will comprise the presenter lineup.

Can’t make the dwell broadcast? We have a tech-friendly, on-demand replay system. Sessions can be shared through the Fast & Firm publication and saved on the occasions part of our web site.

We’re assured each shunners and embracers can profit from the showcase — and we’re assured the instruments mentioned within the showcase can be noticed in additional of our travels.