Issue #006: Start Building the Autonomous Course

It’s 5:30 a.m. and the shop is already making choices.

Do you send your best operator to mow fairways, or do you hold them back because a reel unit is acting up? Do you pull someone off detail work to pick the range, or do you accept a slower start at the first tee? Nothing is catastrophic. But the plan is fragile.

That’s the operational reality autonomy is stepping into.

Nine months ago, I shared The Autonomous Golf Course. My newly updated for 2026 2nd Edition landed this week, and the biggest evolution isn’t “what’s coming.” It’s what has moved from experiment to normal operations.

The takeaway is simple: autonomy is no longer just machines. It’s systems. It’s planning. It’s repeatability. There’s a link to download the updated 2nd Edition at the bottom. 👇

Golf maintenance is still craft work. But the environment around the craft has changed.

Labor is harder to staff and harder to retain. Budgets are tighter. Water decisions are more visible. And expectations for conditioning haven’t moved an inch.

The traditional response has been to push harder: longer hours, tighter windows, more strain. That works until it doesn’t.

Autonomy shows up as a stabilizer. Not because it “replaces” people, but because it takes repetitive, predictable work and turns it into managed output.

The autonomy conversation gets stuck when we talk in generic terms.

“Robots are coming.”
“Autonomous mowing will be big.”
“AI will change everything.”

The courses actually moving forward are doing something else. They are picking specific pressure points and installing systems that reduce variability.

Here are real categories that are already here, with real examples.

Before you automate a task, you usually have to see it.

Connected platforms are making that possible:

These aren’t “autonomous mowers.” They’re the operating layer that makes autonomy manageable at scale.

The practical shift is this: autonomous mowing is increasingly treated like a route, not a machine.

Husqvarna positions its robotic golf course mowers as battery-powered, remotely managed solutions for tees, fairways, approaches, and rough, with fleet management and low-noise operation.

This framing matters. If you treat autonomous mowing as “one robot,” you manage it like a toy. If you treat it like a route and a schedule, you manage it like production.

Spraying is one of the highest-consequence tasks in the shop, and it historically depends heavily on operator consistency.

Frost’s ASTRO is positioned as an autonomous sprayer designed specifically for precision applications on golf course greens, emphasizing consistent coverage with less operator involvement.

Whether you deploy full autonomy or stepped automation, the direction is the same: tighter coverage, less overlap, clearer records.

Range picking is repetitive, time-consuming, and disruptive to morning plans. It’s also a workflow that lends itself to automation quickly.

Korechi’s Pik’r is a series of autonomous, all-electric golf range picking robots designed to retrieve large volumes of balls, scheduled and monitored via app-based tools, and deployed without buried perimeter wires.

Korechi’s Golf Range Picker attachment is purpose-built to work with the Pik’r robots and can be configured across multiple “gangs” with defined ball capacity per gang.

OnPar Automation focuses on “complete driving range automation” and describes a battery-operated, GPS-based range picker using proximity sensors, built to collect around the clock, plus ball drop-off solutions (like a modular bridge) designed to reduce labor and streamline the loop from field to cleaning to dispensing.

Range autonomy isn’t about novelty. It’s about removing one of the most predictable daily labor disruptions and turning it into a managed system.

Autonomy isn’t just equipment doing tasks. It’s the steady move toward condition-based decisions.

Bright Autonomy positions its approach as an automation platform with retrofit capability, analytics, route planning, and a safety system, aimed at reducing labor strain and modernizing fleets.

This category matters because the real operational change isn’t “we bought a robot.” It’s “we have visibility, then we adjust.”

If you want momentum without chaos, keep it simple:

Autonomy delivers value when it becomes part of the plan.

Autonomy can create new failure points if it’s treated like a hands-off purchase.

Connectivity gaps, mapping drift, staff distrust, and weak service and support can turn “labor relief” into “more troubleshooting.” The courses that win with autonomy treat it like a system that needs management, not a hands-off machine to turn loose on its own.

Autonomy isn’t a destination. It’s a toolset that stabilizes operations when labor and resources are less-than predictable.

— Kurt TeWinkel

On The GrassBot Network Podcast this week:
Eric Feldhusen, Director of Agronomy, Glenwild Golf Club in Park City, UT discusses his experience as an early adopter of Firefly Automatix autonomous mowers and his integration of Kress autonomous mowers in roughs.
🎙️LISTEN HERE 🎙️

If autonomy is part of your maintenance system, it needs a daily rhythm.

A simple shop routine that works:

This keeps autonomy from becoming a side project. It becomes production.

Result: fewer morning surprises and cleaner communication between superintendent, assistants, equipment manager, and crew.

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The best autonomy business case is not “we’ll save money.”

It’s “we’ll reduce volatility.”

Example: If your operation spends 100 labor hours each week on repeatable work that can be automated or semi-automated, and you reallocate 30 of those hours to higher-value tasks, that’s 30 hours of volatility removed from the schedule.

Over a 30-week peak season, that’s 900 labor hours redirected.

That’s not headcount reduction. That’s quality protection: more time for detail, irrigation correction, preventive maintenance, and fewer rushed mornings.

Practical takeaway: when you pitch autonomy, quantify hours stabilized and where those hours will go.

Congratulations to the following individuals on completing GCSAA's Greenkeeper Certificate:
• Arik Gamble from Horseshoe Farms (IN)
• Charlie Kaffka from Carmel Country Club (NC)
• Toni Dyous (FL)
• Patrick Deer from Traverse City Country Club (MI)
• David Ketch from Columbia State Community College
• Eric Crawford from Chechessee Creek Club (SC)
• Jack Bornhoft from Ballyneal Golf Club (CO)
• Zack Wulf from Lakeview Golf & Country Club (WA)
• Kendall Carrier from Maccasin Wallow Golf Course (FL)
• Tristan Bugh from Crow Valley Golf Club (IA)
• Scott Galey from Ironhorse Golf Club (KS)
• Jorden Vecchio from Plum Brook Country Club (OH)
• Juan Hernandez from Riverside Golf Course (TX)
• Jacob Heinemann from Shaker Hills Golf Club (MA)
• Christopher Palmer from The Great Outdoors Golf Club (FL)
• Benjamin Schraer from Weekapaug Golf Club (RI)

As part of a broader workforce development effort, the GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America) has introduced the Greenkeeper Certificate, built specifically for entry-level crew members.

This isn’t a marketing badge. It’s structured, baseline training.

To earn the certificate, participants complete six educational webinars, pass an exam, and demonstrate practical proficiency in:

For operations struggling with onboarding, training consistency, or setting expectations with new hires, this creates a clearer starting line.

Strong crews aren’t built accidentally. They’re trained intentionally.

Learn more here:
https://www.gcsaa.org/who-we-are/media/news/2025/10/21/gcsaa-launches-greenkeeper-certificate-for-entry-level-crew

If autonomy is always framed as “the future,” it never gets evaluated like equipment.

But the reality is already clear:

The next step for the industry isn’t arguing whether autonomy belongs. It’s learning how to manage it without disrupting detail work.

What to do: pick one workflow, pilot it, assign ownership, measure reallocated hours, then scale with intent.

One-line close: Autonomy isn’t sales hype when it’s tied to a schedule and a result.

If you could remove one repetitive daily routine by utilizing autonomy this season, what would it be?

Hit reply and tell us which area you’d automate first, and why.

Shoot me an email with some thoughts, will you please?
I may feature your insight in a future issue. Email Kurt 📩

Quick progress report.

Issue #005 was sent to 156 subscribers.
155 were successfully delivered.
Open rate: 65.81% of delivered emails.

That places us in the top 10% of Beehiiv newsletters. 🏆

Click-through rate is hovering just over 12%, which sits in the top 20% platform-wide.

This issue, Issue #006 was sent to somewhere ~185 subscribers.

Do I wish we were at 5,000 or even 10,000 subscribers already? Of course.

But this started at zero. Literally. No imported list. No inflated numbers. Just steady, organic growth built on useful content for turf professionals.

The most common question I get is: “How do you make money from this?” And that’s a fair question.

Right now, aside from a few pay-per-click ads, there are no meaningful revenue streams. Not yet. I have ideas and plans. But building the foundation with valuable, trusted content comes first.

That said, if you’re a company reading this and see alignment with the TurfOps culture and audience, I’d welcome a conversation about thoughtful, relevant “powered by” content opportunities.

We’re building this intentionally. And we’re just getting started.

👇Download your FREE PDF copy of The Autonomous Golf Course below 👇