Cool, calm and committing to the future

Fred Couples may be the coolest guy in golf. At 65, he still tells the best stories, makes the girls swoon and has one of the game’s most elegant and enviable golf swings. He also carries more hybrids in his bag than irons in an effort to keep up with the modern game.

Cory Isom, the director of agronomy at Portland Golf Club, about a three-hour drive down the I-5 from Couples’ hometown of Seattle, says superintendents find themselves in a similar position: at the intersection of cool and technology.

A former USGA agronomist, Isom marvels at advancements such as moisture meters, data collection programs and autonomous mowing. At the same time, he knows that superintendents have produced some amazing results over the years at courses around the world without many of the advanced tools, systems and methods now at their fingertips.

“As cool as some of this technology is, I have to keep reminding myself that we have collectively done a pretty good job of caring for golf courses without this stuff for many decades,” Isom says.

That’s why he takes a pragmatic view of the role of technology in turf care.

“The lens I look at tech through is, how will it make us better and/or more efficient?” he says. Failing to strike the right balance can turn technology’s promises into distractions. “Sometimes, cool doesn’t always mean better. I’ve seen some courses get bogged down in tech.”

But he knows there’s only one direction and one speed in his profession: forward and fast.

Ask Isom what adjustments turf managers and agronomic professionals should make immediately and he’s quick to settle on two must-have priorities: moisture and water management, and data collection. He calls moisture meters “no-brainers” and is also a fan of programs from companies like ASB taskTracker, GreenKeeper and USGA’s DEACON that track and store information that enables superintendents to monitor key aspects of their operations and make informed decisions.

“With moisture sensors, irrigation decisions can be based on data versus feel,” Isom says. “Once a course establishes thresholds, it makes irrigating so much more precise. This typically results in using less water to achieve similar or better course conditions.”

Advances in data collection allow turf managers to fine-tune their operations continually. “Collecting clipping volumes and comparing that to fertilizer and/or plant growth regulator applications can be very informative for future applications,” he says. “You can then compare those to things like green speeds, mowing/rolling frequency, verticutting, and sand topdressing to further refine how you prepare surfaces for play.”

Isom has also seen the benefits of scheduling and data collection when it comes to managing crew assignments and tracking labor.

On the analog side of the issue, he’s quick to note the profession’s time-honored tradition of asking reliable vendors and trusted colleagues for advice and suggestions. He considers it a low-tech but fiscally appealing way of increasing one’s own knowledge by leveraging that of others. Three questions he favors:

• Which new technologies do you consider to be most reliable?
• Where have you seen these technologies in use?
• How readily could you and your staff implement the new capabilities and science?

Isom sees autonomous mowing capabilities as the next-to-emerge technology worthy of consideration.

“Autonomous/GPS tech is here,” he says. “Some are better than others. With GPS sprayers, if you have a good signal, these can be very good. Precision of application is exceptional.”

Going deeper into the details, he adds that, “On the autonomous front, for rough mowing, smaller units from Kress, Husqvarna, Echo and Mammotion are a low-cost entry point into this world. With a lightweight footprint, they can mow in wet conditions better than our traditional rough mowers.”

For fairways, he considers FireFly Automatix “the leader in the clubhouse.” He’s also been intrigued by international companies now offering aftermarket kits that convert existing fairway mowers into autonomous mowers, noting that the kits offer a cost-effective way to sample the innovative technology.

Isom is one of the thousands of course superintendents who are experiencing firsthand the inexorable pace of change in their business. The trick to keeping up without being distracted by the shiny new object syndrome?

Be more like Freddie. Call it advanced cool.