Super Science // EXPERTS' INSIGHTS Know your course better GPS technology offers many benefits for turfgrass managers, including soil moisture maps. How to reap the benefits of GPS technology As GPS technology becomes more common in turfgrass management, experts say now is the time to realize its various benefits By Chris Lewis As GPS technology becomes more prevalent in turfgrass management, Chase Straw, Ph.D., assistant professor, turfgrass management and physiology in Texas A&M University’s department of soil and crop sciences, believes golf course superintendents will reap many benefits. Straw says the most immediate benefit superintendents will notice is the installation of GPS on mainte-nance equipment. Superintendents see location information on new equipment like autonomous mowers and GPS sprayers. Chase Straw Small GPS units, which golfers place in their pockets, help superintendents better understand the foot traffic on their golf courses. Superintendents can use this information to identify highly managed areas that aren't typically in play and convert them to native areas. “GPS on golf carts has many benefits too. One of the greatest — particularly from a management standpoint — may be the ability to geofence areas of golf courses where golf cart traffic isn’t wanted,” Straw says. “Data-driven management is another benefit superintendents will notice, as a result of GPS technology.” Straw says researchers utilize GPS-equipped sensors — from multispectral/thermal cameras on drones to soil moisture sensors — to identify and quantify variability across golf courses, leading to targeted applications of management inputs. Of equal importance, Straw says aerial imagery from drones — along with other sensor data — helps superinten-dents scout for pests and turfgrass issues. “The technology is improving, and more research is being conducted with data to utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning models to correctly identify issues and predict their occurrence or outbreak,” he explains. “This information will be valuable to superintendents so they can be on offense, rather than constant defense, with their management.” He adds, “This should enable superintendents to have more informed decision making with their management inputs so that applications are made more efficiently.” G Golfdom.com 44 // Golfdom June 2022 PHOTO COURTESY OF: CHASE STRAW
Golfdom June 2022: Page-44
