Golfdom, October 2012

The Right Direction Continued from page 27 28 Golfdom October 2012 Weibring Golf Club used GPS mapping for help in qualifying for the Audubon program offering players more variety Enlisting the help of Kevin Nettles superintendent at the Dallas Athletic Club where Schultz is a member he quickly learned the limitations of traditional pin rotation systems It was eye opening Schultz says Nettles didnt have the technology at his disposal to do something He didnt have the expertise to understand what GPS technology could bring to him What could a 3 D scanning system bring to help him What could mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads do to help him What resulted is a system that creates a 3 D map of each green including the topology and percentage of slope Its a highly accurate survey of each green Schultz says Its accurate to plus or minus 1 centimeter to any point on the green From there each cupable location adhering to the USGAs preference of pin locations with less than 2 percent of slope is mapped GPS referenced and entered into a database Were able to depict where to put each location accurately Schultz says We measure everything from the front and edge of the green Tom Bailey superintendent at Wade Hampton Golf Club in Cashiers N C is receiving positive feedback about the system The members like the layout of the pin sheets and having a pin sheet every day Bailey says They like the variety There were several locations that hadnt been used previously so it gives us a good rotation The system discovers many unknown or previously thought unusable pin locations On average were getting between 150 to 200 locations per green depending on size topology slope and severity of the green Schultz says Map it out Course mapping is another area ripe for GPS technology While traditional mapping still is relatively expensive some companies are developing ways to place accurate maps in the hands of superintendents at a fraction of the cost Typically a course superintendent would pay someone to conduct a survey and provide them with a map based on GPS points and thats a fairly expensive proposition in most places says Jeff Ryan a partner with CourseVision Our approach is different because we start with an aerial photo of the property thats orthorectified Its a high resolution photo tied to GPS points that adjusts for the curvature of the earth and establishes ground accuracy CourseVision then digitizes the photo creating a map that allows for the calculation of measurement data of fairways bunkers cart paths water features buildings or anything else The map is GPS enabled Ryan says Were just getting there in a different way Rather than walk with a backpack and a satellite receiver we do it with a photo thats been tied to GPS Its 1500 for an 18 hole course for us to produce a map Depending on the region of the country its a 5000 to 10000 process just to get turf and heads GPSed in the field with a backpack Superintendents are using the data provided by these maps in various ways Hartefeld National in Avondale Pa changed ownership recently and William Brown CGCS notes the usefulness of the CourseVision data during the transition He views the map on his iPad During the acquisition there were questions about acreage and costs Brown says It was a time saver because I was able to print Excel sheets formulated from CourseVision about acreage greens tees fairways and bunkers The company that acquired us was impressed with that Easy being green A completely enabled GPS map also helps superintendents with environmental issues Michael Rayman CGCS at Weibring Golf Club at Illinois State University was working toward certification in the Audubon program and the first step toward certification is a site assessment Rayman used the map to complete his courses site assessment and used CourseVisions tree layer along with an energetic Illinois State horticulture student to create a database of all the trees on the property The capabilities of the entire program are unique for the superintendent because its not only providing you with accurate measurements of your existing golf course it gives you an opportunity to detail a sub area Rayman says Look ma no hands But for superintendents the ultimate GPS technology might be hands free equipment control While most turf equipment manufacturers say the viability of this concept is years away a former North Carolina tobacco farmer is putting the technology to work now Im the guy who brought GPS to the industry says Marc