New Tool, New Toy

I recently submitted a video to a contest hosted by TurfNet and Aquatrols on the topic of Smart Water Management.  Our Turf Reduction Program offered some great material and saving water has been our focus for a number of years.  Doug Ayers of Corral de Tierra, one of the most innovative superintendents I've ever known, took first place leaving me with a very cool second place prize.  You can see the top three videos by following this link: TurfNet Videos

We now have a tool in our arsenal that does much more than entertain, which it does quite well.  The DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone is the most exciting toy I've ever owned.  It reaches speeds over 30 mph, comes with a very good camera, and can capture photos and videos I've always wanted at a golf course.

So, how is this useful to the course?  First off, the obvious answer is the marketing potential, shooting excellent photos at no additional cost.  Aerial photographs have always been attractive to a golf course, but the price tag made it hard to justify.  You'll be seeing many new photos on the website, blog, and newsletter as I pick out the best and share with the other departments.

From a turf standpoint, the overhead view is very useful to investigate problems that are hard to see at ground level.  Drainage issues, irrigation uniformity, soil inefficiencies, fertilizer applications, and shade patterns are just some of the issues we face everyday.  A quick flyover by the drone will produce many photos I can share with our staff as we work to make the course as good as it can be.

Project planning and documentation are also made easy with wide angle pics achieved with altitude.  Before I would draw out plans on the shop's dry erase board and point to old maps in the shop along with a trip to the job site.  Having a actually photo of the area in question with sketches right on the photo takes out any guess work and allows the staff to accomplish exactly what I'm looking for without extra supervision.

  Last night, I was trying to get some sunset photos on the par 3 12th hole.  The sunset was a little disappointing with much of the color lost in a distant marine layer.

I'm still learning to fly the drone, but I can't help to get a little overconfident and fly too close to potential hazards, for example, the the ash tree next to 12 green.  The video of the crash is great, but the blogger site is not liking it right now.  I'll try again later.

The good news is the drone is OK and was back in the sky after I dusted off the leaf debris and bunker sand.

In case you were wondering, my dog, Izzo, hates the drone.  When she is around, I have to land it on top of a golf cart.  I'll post a good example in the near future.