The Neguri Royal Golf Society, in Getxo (Biscay, Basque Country) and the Santa Marina Golf Club, in San Vicente de la Barquera (Cantabria) were the first two golf courses to install the new Husqvarna CEORA™ professional mower model
Ordes, 14 March 2023.- CEORA™ is a game-changer for professional greenkeepers and is revolutionising the world of professional turf care.
The robotic mower has a cutting capacity of up to 25,000 m2 for a fairway cut, 50,000 m2 for rough and semi-rough and even surfaces of up to 75,000 m2 for less demanding grass.
“Mowing turfgrass is time-consuming and uses a lot of resources. Our autonomous solution will help reduce overhead costs related to turf care, while delivering perfect results 24/7. By letting CEORA™ take care of the cutting, the golf course will be able to reassign its staff to perform more qualified and crucial tasks, creating the perfect finish for players,” says Víctor Valiña, Automower® Professional product manager.
This solution was built to operate independently, and it will eventually be compatible with a broad range of add-ons to help with tasks like fertilising, marking and even collecting golf balls. “We are really only seeing the beginning of all the possibilities that CEORA™ can offer,” says Víctor Valiña.
Neguri Royal Golf Society, the first golf course in Spain to manage its turf with CEORA™
The club has been implementing the solution since 21 February and has established three work areas totalling 2,900 m2, divided by cutting heights between 20 and 54 mm, with different schedules according to the location and the hours of light and shade in the areas.
This golf course has a surface area of 90,000 m2 as well as a total of 18 holes in the playing area and 6 in the practice area.
The Husqvarna team worked hand in hand with greenkeeper Fernando Expósito, who has expressed his satisfaction with the results. “We requested information from Husqvarna about their autonomous mower robots to see whether they would be useful for the club. After meeting with the team, who came to the course to advise us, we decided to install a CEORA™. We chose several plots in the clubhouse area, which faces the 9th and 18th holes, to test the different cutting heights offered by the mower: rough areas and semi-rough grassland areas,” explains the Neguri Royal Golf Society greenkeeper.
He sums up his experience with CEORA™ as a success. “We have been testing the mower for several weeks and we are very happy with the results: we found an application and use for it within our facilities, and we are considering this autonomous solution for our course,” says Fernando Expósito.
Santa Marina Golf Club in San Vicente de la Barquera: smart management for 70,000 m2 of turf
Santa Marina’s general manager, Mariano Saiz, and the rest of the technical staff worked together to plan the Husqvarna CEORA™ installation project. Six expanses bring the entire length to 7,500 m2, with cutting heights ranging from 13 to 45 mm and different mowing schedules depending on the specific needs and conditions of each area.
The Santa Marina Golf Club boasts an 18-hole course spread over 70 hectares.
After only a week of trials, the team was already satisfied with the results. “The installation has been carried out in front of the clubhouse, with a garden area, fairway and rough near the 18th green and it is going great. It is an important step for the golf industry to have CEORA™ because it allows savings on multiple facets in the golf facility,” says Mariano Saiz, general manager of Santa Marina Golf Course.
The manager stressed the importance of being able to work in all weather conditions. “Something that’s very important for golf courses in northern Spain is that the machine allows you to keep up with course and fairway maintenance even when the area is flooded,” says Mariano Saiz.
