How $528,000 of Robot Mowers Turned Santaluz Fairways Into a Case Study in What Not To Do

Mow Money, Mo Problems

By Chris H. Staff Contributor –

It started with a pitch that sounded too smart to fail. Three all-electric FireFly Automatix autonomous mowers, each at $176,000, were supposed to revolutionize how we care for the course. The plan? Lower labor costs, eliminate fuel use, mow more often, and save the Club a projected $115,000 every year.

What we’ve ended up with is something far less impressive: patchy fairways, a visible invasion of poa annua and broadleaf weeds, rising costs, and a lot of frustrated members. And just to make things more interesting, each of these machines also comes with a monthly service fee. Yes, we spent over half a million dollars upfront and we’re still paying just to keep them mowing in circles.

The Grass Isn’t Greener

The mowers are programmed to follow the same route day after day, without variation. That might sound efficient until you see the wear patterns starting to form in the turf. The grass is showing stress in the exact same places every week. Soil compaction has increased. Scalping around turns is happening more often. And while the machines are out there daily, the course doesn’t look better. It looks tired.

Even worse, poa annua and other invasive weeds have spread quickly. This isn’t speculation. A 2024 European turfgrass study led by Hesselsøe found that transitioning to robotic mowers on golf course fairways increased the presence of broadleaf weeds and reduced turf quality. The robots didn’t vary their mowing lines and had no system in place to limit the spread of weeds between areas.

The United States Golf Association published similar concerns in 2025. Their agronomists noted that robot mowers can negatively affect surface consistency and may lead to unintended turf damage. They emphasized that robotic mowing should be used with caution and only as part of a carefully managed maintenance plan.

We didn’t get a plan. We got a sales pitch.

Losing More Than We Save

Let’s look at the math. The Club invested $528,000 upfront for the mowers. We were told we’d save $115,000 a year, but now we’re spending more than that on:

• Monthly contracts to operate the machines
• Increased weed control and turf repair
• Labor hours to fix what the robots miss or damage

On top of the cost, we’re seeing a decline in the member experience. The playability of the course has dropped. Turf is inconsistent. Ball lies aren’t predictable. And the look and feel of Santaluz has taken a visible step down.

This isn’t what anyone joined the club for.

Not Anti-Tech, Just Pro-Results

This isn’t about being anti-technology. It’s about accountability and decision-making. Golf courses are complex, living ecosystems. They require human attention, judgment, and care. Mowers that follow the same GPS path every day don’t see turf stress, they don’t adjust to seasonal changes, and they don’t stop when something looks wrong.

Before, we had skilled staff with eyes on the ground. Now we have machines that can’t see anything at all.

Where Do We Go From Here?

It’s time for leadership to take a step back and ask the real questions:

• Are these mowers truly helping the course?
• What is the actual cost after installation, service contracts, and recovery expenses?
• Is this the level of quality Santaluz wants to be known for?

It’s not too late to course-correct. But first, we have to acknowledge the obvious. This experiment is not working.

Because when the only thing getting trimmed is the quality of our course, maybe it’s time to hit pause.

What do you think, have the robotic mowers improved the course? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

TheSantaluz.com