The robots are coming! How one driving range plan to keep golfers safe
It doesn’t damage the turf, doesn’t get sick, and doesn’t need time off. The robot at Melville Golf Centre is one of a string of measures the driving range can employ to ensure players can stay safe when golf is finally allowed to resume in Scotland.
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It can pick up 250 balls at a time, and only stops to recharge, while another mechanised marvel races round the outfield cutting the grass making sure the outfield is perfectly manicured.
When it drops off its cargo, they are sucked through an underground pipe into a ball washer, where they are cleaned and sterilised and are free from any bugs ready for the next time they are dispensed.
These are just a couple of the ways that the golf centre, near Edinburgh, is using technology to get back to business in a new socially distanced world.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is now forcing golf practice ranges to embrace technology in ways never before considered,” said manager Alastair Macfarlane.
Over the last six weeks, he’s worked frantically to devise new ways of operating – including outdoor washhand sinks, contactless technology for payment and ball distribution, and extending the bay dividers to allow four metre distances between practising golfers.
He added: “Social distancing is here to stay. The core principle we have been working on at the golf facility is how do you avoid as much contact as possible? Technology will very much come to the fore.”
Macfarlane has turned to Korea and Singapore for ideas and is even looking at introducing an app that records footfall using infrared sensors and can then advise customers about the best times to visit.
The centre, which has 22 bays, a 9-hole play and play course, as well as chipping zones and practice greens is the oldest range in the Lothians.
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
