Tests with electric mowers on the Albatros course at the Golf National have satisfied the greenkeepers. The course will host the women’s and men’s Olympic golf tournament this summer.
Last week, Le Golf National posted several photos of electric lawn mowers in action on its Albatros course.
“We committed a little over 18 months ago to ensuring that, in terms of heritage, we prepare the course in conditions that have never been achieved before, namely, an all-electric park,” was one of its captions.
The club has had great success with Jacobsen mowers with the Albatros course for the Ryder Cup in 2018, widely recognised by participants and spectators as one of the best the tournament has seen. That quality isn’t reserved for the Ryder Cup and is regularly seen during the Open de France, which the club has hosted 27 times between 1991 and 2019.
Since then, the club has moved forward by embracing electrically charged maintenance equipment by the same brand.
Its wide range of mowers includes the new lithium-ion powered Eclipse 360 ELiTE and AR530 articulated contour rotary mower.
Thirty-four RXV Elite E-Z-GO golf carts that use ELiTE lithium-ion battery technology now shared with the Eclipse 360 ELiTE are also included and will feature the Textron Fleet Management (TFM) 10EX system.
And here again, the feedback was very positive. “We wanted to ensure the quality of the cut in particular and the holding of the battery charge,” said Philippe Pilato, Director at Le Golf National. “We realized that for most mowers, we had 65% battery left, which is a good thing for us.”
To accommodate these new machines, the course invested 100,000 euros in charging stations. It’s no secret that the ecological aspect will obviously be closely scrutinized during this Olympic fortnight.
“The objective, from an ecological point of view, is that we are able to show the industry that we can manage an event of this magnitude with a 100% electric fleet,” adds the Director of the National Golf Course.
“In short, we are ready. And if there is a setback, we are able to remedy it with the help of our qualified and committed employees. They will do what is necessary if the need arises. In addition, our partner Ransomes Jacobsen will send us ten mechanics during the games.”