Soil Scout Sensor 4

Gain a deeper view
Interview
Making data collection automatic means you don't
spend time on it anymore, so you can only benefit
from it. That's the case with Soil Scout; I don't
spend time collecting because it's always
up to date on my phone
Erwan Le Cocq | Greenkeeping / Robot and Technology Specialist
Four years ago, French greenkeeper Erwan
Le Cocq joined the team. In that time, he has
established himself as one of the industry's
most forward-thinking and progressive users
of technology. Although introducing new
innovations wasn't in his original remit, six
months after joining, he saw it as a way to meet
the demands of maintaining three courses.
From there he has become a leading example
of what can be achieved using tech such as Soil
Scout, GreenSight drones and robotic mowers.
"Six years ago, I started to fly a drone on my
course in France and Belgium, and it was just
that and not much more," Erwan begins. "Then
I moved to Germany, and they came to me and
said, 'we've got a problem, we've got limited
staff, I know you're into technology, can you
find a solution?'
Investing in technology
"After that, it was a snowball rolling down
a hill, and we're getting more and more
technology because we see the results every
year. So we keep investing more time and
money into that.
"I make it my mission to teach other people
because I don't want the rest of the industry to
feel alone like I did at the beginning. So, I'm
trying to share what I've learnt in my process
and teach other people and give them a crash
course so they don't have to do two or three
years of testing and learning. That way, they
can start from a stable base."
Comprehensive test
With Soil Scout, the process began by
testing wetting agents using 27 sensors in
one green. For Erwan, this was the only way
to comprehensively test his theory without
committing significant funds to products. From
it, he has found a solid solution to provide more
consistent greens WINSTONgolf is known for.
"The wetting agent problem was very
course-specific. One of our courses has a lot
of movement on the green, and when I say
a lot, I mean extreme movement. We have
some extremely dry areas and another that are
exceptionally wet, and over time it started to
build up some black layer and poa population.
"So, we tested with 27 sensors in one green
with different wetting agents and penetrants to
see which one performed best at the depth we
were looking at. It's nice to move the water in
the ground, but you want to know how deep
#GainADeeperView | @Soil_Scout | soilscout.com 21
Soil Scout Story Issue 4 V1.indd 21 16/03/2022 23:08