Collecting golf balls is one of the most familiar tasks on a driving range.
For decades, range staff have driven ball pickers across practice areas, collecting thousands of golf balls before returning them for washing and redistribution. It remains an effective and widely used method of maintaining ball availability.
As autonomous technology becomes more common, many operators are asking how automated collection varies from traditional approaches and whether it is suitable for their facility.
The answer depends less on the machine itself and more on how the driving range operates.
The Role of Manual Collection
Manual collection is a proven process.
Staff determine when balls need collecting, drive the picker across the range, return to the wash area and repeat the process as required throughout the day. For facilities with lower ball volumes or predictable usage patterns, this approach can continue to perform reliably for many years.
The process is also familiar, requiring little operational change.
Where Automation Changes the Process
Autonomous collection follows the same objective but changes the amount of repetitive labour required to complete it. Balls are collected by a robot, returned to a programmed location and released, introducing automation at the very start of the ball management cycle. Picking then becomes another task that doesn’t rely on hours of staff labour to fulfil.
Manual Picking at Brows Farm Golf Centre
Brows Farm Golf Centre are sticking with manual picking and teaming it with a Concrete Ditch. The picker releases balls into the ditch with a hydraulic emptying function, and from there balls are moved into the washing station for cleaning and then blown through a manifold into the dispenser.
The operators at Brows Farm modified the ditch with a clever lighting solution to improve visibility during the darker months. Extra points for the coolest Ditch we’ve seen to date.
Brows Farm Golf Centre
Robotic Ball Picking at Cricket St. Thomas Golf Club
Robotic picking just landed in Somerset. A custom concrete ditch receives balls from the robotic picker, moves them to the pre-soaker, washer and up an elevator to the dispenser.
Cricket St. Thomas Golf Club
Looking Beyond Collection
Whether collection is performed manually or autonomously, the objective remains the same: maintaining a reliable supply of clean range balls for golfers.
As automation continues to develop, the conversation is becoming less about replacing traditional methods and more about understanding how different approaches contribute to an efficient, reliable and well-managed driving range. Looking at the ball chain with a connected approach determines which solutions work best on a wider operational level.
