Adam Mis

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Adam Mis

“It’s the perfect Matrix. Grass can’t do it alone, water can’t do it alone, fertilizer nor GPS can do it alone. It takes Turf Matrix to make it all come together and be a success.”  

GPS sprayers started to spread their wings during the last decade — figuratively at most courses and quite literally near the east end of Lake Erie, where Mis added that tech to his arsenal in spring 2014 and then expanded outward a good, oh, 10 feet: A couple of years after adding Ag Leader Technology from Agricultural Technology Solutions to a new Toro 1500, he extended his booms from 18 feet to 28 feet, adding 5 feet on either side and allowing his crew to cover Brookfield’s 29 fairway acres with far fewer passes.

Mis says that Ian Durgan, his longtime spray tech-turned-assistant, almost immediately trimmed about three acres and, more impressive, more than three hours during every fairway spray, which works out to about 18 hours every season just on fairways. Factor in light applications on greens every week from early May to early November and as many as 20 applications on tees during the same stretch and a $30,000 add-on paid for itself within two years.

“All of a sudden, you’re saving on chemicals, fertilizers, amendments, wetting agents, just because you know your spots. You mapped them out,” says Mis, who also modified the sprayer by adding custom rims on larger tires, which drops the pressure to about 8 psi and allows the truck to carry as much as 300 gallons per tank. “A lot of superintendents don’t want to be the guinea pig, but it’s been flawless.”

This season, Mis says he wants to add a 300-gallon mix tank that will allow his crew to prepare the next chemical application while Durgan or a new spray tech is out on the course. “If we can mix it while he’s out spraying, he comes in, turns it on, fills the tank, goes right back out, he’ll be done by 9 o’clock” — which would lop off another two hours. “Right now, sometimes it takes more time to fill the tank than it does to spray the fairways.” 

Listen to Adam Mis’ podcast for more information and insights at

https://www.golfcourseindustry.com/video/gps-spraying-technology-golf/#at_pco=cfd-1.0