Mobile Council Approves GPS Geofencing System to Keep Golf Carts Off Sensitive Course Areas

The Mobile City Council has voted to purchase a GPS-based geofencing system for Azalea City Golf Course, a move aimed at automatically steering golf carts away from greens, driving tees and other sensitive parts of the municipal course.

The council approved the contract with Tagmarshal International Ltd. on Tuesday. The deal will cost the city a little more than $68,000 up front, with an additional cost of about $13,000 every other year to maintain the system going forward.

Under the agreement, GPS-equipped golf carts will be tracked in real time as they move around the course. If a cart strays too close to a green, a driving tee or another off-limits area, the system is designed to beep as a warning or shut the cart down entirely, preventing it from continuing further into a protected zone.

An Invisible Fence for the Course

Shonnda Smith, the city’s executive director of public works, described the system as an “invisible fence” that will add a layer of protection beyond simply relying on golfers to follow the rules. Smith told the council that the technology is intended to cut down on the kind of damage that has plagued parts of the course in recent years.

“We’ve had some bad behavior,” Smith said, “but we’ve also had some investment in this area. We’ve had an erosion issue. We put almost about a million dollars in fixing some of the erosion issues and some berms that we had to put in place.”

Smith said she believes the geofencing system will ultimately pay for itself by reducing the amount the city has to spend repairing damage caused by carts driving into areas they shouldn’t. Azalea City Golf Course has already seen significant investment to address erosion problems, including the construction of berms meant to protect vulnerable turf, and city officials see the new GPS system as a way to protect that investment going forward.

Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis voiced support for the plan, saying it is an effective way to keep golf carts away from sensitive parts of the course. He noted that he has personal experience with similar systems being triggered.

“I’ve been shut down many times,” Cheriogotis said. “You got to throw that baby in reverse. It’s the only thing you can do. Back it on up. … Look, I — you know, you get to a course you’re not that familiar with, sometimes you just head in the wrong direction.”

Added Safety Benefits

Beyond protecting the course’s turf and infrastructure, Smith said the geofencing system carries an added safety benefit: golf carts equipped with the GPS units can be remotely monitored from the clubhouse.

“So if something is wrong with someone, they can alert us, and we can know where they are and where we need to get to address any medical issues, as well,” Smith said.

That real-time location tracking means staff at Azalea City Golf Course will be able to quickly locate a golfer who needs help, whether due to a medical emergency or another issue that arises out on the course.

Smith said the idea for the geofencing system did not originate with public works staff alone. It came out of a steering committee that was appointed to work on a long-range master plan for the course. According to Smith, similar systems are already in use at golf courses across the country.

City officials initially considered a more low-tech solution: physically roping off certain areas of the course to keep carts out. Smith said that approach was ultimately set aside in favor of the GPS system.

“But that aesthetically changes the way it looks,” she said of the roping-off option, noting that the invisible, GPS-based boundary allows the course to maintain its appearance while still enforcing where carts can and cannot travel.

The purchase comes as the city continues to invest in Azalea City Golf Course, which has undergone a series of upgrades in recent months, including improvements to its website for booking tee times and renovations to parts of the clubhouse and course.

How the Approval Works

Under Mobile’s mayor-council form of government, the City Council votes to approve contracts and appropriations, and the mayor’s administration carries them out. With the council’s approval, the Tagmarshal agreement moves to the city administration to execute.