SALT LAKE CITY, Utah and EL DORADO HILLS, California – A premier private golf club situated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains above Sacramento, Serrano Country Club has recently invested $8M to renovate its par-72 championship course.
A key part of these improvements is adding an electric autonomous fairway mower—FireFly’s AMP—to their golf course operations.
Many golf course managers are looking for solutions to widespread and persistent labor shortages, and early adopters of robotic mowers are finding that they offer a way to augment productivity of their existing staff. In addition, the precision of the autonomous AMPs is proving to improve playing conditions in ways not possible with traditional manned mowers.
Long budget cycles, initial cash outlays and Board approvals can sometimes limit how quickly organizations are able to adopt new technology. The lease from AFG enabled Serrano to immediately add the autonomous mower into the renovation plans without requiring a substantial, upfront cash payment.
Similarly, FireFly’s new equipment leasing program is already helping more golf clubs acquire this disruptive fairway mowing technology.
A strong funding source for these equipment leases, AFG is a direct lender that has provided over $3 billion in funding over 27 years. With an investment-grade rating and over $725 million in assets under management, they are an ideal partner to finance machines for FireFly’s customers.
“AFG is one of the top independent leasing companies which makes our partnership with FireFly so appealing,” said Matt Daleiden, Senior Account Executive at AFG. “Because we’re privately held, not bank owned, we provide more flexibility and much fewer hurdles to jump through, making the process faster and easier for FireFly’s customers.”
Paul Koojoolian, Serrano’s Director of Finance, agreed. “We filled out the paperwork and submitted our financials and were approved within a couple of days. I had a couple of questions, and they were all answered in a timely manner. It was a really easy process.”
Brandon Wagner, the Golf Course Superintendent, has used smaller autonomous mowers at a previous course. “I was always definitely interested in getting something like this, but I never expected to have such an advanced fairway mower so soon.”