Pesticide, fertility and chemical applications on golf course putting surfaces are easily one of the most important tasks performed in golf course maintenance. Precision, attention to detail, and alertness are extremely critical for these applications. Here at Great Northern we use two Hahn Spray Bugs for applications to our greens.

The Hahn Spray Bug is an electric-powered sprayhawk produced by Hahn Application Products, LLC in Evansville, Indiana. The sprayer has a 15 gallon tank, 80 inch covered boom, and is powered by two large batteries.

Using the Spray Bug eliminates compaction created by driving a full and heavy spray vehicle across the most valuable turf surface on property.

"The American" in action with a Hahn Spray Bug.

The Hahn Spray Bugs in our fertilizer/spray room.

A full 200-300 gallon sprayer can weigh over 3,500 pounds! This sprayer serves as a nurse vehicle for the Spray Bugs and stays off the green surfaces.

The Spray Bug is controlled by the trigger and switch at the end of the steering arm, it can be refilled easily, and doesn't need to be tethered to any spray vehicle during an application. This makes the job easier by eliminating more things to worry about.

This handle houses the trigger for forward/reverse motion and the switch to release the product through the nozzles.

Spray applications are pretty simple when using the Spray Bug.

Our pre-application check list includes:

• Make sure you have fully charged batteries.
• Adjust the main sprayers pressure to match your desired spray rate.
• Check the pressure of the Hahn Spray Bug.
• Make sure the forward, reverse, spray switch, and trigger are operational.
• Inspect all of the nozzles.
• Pre-mix your solution in the side-mounted pre-mixer on the spray vehicle.
• Fill the Spray Bug to be ready for use.

The pressure gauge on the Spray Bug (measured in bars, not PSI)

View of the underside of the covered spray boom.

Initial filling of the Spray Bugs from the sprayer.

The charging station for the Spray Bug batteries.

On our Maintenance Monday (2 hour longer work day), Benny Christoffersen showed me how to make a proper application using the shown equipment. We sprayed TourTurf Bio Active Plus, a fertilizer and microorganism product, on all of the putting surfaces on property.

After converting my Imperial measurements to the Metric system measurements, I was able to fill out this spray log to complete the day.

The spray log: gallons to liters and acres to hectares this isn't normal for the American boy.

With this training in hand, I am now confident enough to use any sprayhawk or the Spray Bug solo.