Let Them See Light: Drones Illuminating Independence G.C. Practice Facility

There is a buzz above the practice facility at Independence Golf Club, the public course serving as the stroke-play co-host for the 43rd U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.

Literally.

Amongst the din of clubs compressing balls during the pre-dawn hour, two flying drones about a couple hundred feet in the air make their presence known by illuminating the practice facility.

These drones, each producing 250,000 lumens, are the brainchild of Randall Bostick, a 52-year-old Northern Virginian resident who spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy before retiring in 2015. Four years ago, while enjoying some backyard time with his two kids, Bostick watched sunset put a damper on what was an idyllic summer evening. As someone who loved flying – he was a navigator in the Navy – and also enjoyed operating drones, Bostick turned that passion into a burgeoning business.

Why not attach artificial light to a drone?

That same year he founded PegaPod – the name comes from a combination of Pegasus, a winged horse in Greek mythology, and pod for what the drone is carrying – obtained a patent for his product 24 months later. Primarily used on construction sites as a logistical replacement for standard lighting towers, the drones can light up surfaces larger than a standard football field. Bostick has experimented with them on baseball and soccer fields.

“It took a little bit of time to do it,” said Bostick of the prototypes. “We gradually started increasing the amount of illumination based on the consumer response.

“We’re a really small company that’s just getting going. We see the potential [use] in a lot of different areas.”

Giff Breed, the president of Independence Golf Club who has been working with the USGA since Kinloch Golf Club was first chosen to host the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2017 (the 2020 date was postponed due to COVID-19 and rescheduled for 2024), was looking for an alternative to illuminate the practice range for the one hour prior to sunrise when he discovered Bostick’s company on a Google search. Seeing they were located just two hours away in Chantilly, Breed contacted Bostick, and the idea to have two 250,000 lumen drones light up the facility was born.

A trial run was held several weeks before the championship.

The lighting was so bright that Breed initially thought he might need to contact the local authorities about the usage. One area resident came by the next day and inquired about a possible UFO sighting. Breed calmly apologized to the customer, saying he was sorry the drones produced that much illumination.

As long as the drones are flying below 400 feet, Independence doesn’t have to get permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Breed, himself, couldn’t believe how much light these two drones produced.

“We’re fired up,” said Breed, who believes this technology can be used at Independence for night weddings, concerts and golf on their par-3 course. “We have a backup plan for weather. We have generator lights down range, and we have tower lights available. We plan to move all those into the stand-down position.

“It’s just so cool [to see the range illuminated]. With all of the USGA flags, you feel like you are at a U.S. Open. I do think it’s the future.”

As he walked onto the practice range around 6:30 a.m. on Friday to begin preparations for his final practice round, Christian Jensen, 34, of Wakefield, Mass., and his caddie, Dan Petkanas, looked to their right at the flying object producing light. Petkanas even pulled out his phone to snap a few pictures.

“We saw them [Thursday] night at the Welcome Dinner, and we were curious how it stays up in the air so long,” said Jensen, competing in his second U.S. Mid-Amateur. “It’s cool. You certainly don’t have the [standard] lights anymore if you have these drones. I’d say it’s better than these [standard light towers], honestly.”

Jerre Maynor Jr., 40, of Nashville, Tenn., was also impressed with the amount of light being produced as he warmed up on Friday morning.

“It was really impressive to see them turned on this morning, especially from the back of the clubhouse,” said Maynor. “[Thursday] night, we saw them in the sky, and it took us a little while to figure out what that was…It’s plenty of light on the surface here. You can’t quite see [the balls] land, which is not a big deal. But you can see the ball start [in the air].”

Bostick explained that these are the smallest version of his drones. He has some that will generate 500,000 and 1 million lumens of light, which could easily illuminate the entire range at Independence Golf Club.

With this drone technology, the future is definitely bright.

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.