Building aNew Drivin

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Range Tee?

SUPERSIZE IT!

Driving ranges once were anafterthought, but practice has become

popular, and courses are respondingwith improved facilities.

friend once told me that "no one on herdeathbed ever wished she had spent moretime at the office." The simple wisdom

of the statement struck me, and years later I had asimilar thought regarding driving range tees:"No course has ever regretted building its drivingrange tee too large!" In fact,just the opposite istrue. Many courses regret not building their newtee larger, and one could argue that it is simplyimpossible to build a driving range tee that is toobig. Driving ranges once were intended to pro-vide an area for golfers to hit a few balls andwarm up before a round of golf. Range balls weresold by the basket, and this subliminally encour-aged golfers to economize on the number of ballsthey hit. That all ended with the advent of super-sized (unlimited) range ball programs, whichbecame the norm in the 1980s. Unlimited rangeball programs sounded the death knell for rangetees everywhere and ushered in a new age inpractice facility design.

Many courses have upgraded and expandedtheir driving range tees over the years, sometimesdoubling or even quadrupling the amount ofusable teeing area, only to find there is no netimprovement in turf quality. How can that be?Simple. The increased area and improved teeattract more usage, and the rate of use far out-strips the turf manager's ability to reestablish turf.Clearly there is benefit in allowing more golfersto practice, but the desired improvement in turf

12 G R E E N S E C T I O N R E C O R D

quality often is disappointing. If you are thinkingabout upgrading your range tee, here are a fewideas to keep in mind:

BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME"The best advice when considering upgrading anexisting or building a new driving range is tothink big. REALLY BIG, and build the tee aslarge as humanly possible. More turf means betterturf, greater usage, and possibly a less freneticmaintenance schedule. However, even large teesrequire plenty of divot filling, and this can beexpensive, both in terms of labor and supplies. Besure to plan for this activity. There is a good ruleof thumb for tee size on a golf course based onthe number of rounds played annually. It isdifferent with range tees.

Based on the experience of visiting courses inthe Northeast Region for the past 15 years, thetypical private course needs at least one acre andpreferably two acres (or more) of usable teeingarea. Courses with an acre or less generally haveto limit usage, rely on artificial turf, and/or sufferwith more wear. They also need the most aggres-sive turf management programs. Physical limita-tions make building tees of this size impossible formany courses, but it is a good target nonetheless.By the way, if your tee is in the low end of thisrange, be sure to include an area of artificial turf.You likely will need it.

All too often, designers put too high a level ofimportance on the elevation of the tee and toolittle importance on its size. Adequate size shouldbe the most important consideration. Since allmounds taper inward as the elevation increases,reducing the elevation can create more usablearea, and fill generated by the cut often can beused to expand it further. A significant change inelevation usually is required to affect the view ofthe target from the tee, and there is a simple wayto test this point. Keeping your eyes on the target,squat down in the center of the tee and thenstand up and climb up a couple of rungs on a stepladder. Usually the view does not change verymuch, and yet the area to be gained by droppingthe elevation of the tee may be significant.

Another common mistake is to create a multi-level tee. The most efficient use of space dictates asingle, very large tee. It may not be as visuallyinteresting as a multi-level tee, but the additional

area is well worth this small sacrifice. Multi-leveltees frequently waste 20-35% or more of thepotentially usable area, so if square footage is inshort supply, build a single-level tee. It should benoted that multi-level tees may be necessary insituations where the topography is severe, butthey do not make for the most efficient use ofspace.

TURF SPECIESOften there is a strong desire to turf the range teewith the species used on fairways. In the North-east, this often means creepingbentgrass. Unfortunately, creepingbentgrass just does not handle wearor re-establish quickly enough forany but the very largest drivingrange tees. Unless your range is wellover an acre in size, Kentucky blue-grass may be a better choice forinitial establishment. Regardless, it isimpossible to beat perennial ryegrassfor speed of establishment and weartolerance, so it is usually the bestchoice for filling divots.

In recent years, many coursesinitially have had good success insodding driving range tees withKentucky bluegrass and then fillingdivots with perennial ryegrass. Hereare a few reasons:» Kentucky bluegrass can withstandlower cutting heights (1/2 to 9/16,"), iflightweight mowing equipment isused.* Kentucky bluegrass is substantially more weartolerant than creeping bentgrass and, unlikeperennial ryegrass, it forms thatch that providesresiliency.• Divots in Kentucky bluegrass are smaller thanin creeping bentgrass.« It is impractical to seed divots with Kentuckybluegrass because it is slow to germinate and isnot competitive as a seedling.

Courses utilizing Kentucky bluegrass onsmaller tees often find that the majority of thebluegrass has been divoted out after a season ortwo, and the remaining stand of annual bluegrassand perennial rye is thin and lacks resiliency. Thisis the time to start the process over and resodwith Kentucky bluegrass. Courses with two teesmay even resod one tee each year on a rotatingbasis.

Opposite page:

The popularity of

practice is at an all-time

high, and many golf

courses have invested

(or have plans to) in

practice facility

upgrades.

Driving ranges once

were simple, designed

to provide an area

where golfers could

warm up by hitting a

few shots before their

round of golf.

J U L Y - A U G U S T 2 0 0 5 13

MATERIALSPlenty of courses have built driving range tees byusing their native soil, and the desire to do so isunderstandable, given cost and the size of the areain question. However, few native soils are wellsuited to the task. The basic function of the root-zone mix must be kept in mind when decidingon construction materials.« The material selected must be stable. Therewill be plenty of traffic and shifting and twistingof feet. Turf grown on shifty, unstable mixesmay wind up sustaining more turf injury fromtwisting feet than from divots.» The rootzone mix must be capable of support-ing healthy turf and, more importantly, regenerat-ing turf once it has been divoted out. Droughtyrootzone mixes should be avoided. Keep in mindthat moisture-holding mixes used to fill divotswill not be compatible with clean, rapid-drainingconstruction mixes. Some of the poorest-per-forming tees in the Northeast are created when aclean (sometimes shifty), rapid-draining mix isused in construction.• A good rule of thumb is that the divot mix youintend to use should not hold significantly moremoisture than the underlying construction mix.Layering and poor drainage will likely result if theconstruction mix drains substantially better thanthe mix used for divots. Construction materialsand their compatibility with the intended divotmix should be considered carefully when makingselections.• Also, keep in mind that divot-filling materialsmust hold enough moisture and nutrients tostimulate rapid germination and re-establishmentof turf. This is another good reason to choose arootzone mix that has some moisture andnutrient retention.• A specialized irrigation system, designed withmore and smaller sprinklers, can be a great advan-tage. The idea is to be able to water as small anarea as possible, preferably watering some areaswhile golfers are using others.

Author's note: The rootzone mix selectioncriteria may be different for different parts ofthe world. The criteria mentioned here reflectconditions in the northeastern United States.

An aggressive fertility and divot-filling programis essential. Divots should be filled as often as thebudget will allow. Taking the time to pre-germi-nate the seed serves two valuable functions and is

highly recommended, particularly when perennialryegrass is being used. Pre-germinating the seedbefore filling divots speeds up recovery by a dayor two, but a more important benefit is that iteliminates the need to over-water the tee toencourage germination. Over-watered turf is lesshealthy, more prone to disease, and much moresusceptible to wear injury.

Pre-germinating the seed does not need to be acomplicated procedure. In the case of perennialryegrass, simply mix the seed into the mix 2-3days before it is needed. Keep the mixture moistand aerated, and use it just as the seed begins togerminate.

Regular movement of the markers is vital, anddeveloping a systematic, regimented means ofshifting play is strongly recommended. Start bymeasuring the available area and divide by thelength of your season. This will give you an ideaof how frequently wear must be shifted andwhether artificial turf will be needed. Somesuperintendents use permanent monuments asreference points to aid in shifting wear.

SPREAD OUT THE DIVOTS!Contrary to tradition and popular belief, concen-trating divots as close together as possible is highlyundesirable. Why? Because it slows recovery!Many golfers were taught from an early age toconcentrate their divots, believing that this woulduse turf most economically. It does that, butunfortunately it also results in more damage and amuch longer recovery period.

14 G R E E N S E C T I O N R E C O R D

For a single divot in Kentucky bluegrass,recovery usually comes from an approximatelyeven combination of seed and lateral regrowth.Making divots too close together nearly elimi-nates the percentage of recovery that could comefrom lateral regrowth, so the majority then mustcome from seeding. However, seedlings are notwear tolerant and do not mature or producethatch for quite some time. Thus, when largerareas of turf are removed, the result is thin turf,reduced resiliency, increased recovery time, andweaker turf that is more susceptible to wearinjury. Spreading out the divots and moving themarkers more frequently allow for play to returnto a given area much sooner.

Traffic flow onto and off of the range tee has abig impact on wear, so be sure to keep the entry/exit areas as wide open and unobstructed aspossible. Traffic flow for the ball retrieval equip-ment often is overlooked, and ball retrieval equip-ment can cause a tremendous amount of turfdamage, particularly when used too often, at toogreat a speed, and when making too many turns.A simple idea for improving turf quality out in

the range is to limit the number of times the ballsare picked up each day. Buy more range ballsand pick them up less often. This is particularlyimportant for new ranges where the turf is notfully mature. Time saved on ball retrieval can bebetter utilized filling divots. Finally, considertraffic flow for the transport of golf balls fromthe retrieval equipment to the tee.

It is possible to improve turf quality on manydriving range tees, and careful management ofwear and aggressive cultural practices can oftenhelp. However, insufficient space is usually thesingle biggest limiting factor in driving range teequality. In the case of driving range tees, bigger ismost certainly better, so look to make your newtee as big as humanly possible. It is nearlyimpossible to make it too big!

DAVID OATIS has been the director of the NortheastRegion of the USGA Green Section since 1990.

Far left:

Divots that are spacedfarther apart recovermore quickly. Less ofthe thatch layer is

removed, so the turf

retains more resiliencyand stability, and it

handles traffic betterduring recovery and

after turf cover isrestored.

Left:

Divots spaced tooclosely together reduce

the percentage ofrecovery that occurs

from lateral regrowth.

The result is weaker,more traffic-sensitive

turf that requires moretime to recover.

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