Turf Coverings on Tees

For those of you who have played in the last week you may have noticed the turf coverings on some of our tee boxes. We are in the experimental phase of creating a strategy to protect and reestablish tees that have heavy traffic and limited teeing ground, specifically tees with heavy iron use.

We have a few different materials to try out. It needs to be a material that still allows sunlight and water through, but raises the soil temp in that area by a few degrees. We will collect data from each material covering we try to determine the best choice. This allows the seed within the divots to germinate faster than it would otherwise. In addition, it keeps golfers from playing from these tee boxes despite the tee markers not being there.

The goal through this process is that we can get tees reestablished after 10-14 days, rather than the 20+ days it would take otherwise. We will have 3-5 tee boxes out of play at any given time, and will rotate every 10-14 days. This will follow our regular tee rotation schedule, so overall yardage and course playability will not differ from our normal program.

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve, and am wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2024!