The correct size of adriving range tee canbe calculated usingthe stall dimensions,ratio of stall areadamaged over totalstall area, weeklyrotation frequency,divot recovery rate,and needed numberof stalls during thepeak golfing season.

Standing on the frrst tee of your favoritecourse without grass underfoot would be adisappointment, to say the least. There was a

time, however, when that was exactly how thegame commonly was played. Before the develop-ment of improved turfgrasses, golfers used to steponto a bare teeing area, reach into a large box(appropriately called a teebox), and grab a handfulof sand to build a small mound on which to teeup their ball.

With the care of these old tees being relativelystraightforward (i.e., the only routine maintenancewas to refill the teeboxes every few days), why isit then that green committees all over the globechose to switch to turf? Although the exactreason may never be known, it is probably safe toassume that golfers complained about the baretees being unplayable after a heavy rain becausethe ground turned to mud. (Or perhaps it was thatsuperintendents got tired of golfers complainingabout their tee shots going off-line because thesand in the tee boxes was inconsistent!) In anyevent, today's golfer is much more sophisticated,

or pampered, depending on how you look at thesituation, than those of yesteryear.

As a result of watching endless hours of made-for- TV golf, most golfers would feel cheated ifthey had to swing their $500 metal drivers on aturfless tee. The lopsided educational experienceof TV golf typically shows well-dressed touringprofessionals playing on large, perfectly groomedteeing surfaces surrounded by cheering fans fromall walks of life. After exposure to such idyllicscenery, who among us would not lose their senseof reality?

In defense of golfers, however, one mustconcede that the opportunity to play on 18 well-manicured tees is not an unreasonable expectation.Given the right circumstances, a superintendentshould have little difficulty maintaining a goodstand of turf throughout the golfmg season. Theproblem is that most golfers cannot tell the differ-ence between the right circumstances and circum-stances beyond the superintendent's control whenit comes to bare ground showing up in themiddle of the tees.

MARCH-APRIL 2002

The cold truth is that the circumstances in-volving televised golf are rarely identical to thecircumstances of golf at the local course. Here,one can find superintendents having difficultymaintaining turf on the tees because they are toosmall to support the number of rounds beingplayed. More specifically, the usable square footageof the tees is inadequate, thus dictating the reuseof a teeing area battered by concentrated divotremoval before it has had time to fully recover. Asthe golfing season progresses, the turf gets thinnerand thinner from continual reuse and, at somepoint, golfers suddenly start complaining aboutpoor maintenance.

When faced with the problem of tattered teesresulting from limited area, the real question athand is not what is wrong with the maintenanceprogram, but rather how much larger does eachtee need to be so that it can be maintainedsuccessfully. A search of articles written on thetopic of proper tee sizing reveals a general rule ofthumb in Golf Course Design and Construction,available from the National Golf Foundation(NGF).This rule states that tees should have 100to 200 square feet of usable space for every 1,000rounds of golf played annually. Applying this ruleto a course that hosts an average of 40,000 roundsper year suggests that the tees should range in sizefrom 4,000 to 8,000 square feet.

While at first glance this rule of thumb seemsboth straightforward and practical, close exami-nation exposes several serious flaws. First, the ruleof thumb does not specifically take into consider-ation the par value and number of each hole.

The difference in par value is very significant,as golfers commonly use an iron on a par-3 holeand a driver or fairway wood on both par-4 and5 holes. When golfers swing irons, they tend toremove a divot that grows in size as the loft of theclub increases. Thus, more area is required tomaintain a par-3 tee in good condition than apar-4 or 5 tee. The number of the hole is alsosignificant, as golfers tend to take numerous prac-tice swings and/or the occasional mulligan on thefirst and tenth holes, dictating the need for moresquare footage.

Second, the rule of thumb underestimatesthe square footage for golf courses that host amoderate number of rounds during a three- tofour-month season and overestimates the square

The installation of an artificial surface is necessarywhen the lack of real estate prevents tee expansion.

footage for those that host a large number ofrounds throughout the entire year. For example,the rule simply suggests that a course hosting14,000 rounds per year should have tees thatrange in size from 1,400 to 2,800 square feet. Ifthis same course were to divide the square footageinto three multiple tees on each hole and host themajority of its annual rounds during the summer,i.e., 100 rounds per day, then many of the small

needed because the teeing surfaces would healrelatively quickly.

Lastly, the rule of thumb offers no guidance forthe proper sizing of driving range tees. In theabsence of such information, most courses acrossthe United States have grossly undersized drivingrange tees that are a constant source of aggravationfor golfers, the golf course superintendent, andgoverning course officials. In most cases, the

individual tees would end up being severely wornhalfWay through the golfing season. To makematters worse, many of the individual tees wouldbe too small to maintain with a riding mower.

In another example, the rule suggests that acourse hosting 90,000 rounds per year shouldhave tees that range in size from 9,000 to 18,000square feet, a very broad range indeed. Dividingthe large square footage into three or even fivemultiple tees would not be a problem, but main-taining somewhere in the neighborhood of sixacres of teeing ground on a heavily played coursewould certainly be time consuming. Furthermore,since the only regions where 90,000-plus roundscan be played in a 12-month period are wherewarm-season species grow vigorously most of thetime, the excessive square footage would not be

greatest source of aggravation is the fact that thesize of a small range tee cannot be increased dueto an absence of available real estate.

Mter identifying the weaknesses of the rule ofthumb published by NGF, the task at hand is todevelop a set of equations that accurately accountsfor the many different circumstances across theUnited States. To do this, the best place to start isto establish a minimum size requirement for golfcourses that host a very small number of rounds,either seasonally or annually. This minimum sizerequirement must take into consideration twobasic design criteria to be applicable across abroad range of circumstances.

First, nearly all courses are now designed withthree or more multiple tees on each hole toaccommodate golfers of all skill levels by varying

As a result of watchingendless hours of made-for-TV golf, most golferswould feel cheated if theyhad to swing their $500metal drivers on a teeingsurface composed ofbare soil and weeds.Without adequate squarefootage. however, suchunpleasant circumstancescannot be avoided.

MARCH-APfUL 2002 3

Next, a multiplier must be established thatdetermines the necessary iilcrease in square

the total length of the course. Second, to maintaincourses in an efficient manner, each individual teeshould be at least 800 square feet so that they canbe easily mowed with a riding mower. Based onthese basic design criteria and the fact that par-3tees and the first and tenth tees require additionalsquare footage, minimum tee sizes can beintuitively set as follows:

footage based on play volume. This multipliermust take into account several factors. First, thetotal size of the tees must increase in proportionto the volume of daily play during the peak golf-ing season. By using daily play figures during thepeak golfing season rather than annual playfigures, as is done in the NGF publication, themultiplier will yield more accurate results bytaking into account the specific time frame whenproblems on the tees are most likely to occur.Second, the area of turf damaged by both divotremoval and the scuffing of golfers' feet duringthe normal act of swinging a club conservativelyequals 0.6 square feet for par-3 holes and 0.4square feet for par-4 and 5 holes and teesNos. 1 and 10.

By taking into consideration basic designcriteria and the need for a multiplier that increasessquare footage based on daily play, the followingequation for determining tee size can be written:

Variable Definition Unitsy needed square footage for a tee ft2

z area damaged per round ft2/round

m days to full divot recovery daysx average number of rounds per day roundsb minimum square footage value ft2

Par-3Tees

7,200 fe = 0.6 ft2x 30 days x

200 rounds+ 3,600 ft2

I round I day

Par-4 & 5Tees

5,400 fe = 0.4 ft2x 30 days x

200 rounds + 3,000 ft2I round I day

Tees Nos. I & 10

5,800 ft2 = 0.4 ft2x 30 days x

200 rounds + 3,400 ft2I round I day

y = (z)(m)(x) + (b)

As an example, this equation can be used todetermine the needed square footage for a typicalcourse that hosts 200 rounds per day during thepeak golfing season and promotes full divotrecovery in 30 days using standard maintenanceprocedures. These values are calculated as follows:

As a quick reference, a summary of tee sizesbased on an area of damaged turf per round of0.6 ff for par-3 holes and 0.4 ft2 for par-4 and 5holes and tees Nos. 1 and 10, a 30-day divotrecovery period, and minimum square footagevalues is presented in Table 1.

Once the square footage needed to successfullymaintain the tees is determined, the final step isto subdivide and determine the value for each

Total3,600 ft23,000 ft2

3,400 ft2

Back Tee800 ft2

800 ft2800 ft2

Hole Forward Tee Middle TeePar 3 800 ft2 2,000 ft2

Par 4 & 5 800 ft2 1,400 ft2

Nos. I & 10 800 ft2 1,800 ft2

Maintaininggood turfon tees is

impossiblewhen the usablesquare footage isinadequate. Thereal question at

hand is notwhat's wrong

with themaintenanceprogram, but

rather howmuch largerdoes the tee

need to be sothat it can be

maintainedsuccessfully.

4 GREEN SECTION RECORD

DRIVING RANGE TEES

*For ease of maintenance, the square footage of an individual tee shouldbe increased to a minimum of 800 fP without reducing the neededsquare footage of other tees on the same hole.

A summary of tee sizesbased on the area ofdamaged turf per round,a 30-day divot recoveryperiod, and minimumsquare footage values.

Variable Definition Unitsy square footage of driving range tee fez square footage of individual ft2

driving range stallsd ratio of stall area damaged ft2/ft2

over total stall area

q weekly rotation frequency days/7 days

m days to full divot recovery days

x number of stalls needed per day stalls/dayduring peak golfing season

Daily Rounds During Peak Golfing Season

y = (z)(d)(q)(m)(x)

Table ISquare Footage forTees

• Par-4 & 5Tees 0Par-3 Tees • Tees Nos. 1& 10

divots from an area until the turf has been all butcompletely harvested. With so little vegetation leftbehind, recovery from underground portions ofthe remaining plant material or from seed takesmuch longer.

By knowing the area of turf damaged on adaily basis during the peak golfing season and thegeneral rate of divot recovery, the followingequation for determining the size of a drivingrange tee can be written:

As an example, the above equation can be usedto determine the needed square footage for atypical driving range tee where 14 stalls measuring10 ft by 8 ft are needed, the ratio of stall area

3000

7500

7000

35004000

9000

8000

5000

55006000

8500

4500

'm

TotalSquare Back Middle Forward

Hole Footage Tee Tee Tee

Par 3 7,200 936 4,968 1,296(7,200x 13%) (7,200x 69%) (7,200x 18%)

Par 4 & 5 5,400 702* 3,726 972(5,400x 13%) (5,400x 69%) (5,400x 18%)

Nos. 1& 10 5,800 754* 4,002 1,044(5,800x 13%) (5,800x 69%) (5,800x 18%)

Having established a set of equations for deter-mining the proper size of the tees on the course,the only remaining task is to do the same for thedriving range tee. The circumstances are a little bitdifferent, but the basic approach to the problemshould be the same. In short, the equation shouldtake into account the area of turfdamaged on a daily basis during thepeak golfing season and the generalrate of divot recovery.

The dimensions of the area ofturf damaged on a daily basis canbe determined given that golferstypically concentrate their use inthe forward three-quarters of eachstall to avoid hitting other golferspracticing in neighboring stalls.For example, if the dimensions of adriving range stall are 10 feet wideby 8 feet deep and golfers typicallyconcentrate their use in the forwardthree-quarters, then the area ofdamaged turf is equal to 60 ff(10 ft X 8 ft X X = 60 ft2).

The rate of divot recovery on adriving range tee is appreciablyslower than for the tees located onthe course. The difference betweenthe two is due to the severity of turfdamage on driving range tees.When golfers practice within theconfines of a stall, they remove

individual multiple tee on each hole. As a guide-line, the percentage of golfers playing from eachset of tee markers should be used. Using theprevious example, if 13% of the golfers play fromthe back tees, 69% play from the middle tees, and18% play from the forward tees, then the squarefootage for each tee on a given hole should bedivided as follows:

MARCH-APRIL 2002 5

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",' , .. ~ ~~, ~ ~ ~:f I ;" ",l •',' -'

" ~.~".~ ../, .L~>I>' ~., ~ '2\l ./" "•. ~•.~~ . ~ " ~" :~~..., ." , A..

./'./"

~e.~ ~ ~, Il ~

~ ". "~ IY

/' ~./

,./IT ,

¥,./

Taking this value and subtracting it from theactual number of days needed for full divotrecovery as determined by on-site testing, e.g. 40days, equals a shortfall of 14 days. In other words,the turf on the driving range tee will be harvested

14 days before full divot recoverycan be promoted by routine main-tenance procedures. This being thecase, it can be documented that anartificial surface must be used 14days out of every 40 days duringthe peak golfing season to success-fully maintain the driving range tee.

If the equation is not used todocument the need for an artificialsurface, then, at a minimum, it canbe used to calculate the maximumnumber of stalls that can be set upduring the peak golfing seasonwithout causing the prematureharvest of turf. This can be done byusing the actual divot recoveryperiod determined by on-sitetesting and solving for the numberof driving range stalls needed on adaily basis. Using the same infor-mation as in the last example, thenumber of driving range stallsneeded on a daily basis is calculatedas follows:

The value for days available for full divot recoveryis calculated as follows:

15.000 ft2-------------- = approx.26 days(12ft x 8 ft) x ~ x 4 days x 14stalls

I stall 4 ft2 7 days I day

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2010 II98765

Number of Driving Range Stalls Set Up for Daily Play

Driving Range Tee

33600ftl - (10ft x 8 ft) 3 ft2 7 days 40 d 14stalls, -----x--x--x aysx--I stall 4 ft2 7 days I day

As a quick reference, a summary of drivingrange tee sizes based on a standard 10 ft by 8 ftstall size, a ratio of 3 ft2 of damaged area per 4 fe

damaged over total stall area is 3 fe over 4 fe, thestalls are rotated daily, and full divot recovery ispromoted in 40 days. This value is calculated asfollows:

432

~I 'Table 2.~:JSquare Footage for Driving RangeTee

50.00048.00046.00044,00042,00040,00038,00036,00034,00032,000

Bo' 30.00028,000..e 26.000f 24.000! 22,000Jr 20.000

18.00016.00014.00012.00010.0008.0006.0004,0002,000

o

In conclusion, since the very first day golf wasplayed on grass tees, many superintendents havehad to explain repeatedly why the centers tend togo bald during the peak golfing season. Whenfaced with such unpleasant duties, try using newmath to solve an old problem.

A summary of drivingrange tee sizes based ona standard 10 ft by 8 ftstall size, a ratio of 3 ft2of damaged area per 4 ft2of available space, dailystall rotation. and a 40-day divot recoveryperiod.

of available space, daily stall rotation, and a 40-dayrecovery period is presented in Table 2.

In addition to calculating driving range teesize, the equation can also be used to documentthe need for an artificial surface by solving fordays available for full divot recovery and thensubtracting this value from the actual number ofdays needed for full divot recovery as determinedby on-site testing. For example, a course with thefollowing circumstances:

15.000 ft2(12ft x 8 ft) x _3ft2 x 4 days x---- 40 days

I stall 4 ft2 7 days

= approx. 9 stalls

Area of driving range tee

Dimensions of individual driving range stall

Ratio of stall area damaged by divot removal

Weekly rotation frequency

N umber of stalls needed per dayduring peak golfing season

15.000 ft2

12 ft x 8 ft3 ft2/4 ft2

4 days/? days

14 stalls/day

REFERENCEGeorgiady, P. 1997. In the Beginning. Golf Journal. L(8):20-23.

PAUL VERMEULEN is the Director oj the Mid-Conti-nent Region and concentrateshis Tuif Advisory Servicevisits in nlinois, Kansas, and Missouri.

6 GREEN SECTION RECORD