Tees ...

Tees probably ended 2018 as our biggest turf issue. They have three pretty big strikes going against them, especially in years like 2018: shade, poor drainage, and lack of size. Throw in the fact that a lot of them have trees growing in close proximity and they are a constant struggle. 

We have shade issues to some degree on the majority of the tees but three, six, eight, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen are the biggest problems. The shade really limits the ability of the turf to fill in and recover. Even if we can get decent turf stands established on them in the spring, they slowly decline all season. The fact that many of them have trees growing in close proximity doesn't help either, think three, six, twelve, and fifteen white. Both the turf and the trees are fighting for the same nutrients and moisture. 

The tees also tend to drain poorly. In 2018, this undoubtedly was our biggest issue. It was very evident on number one at the end of last season. The front half, which is a bit higher and dryer, was still in good shape, while the back half where the water tended to end up was thinned out quite a bit. 

As if those issues weren't enough, the tees are very small. We only spray two acres. Which means actually turf area is probably closer to one and three quarters. On an eighteen hole golf course with six par threes, that is not a lot. In fact, it is not nearly enough. 

To sum it up we are trying to grow turf that is competing for nutrients and moisture in a difficult growing environment while having to withstand and recover from traffic. The odds are not in our favor. 

So what do we do to help our odds? Well for starters we try to limit traffic in the late fall, winter, and early spring. In the winter of 2015 and 2016, we didn't use the tees at all. You'll remember that we were asking people to tee off from in front of the actual boxes or from the yellow boxes where it made sense. The last two winters we either used one set of markers on the very fronts of the white boxes or had no markers at all, allowing you to pick your teeing areas and spread the traffic out instead of wasting teeing areas before the season. This winter we had to deviate from those plans a bit and went with two sets of tees but tried to keep the traffic confined to the front area of the boxes. 

We have also been aggressively aerating and seeding. Last spring we did an early solid tine and seeding of the tees followed up with a core aerification and seeding a month or so later. We will employ the same strategy this year. 

And last but not least, if you played here the last three winters, you've probably noticed the turf covers on the worst of the tees. This year we covered the box shared by two and eighteen as well as twelve, fourteen, and sixteen. The covers delay dormancy, protect the turf from the cold winter temps, and hopefully help "start up" the turf earlier in the spring while the traffic is limited. All in an attempt to extend the time the turf has to grow, recover, strengthen and fill in. 

Yesterday we picked up the covers and mowed the tees for the first time. We also started the solid tine aerification and seeding process. 

Pics below show fourteen tee covered as well as sixteen tee post cut. If you look closely at the picture of sixteen tee you can see faint lines of turf. Those are last years aerification holes filled with turf from seeding.