Golf Tees Divoting

Regular divoting whilst tees are in use is essential, and often grass seed is mixed in with a divot mix to aid recovery, especially during the growing season and when seed can germinate in a reasonable time period.

Tees for par 3 holes might be divoted on a daily basis, whilst those for par 4 and 5 holes might typically be divoted from twice a week to fortnightly, depending on the size of the tees, the amount and type of usage and the available resources.

A divot mixture will typically be consistent with the type of soil in the existing tee but would typically be a minimum of a sandy loam, whilst the grass seed might vary depending on what is being aimed for reading the characteristics and usage of the course.

Making sure that a tee divot bin or box is located by each tee, but especially par 3 holes. This will also help encourage golfers to help in divoting. A sandy soil, with suitable grass seed mixed in, will be regularly topped up by the greenkeeping team.

The use of summer and winter tees can help to spread wear, especially due to traffic routes leading from the previous green and off the tee onto the fairway to the next green.

Major renovation work can also be carried out on each type of tee whilst they are being rested, allowing them to more fully recover from the previous seasons’ usage.

The quality of winter tees should be comparable to that of summer tees, at least at the start of their use. Many courses, however, will have limited availability of teeing ground and this will prevent them from having extensive grassed winter tees. In some cases, the use of an artificial grass mat will often be positioned in front of the summer tee for when ground conditions might cause unacceptable wear on the main tee or will even be used for the majority of the winter period.

September and October might be typical times to top-dress summer tees, whilst April might be typical for winter tees. Where tees are used throughout the year, then an April as well as September top-dressing might be carried out. The application rate would typically be 2-4kg/m² per application, ensuring it is well worked in with a lute. Evenness on a golf tee is essential so the use of drag mats will accentuate any minor undulations which might have started to be developed, either from settling from prior construction, or maybe to mole activity, as well as ensuring divot repairs are well evened out with the rest of the tee.

Tees which have become uneven and are unlikely to be improved by top-dressing alone can have the surface stripped with a turf cutter, the surface layer cultivated, firmed and relevelled, and new turf relaid. This would typically take place from September to no later than the end of December in most cases, so as to allow the newly laid turf a suitable minimum amount of time to become well-established before being put back into play from maybe April time.