Proper installation of rubber tees

[BionicRib]

Real quick.....if anyone out there knows the proper way to install a rubber pad please reply. We are installing new pads on a course. 5' by 10"....If anyone has played The Oaks in Mokena Illinois....we are trying to copy that type of installation. From what I have learned so far we are going to build wooden frames and level out crushed limestone underneath for drainage purposes. From this point we are going to lay down the rubber pad within the frame and tack in 6 stakes about a foot long. Two in the front, Two in the middle and Two in the back. Am I leaving anything out? Also how often do you think we will have to add and relevel the limestone underneath the pads?........Once a year......never.......once a week???........................Thank you thank you


I have played about 15 courses with rubber tee pads, Mokena's seem to be the best installed I have seen and heard of........

 

[joshmo65]

Moraine State Park has some really nice rubber tee pads.

A good picture:

When you say that you are going to build a wooden frame and put the rubber mat in it, are you implying that the frame would not be flush with the ground? I don't know if this bothers anyone else, but I know a lot of people start their run ups off to the side or behind the tee. If the mat is not really flush with the ground, then it would make it difficult for any runups longer than 10' or wider than 5'.

After looking at pictures of Mokena, those look nice. Not really sure what the wooden frames are for. It would seem like that would promote ponding of water on the pad.

 

[jenco]

I believe the frames are for the erosion to keep the crushed limestone in one spot to limit lumps in the teepads. On the picture you posted....do you know how often they need to lift up those pads to resurface or relevel the limestone underneath?........Also I am with you on the run up idea as well (forgot all about that). The frames are also more pleasing to the eye from the park districts perspective and do agree with them on that point

 

[#19325]

The Oaks are the best iinstalled rubber tee pads out there. They pull them up and relevel them every year.

 

[#19325]

Oak Brook, IL also has some very nice rubber tee pads. They are screwed down every couple of inches to a wood frame.
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/view_image.php?id=821&p=97816397

 

[TheWCG]

The Oaks are the best iinstalled rubber tee pads out there. They pull them up and relevel them every year.

agreed.:thmbup:

 

[BionicRib]

Underneath Oakbrook's rubber pads there is a wooden platform that stops the need for releveling. I am assuming that was the thought process here. My only complaint with them is that I think that wooden platform keeps moisture on the rubber too long (it doesn't drain properly)........When it rains at Mokena you can still stop on a dime, but Oakbrooks are very slick, even hours after rain........Do you guys think this is because of the difference in installation or are the rubber pads themselves different?

 

[joshmo65]

On the picture you posted....do you know how often they need to lift up those pads to resurface or relevel the limestone underneath?

To be honest, I have no idea. I don't play the course very often as it is an hour away. It doesn't seem like it gets pulled up very often near as I can tell.

 

[gotcha]

Here are images of the rubber tees we installed at Moraine State Park near Pittsburgh. Several touring players have commented about the quality installation of our tee pads....many saying we have the best rubber pads they've ever played.

A gas-powered plate tamper helps with installation, but a hand tamper provides the finishing touch. Once the gravel base is smooth, lay the rubber on top and feel for low or high spots. Roll the pad back partially and fill in or smooth out the uneven areas by hand....then roll the pad back in place and use a hand tamper on top of the rubber to finish the leveling.

Important note: For the tees located in grassy areas, be sure to create a large gravel apron around the rubber tee pad to prevent the tractor/mower from coming close to the pad. Mower blades will destroy a rubber pad in an instant. You do not want those tractors anywhere near your rubber tee pads (and speak with the park manager and/or maintenance crew about keeping mowers away from the rubber pads).

If installed properly, you will not need to lift the pads for maintenance very often. It is a good idea to rotate or flip the pads every couple of years....sort of like a mattress. After the first spring, you might find some undulation in a few pads due to the freeze/thaw cycles affecting the foundation of the pad. If that happense, simply roll back a portion of the pad, fill in, smooth out, and then tap the rubber flat. Viola...

 

[biscoe]

proper installation of rubber pads...
1. follow gotcha's instructions to the T
2. excavate large hole near tee area
3. place rubber pad in hole
4. refill hole
5. repeat as needed until rubber pads are gone

 

[superberry]

Hey gotcha, we are SERIOUSLY considering rubber pads at Winter Park, but with the remote and inaccessible areas (for skidders and power equipment) digging out and levelling the base will be a tremondous effort. That effort, coupled with the cost of rubber pads for 27 holes, 3 tees per hole will be tremendous. So we're doing our best to gather as much data and make a good decision.

What type of material did you guys buy - flypads, or the rollout runway?
Was it the 3/8" or 1/2"?
What lengths did you use? I'm wrestling with 10' vs. 12' on the two long tees, but just 8' on the short tees.
How long do the pads last in your area (based on environment and traffic on the course)?
Any further suggestions?

Here are images of the rubber tees we installed at Moraine State Park near Pittsburgh. Several touring players have commented about the quality installation of our tee pads....many saying we have the best rubber pads they've ever played.

A gas-powered plate tamper helps with installation, but a hand tamper provides the finishing touch. Once the gravel base is smooth, lay the rubber on top and feel for low or high spots. Roll the pad back partially and fill in or smooth out the uneven areas by hand....then roll the pad back in place and use a hand tamper on top of the rubber to finish the leveling.

Important note: For the tees located in grassy areas, be sure to create a large gravel apron around the rubber tee pad to prevent the tractor/mower from coming close to the pad. Mower blades will destroy a rubber pad in an instant. You do not want those tractors anywhere near your rubber tee pads (and speak with the park manager and/or maintenance crew about keeping mowers away from the rubber pads).

If installed properly, you will not need to lift the pads for maintenance very often. It is a good idea to rotate or flip the pads every couple of years....sort of like a mattress. After the first spring, you might find some undulation in a few pads due to the freeze/thaw cycles affecting the foundation of the pad. If that happense, simply roll back a portion of the pad, fill in, smooth out, and then tap the rubber flat. Viola...

 

[gotcha]

We purchased 1/2" Fly Pads through Fly 18. Our 950 rated blue and 1000 rated gold tees are 12' in length whereas the 900 rated white tees measure 10'. No skid loader needed to install these puppies (but it sure helps :thmbup: ). After installing the first couple of tees, we realized we were digging too deep before laying the gravel. Two or three inches is all that is needed. There were a few tees at Moraine State Park that we prepped without machinery and those pads came out just fine. The key is laying down a gravel base and tamping it smooth.

We are very pleased with our decision to purchase/install Fly Pads from Fly 18. We expect our investment to last well beyond 10 years (as long as we keep the mowers away from the tees). We thought me might be rotating the pads this year, but they haven't shown the amount of wear we thought they would have by now. Eventually, we will rotate the pads 180 degrees and then in a few more years, flip the pads like a mattress.

 

[KniceZ]

Biscoe - just curious, why the hatred of rubber pads?

 

[chris deitzel]

I must say that Moraine has the best rubber pads out there. But even with them as nice as they are, they still get slick when wet. And most of the older pads I have seen at courses are very slick even when dry. I think they need to be bleached and scrubbed every year or so to keep them non-slick.

 

[jhgonzo]

Second everything said in this thread, and I do have an anecdote to share regarding proper installation (I've shared this gripe before on the forums; sorry for the repeat story, DGCR vets)...

The LTC maintenance crew was getting sick of the upkeep required for our original dirt/mulch tees. In speaking with the head groundskeeper (Dale), I mirrored his sentiments and offered the two most viable options for the long term -- concrete or rubber. I recommended concrete for the best long-term payoff, but depending on their budget, rubber mats would be more than sufficient. Dale said he liked the idea of rubber mats and would look into them and attempted to end the conversation there. "But be aware," I warned him. "Both methods require preparing the tee area with some excavating and leveling if you really want either to pay off, and if you're thinking of rubber, I have a step-by-step breakdown of installation (I literally DID have a DG magazine with how-to instructions and pictures detailing the process in my hand during this conversation!) to make sure it's done right, because unlevel tees will lead to complaints from the players."

"Yeah, yeah," he pretty much cut me off at this point. After all, HE was the guy taking care of everything, and he's been doing it for years, so he didn't need pointers from some burnout disc golfer about how to take care of HIS property. The conversation ended, and I waited for a followup call once they were ready to move on with new tees.

No callbacks, no e-mails, nothing. I headed out to my course a few weeks later and noticed 18 brand new rubber tees. "Awesome!" I thought as I pulled in and parked. "Oh god, I hope they did it right," was my immediate afterthought. Not only were the tees thrown down on top of unlevel piles off gravel and staked down, but the minimum-wage-paid kids running the mowers have absolutely no regard for the course equipment, as within a week several pads had been chewed up by the big mowers, and by now, approximately 2 years later, it's looking like their lifespan will be far less than the 5-plus years usually anticipated from this material.

Moral of the story: Don't believe parks departments/maintenance crews who act like they know how to do things when it comes to course installation and equipment upkeep. While it's awesome there are places willing to practically hand their green space over to a fringe sport, they will typically (and understandably) will overlook the minutiae that any player with even a few months' experience will notice instantly. He's also revoked my ability (and the campus DG club's ability) to go out and trim branches when the lines get obstructed by overgrowth, which is a pain because there's really only 2 or 3 holes that need trimming, and ever since the course was installed there hasn't been a single instance of artificial tree downing--although many have come down with the elements--it's a very "untouched" course with how open it is.

/endrant

 

[biscoe]

Biscoe - just curious, why the hatred of rubber pads?

they get slick if dirty...
they get slick if dusty...
they get slick if muddy...
they get slick if old...
they get slick if wet...
they get slick if there is snow or ice (of course, all tees are susceptible to this one)
AND
you basically have to put in as much labor as pouring a concrete pad to "properly install" them.

 

[BionicRib]

It would be nice to find out where fly pad gets that rubber from. Rubber beds mats for a truck bed cost half what one tee pad would cost and some of those mats are close to a half an inch. or in the 3/8 to half inch range. Not that I want to put the guys out of business, but there has got to be cheaper options for the same type of "eco friendly" rubber.

 

[timothyasteele]

I just installed a 9 hole course with fly 18 pads and they're great! For the framing, I used pressure treated 4X4's, painted them with copper green for protection of termites and to weatherproof them (it's an oily product), I recessed the wood about 1.5 inches into the ground, lap jointed the beams and then staked the four corners and centers of each wood beam with 18 inches of rebar. Then fill with about 2 inches of crushed rock (1/4 to fine) to level them off nicely, and then the pads on top staked down. Here is a pic of a couple of them. PM me if you have any questions.



Tim S.

 

[timothyasteele]

Oops...here are pics.

http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac131/timothyasteele/Teepad1.jpg

http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac131/timothyasteele/Teepad2.jpg

 

[Stetz1010]

Thinking about building a private 9-holer at some property my family has...am thinking about using the artificial turf, like they use at mini-golf courses, as tees...anyone have any experience with these?