Wood chips for tees

[kiseki]

Hello Guys
In spite of the fact that all my course design came from a summer of upgrading an existing course for a tournament, I was recommended to a designer who is in the process of building their first course.
The plan is to clear the brush, split logs lengthwise and lay out a tee box with them. Then wood chips will fill in the box. I've never made drives on wood chips but I have misgivings about the traction you can get on them. Any thoughts? Experience?

 

[ferretdance03]

Unless they are compacted really well I doubt they'll be firm enough for a solid tee. Most tees I've seen that had wood chips ended up being just grass/mud as everybody kicked the chips away from where they wanted to stand/tee from.

 

[turso]

In my experience if the tee isnt made of a solid and durable material, it will crater quick and badly.

 

[rusch_bag]

There was a course here that put woodchips down for a short term fix on one hole and it was awful. I fell so much trying to throw on those as they would just slide out and go everywhere. It was only a 250 foot hole to so it wasn't like I was trying to crush something.

 

[DagG]

A couple local courses used to have wood chip tees but they've all been converted to other materials. The chips never compact and will be spread all over the place in the normal course of play. Since the chips inhibit new growth, the ground cover surrounding the tee tends to get thinned out as well. Wood chips also retain moisture so in many cases there will be mud under the chips when everything else is dry. I found out about the latter two years back when my leading (plant) foot shot out from under me resulting in a spectacular wipe out and stressing the hell out of my trailing ankle/knee. I was very fortunate that nothing broke but still was unable to walk unaided for several weeks after.

If a hard surface tee is not an option, you may wish to consider filling your tee box with crusher fines or something similar.

 

[clard]

Wood chips are almost as annoying as mosquitoes, gnats, and small children. You slip to hell while trying to throw on them, they get in your shoes, they quickly form a muddy crater, and they have to be replenished/touched up very often. They'd be much better off with either the rubber pads or good old concrete.

 

[Dogma1]

For all the reasons above, I would rather see bare dirt than wood chips. Also, unless you are going to do concrete or something else permanent, I would hold off on the plan to frame the tee boxes with logs. They will just make it harder to play to the back or side of the box as your dirt and/or woodchips inevitably wear and become hazardous, wet, etc.

 

[Frank Delicious]

I do not enjoy wood chip teepads.

 

[MasterP97]

Depending on the wood and how wet it gets it'll be slippery and you'll be asking for trouble and more work later on.

 

[kiseki]

In my experience if the tee isnt made of a solid and durable material, it will crater quick and badly.

That sounds bad. But in this case I'm not sure what it means to "crater".

If a hard surface tee is not an option, you may wish to consider filling your tee box with crusher fines or something similar.

I hadn't considered that...

They'd be much better off with either the rubber pads or good old concrete.

Or rubber, which I have never seen. I presume you take those in for the winter with the baskets?

Thanks guys you have given me a lot of good reasons, where before I just had a bad feeling in my gut.

 

[clard]

Rubber tee pads are just pieces of a rubbery material. See http://www.pdga.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=18219 for a more in depth description. I have thrown from these a number of times and they are pretty good. And, no, they are permanent. No need to take them in for any kind of weather.

When we say "crater" we mean that lots and lots of people throwing from the teebox will kick the wood chips out of the box. They will especially be kicked out of the middle of the box as that is where most people will throw from thus forming a crater where the lowest point of the tee box is in the center and it rises up towards the edges.

 

[kiseki]

We get temperatures of -35F or worse every year, so some things break here that don't any other place, but that sounds pretty good.

Ah yes, I have seen craters at many courses. And filled in a few.

 

[RS39]

Ouch, so frost heave for concrete is an issue as well...

Besides making only one cross log in front for the tee line to avoid the rest becoming a water trap, try to be sure the signs are far enough away to not be impact hazards to body parts when throwing. People inevitably need to move away from tree roots and such that appear in the original boxes, and close signs are trouble.

 

[inthedrift]

Ouch, so frost heave for concrete is an issue as well...

Besides making only one cross log in front for the tee line to avoid the rest becoming a water trap, try to be sure the signs are far enough away to not be impact hazards to body parts when throwing. People inevitably need to move away from tree roots and such that appear in the original boxes, and close signs are trouble.

This is one thing that irritates me at some courses. Every time I see a course on video that has the tee signs at the BACK of the boxes it makes me wish it was the norm. It should be. I've seen people nearly lop their hand off on the side of a metal tee sign that was placed too close to the pad. Signs at the back FTW!

 

[MasterP97]

Ouch, so frost heave for concrete is an issue as well...

Besides making only one cross log in front for the tee line to avoid the rest becoming a water trap, try to be sure the signs are far enough away to not be impact hazards to body parts when throwing. People inevitably need to move away from tree roots and such that appear in the original boxes, and close signs are trouble.

This is one thing that irritates me at some courses. Every time I see a course on video that has the tee signs at the BACK of the boxes it makes me wish it was the norm. It should be. I've seen people nearly lop their hand off on the side of a metal tee sign that was placed too close to the pad. Signs at the back FTW!

That is just silly logic Jbizzle!

 

[Frank Delicious]

How will I know the distance if I can't see the teesign while I'm throwing?

 

[RS39]

A new course here has plastic arrow signs zip tied under the baskets to face the next hole. Saves tons of game-slowing wandering at the new place.

 

[zj10021]

I actually don't mind woodchips and I think I am one of the few. As for the comment about them being slippery in the rain...well I am pretty sure every box is slippery in the rain. The concrete boxes here in Austin are notorious slippery when they get some texas dirt/mud on them. I also developed my game on courses that have less that pristine boxes(pease, txstate, circle c pre-concrete). I learned pretty quickly how to overcome an iffy box.

I actually think crushed granite is worse than woodchips/mulch and have the bloody knees to prove that. A local course that opened last year, Bible Ridge, uses a lot of woodchips. Luckily the people that own the property(a church) are willing to maintain the boxes because when the mulch gets worn down, the boxes are much worse.

 

[kiseki]

I'm not terribly worried about rain here, as it is a very dry climate.
It is good to hear from a fan of wood chips too. I must say that while I predicted dislike, I was surprised at the strength of it.
There is something to be said for variety in a place like Texas. Last time I visited Austin, I played 5 times at 4 different courses within 10 minutes of my host. If you don't like a course, you can find lots more that fit your style. Here though, this will be the only course in a 40 mile radius, and one of only three in hundreds of miles. It is also in a tourist area, so lots of people who have never played before will give it a shot.
All that is to say...something.
Lots of food for thought...

 

[colombo117]

What about carpet? I have played a private course that used large carpet remnants for teepads and they were actually pretty solid. When it rains the carpet could get slick though.