PUTTING IDEAS Into Practice

Practice areas have become an increasingly important aspect of most golf facilities. Thoughtful improvements can help practice facilities handle heavy use and provide the best experience possible.

The increase in rounds and revenue that most courses have experienced over the past several years shows little sign of letting up. With packed golf courses comes packed practice facilities, which has prompted many courses to think about renovations. When planning a practice area improvement project, it’s worth exploring ideas that will not only enhance the experience for golfers but can also help withstand increased use and even reduce maintenance costs.

Practice Tees

Given the amount of time golfers dedicate to practice, there is no such thing as building a practice tee that is too big. In fact, the issue at many courses is that the practice tee is not large enough to accommodate the total use during a golf season. If tee space is limited, installing hitting areas that use an artificial surface can go a long way toward preserving the grass tee for when it’s needed most. Even if a course has a large grass practice tee, artificial mats can be very useful during bad weather or periods of slow turf recovery. While there is no standard answer for when to rotate off natural turf and onto the artificial surface, it should be guided by divot recovery. If grass is growing slowly, then recovery will be slow and mats should be used. Some recent practice tee designs have also done well at integrating the artificial surface into the tee complex for a clean look.

Some courses in the upper transition zone are having success with practice tees comprised of hybrid bermudagrasses with improved cold tolerance. Hybrid bermudagrass practice tees have their limitations, but they are certainly worth considering in many areas –especially if there is an opportunity to create a two-tee system that utilizes a cool-season and warm-season surface when each is growing and recovering at their best.

Other strategies like offering range balls in smaller quantities and encouraging a proper divot pattern can also help you get the most out of your practice tee turf.

Target Greens

Target greens experience a significant amount of traffic from utility vehicles driving over them to collect golf balls. Over an entire season, this traffic can result in turf decline that negatively impacts the aesthetics of the practice range. Maintaining healthy turf on target greens requires material and labor investments in the form of mowing, plant protectant applications and cultural management practices. Installing artificial greens on the practice range eliminates turf health issues and results in significant cost savings, along with potentially improved aesthetics.

Driving ranges at some facilities have been renovated to also function as a short course when the range tee is closed. An issue with this concept is how putting quality will be impacted on natural target greens due to all the ball marks that occur during normal practice. If a driving range renovation is being planned with a dual-purpose short course component, it’s worth exploring whether artificial target greens are a better option.

As with practice tees, some courses that have traditionally used cool-season grasses for target greens have switched to cold-tolerant varieties of bermudagrass or zoysiagrass and find them to be a good alternative. These grass species have greater wear, drought and heat tolerance than cool-season grasses and can stand up to the relentless traffic on the range. If the climate is suitable for these turf species, it’s certainly worth investigating them as an option.

Final Thoughts

With the practice facility being one of the first areas most golfers visit when arriving at a course, its condition and presentation go a long way in establishing a positive first impression. Practice is also an increasingly important activity in its own right, so providing a good experience at the practice facility is a key consideration for many courses. If improvements to the practice area are part of an upcoming renovation, be sure to think about how to accommodate heavy use throughout the season. Don’t be afraid to get creative as you try to deliver the best experience possible!

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