Driving Range Tee Line Complete

Completed Tee Line ready for play

The execution and completion of the new Driving Range Tee Line went off exactly according to plan. The motivation behind the project was an obvious need to replace the worn out artificial mats that are used for practicing when the driving range is not set up  the 23,000 square feet of grass teeing area.

Concrete forms for raising the
concrete pad.

This half acre of turf has never been able to sustain all of the driving range traffic and we have always needed to utilize artificial turf mats for a third of the member use at the club.  Additionally artificial surfaces are necessary during wet weather and sustained periods of recovery of the grass tee. 

Another issue that had been slowly developing was the concrete pad in which the mats are stationed had become lower then the ever increasing grade of the driving range tee, creating a basin that collected irrigation and rainfall. This situation required a remedy and after considering several options, we decided to raise the concrete pad and install new drainage to keep the new artificial turf from sitting in water.

Contractor pouring the concrete.

Members of the Granite Bay Golf Committee did the initial legwork and steered us in the right direction for the material to replace the old mats. The plan was always to move towards a continuous Tee Line rather then just mat replacement. With that in mind, the "driving range artificial turf sub committee" traveled around the State trying out the best Tee Lines they could find which lead us to Synthetic Turf International (STI), the most recognized brand in the artificial turf industry. STI's Tee Lines are the current standard in the industry and the EZ Turf Hybrid is latest generation, most advanced artificial turf driving range hitting surface available. By design the EZ Turf Hybrid is a little soft when first installed but will firm up slightly, but not too much, so as to maintain the most realistic feel throughout the life of the Tee line. Additionally the choice of a continuous Tee Line versus replacement mats will allow for hitting rotation and a life expectancy of  well over five years for the new turf.

GCM installing new drainage, backing up newly
raised concrete pad.

If you happened to take the time to look at some of the Tee Lines from  STI you will notice some installations appeared to have the regular turf in contact with the artificial turf and in some instances that is actually the case. Others have borders of wooden or recycled plastic 2" X 4" material to provide a barrier for maintenance edging. We felt strongly about some type of border and opted for a recessed area in the new concrete pad for the new Tee Line to sit in and be surrounded with a concrete mow strip of sorts. Built into the pad was a unnoticeable front to back 1% slope to facilitate drainage along with extra expansion joint like drainage channels at the rear of the pad to provide an escape path for irrigation or rainfall. 

Synthetic Turf International of Northern California
gluing down the new artificial turf
Tee Line. 

Real turf is always a better surface to practice on, and this new Tee Line will not change our intent or schedule of having our members practice on the turf Thursday through Sunday. However we all have to admit that the new Tee Line is a substantial upgrade from even replacement of the old, worn out mats and will hopefully not make it as hard to use when GCM inevitably has to close the grass tee for extended renovation and recovery.