Over the next few weeks, I’ll be doing shorter posts that focus on one specific topic. Hopefully they will be educational and/or useful for you.
First topic is the where you usually start your round, on the range tee.
In October of 2022 we re-leveled and re-sodded the tee. Being that the sod is young, has yet to develop a strong root and rhizome system, it is vulnerable to a slow recovery. Being that we have a smaller than normal tee for the amount of use it gets, there is one major contribution you can do that will have the biggest impact in that recovery.
Physiologically, the turf on the tee will re-grow laterally to recover. We do seed the divots, and level them with a sand/soil mix, but that seed takes 2 weeks to germinate, and in a summer we’re having, very little to none of that seed is surviving. If you think about giving the turf the fastest route to recover, taking a large patch of divots will result in the turf having to grow across that patch, which will takes weeks, if not a full month. By the end of the season, we won’t have much quality turf remaining.
Taking divots in strips will dramatically reduce the grass you take, as well as shortens recovery time. Below is 8 shots taken in a scattered pattern:
And here’s 8 shots taken in a strip:
Below is the best visual comparison of all 3 divot patterns side by side:
Try the linear pattern while on the range, and help us provide you with the best practice experience possible!