Driving Range Tee Fraze Mowing

After decades of intense play and millions of divots, the Driving Range Tee box was in need of leveling. Our staff have been diligently topdressing divots every week for years, but despite all this hard work, we determined that something needed to be done to make the tee more level. Stripping/grading and sodding the tee is an option; similarly to what was done to the Par 3 tee boxes last year. However, we didn't want to close the range for an extended period of time and the costs involved weren't in the budget. One technique that has become more popular over the past 10 years is fraze mowing. Fraze mowing is the process were a tractor mounted machine "scalps" down to a predetermined depth to remove as much foliage and thatch as possible, while leaving enough vegetation at the surface to allow the turf to recover. As you can see from the pictures, this process is invasive and we knew we would need to give the turf time to recover. Thankfully, we have artificial turf mats along the backside of the range tee. This allowed us to complete the work and keep the range open for play while the turf recovered for a few weeks. Last Friday, the turf on the range tee recovered enough to allow players back on the tee box. We appreciate everyone helping us by staying on the mats and being patient while the turf grew back in. The process was a huge success and we expect to schedule this to be done every few years as needed to ensure a smooth, firm practice tee.