Every morning we set the ropes at the driving range tee. We want the experience to be a good one when you are practicing here at the club. However the complaint that I heard this morning was that the ropes were set up and there was no good turf to hit from. Well I asked our superintendent what happened? He had instructed his staff where to put the ropes knowing that the middle of the area was used up, however the ends were great and there were no bad areas at either end. The middle of the tee had been used up so the golfers were correct, and our superintendent was trying to get the most out of the tee by setting up in an area that had been used but he wanted the golfers to practice on the ends.
Most golfers are creatures of habit. They drive to the middle of the tee and that is where they like to hit from. Our tees at the west range are 100 yards long. So when you approach the tee on a cart if you would take the time to drive to the west end I think you will find that there is usually some good areas to hit from. We are also working with the Pro Shop staff to set the end areas the first thing in the morning and then later in the day we will migrate more towards the middle by setting up more hitting stations.
I think this photo does a very good job of showing what I mean when I say the golfers are wearing out the middles and not using the ends.
Also please remember to not clear out an entire area as you practice. Please leave some turf between your divot lines so we have some areas that will recover.
Thank you for understanding and helping us out on this matter.