The Design of Tees and Greens
by James Braid
From Advanced Golf - THE CHARACTER AND PLACING OF TEEING GROUNDS, BUNKERS, AND PUTTING GREENS Methuen and Company, London, 1908
LESS attention is given to the matter of the preparation of suitable teeing grounds when making a golf course than its importance requires. There are seldom enough alternatives, and such as there are do not always get placed in the" right positions. Often they are too small. There is nothing so good as a big tee, not only for the opportunities that it affords of making slight variations in the drive, as suggested by the weather conditions, but also, by moving the box and plate, preventing too much wear and tear in one place. Small tees necessitate more alternatives, or else they are quickly worn away. In making a tee, a point to be remembered is, that while it should generally be level, or the lie of it should correspond to the general lie of the ground all the way to the hole when that lie is uphill, there should also be a part of it on a slight slope upwards, so that if the player needs a stance of that kind for the playing of the shot that he wants to make, he can have it.
If space and cost are not the chief considerations, every hole of any length should be supplied with not fewer than three teeing grounds. The arrangement of these may vary, but the most useful system is to place them in triangular form, with the base of the triangle nearest the hole, and at right angles to it. Of course, the distance that these tees are separated from each other will depend a little, perhaps, on the length of the hole, but more particularly on the length of the carry that has to be made with the drive ; while it may, of course, also be regulated by the extent of ground there is available. These are matters upon which no rule can be laid down ; but if the arrangement decided upon is a wise one, these tees should afford the best play under every variety of wind conditions. It is particularly necessary that there should be at least one alternative tee in the case of the longest of the short holes, such a hole as in normal conditions represents a good full shot, because it would be completely spoiled by an adverse wind if there were only the regular tee to play from. What is absolutely essential in a case of this kind, is that there should be one tee much farther forward than the general one, and in the straight line to the hole, so that the player may always be given his chance of getting up in one shot. If he cannot do this, then he has not the advantage over a short driver that he ought to have. Teeing grounds to the left and right are not so necessary in the case of holes of this kind, as the player may very well be left to deal with the difficulties that may be caused by strong winds from either side. It will be obvious, also, that an extra forward tee is quite necessary at those holes where the carry in normal circumstances is a severe one, such, for example, as the two holes mentioned in the course described in the last chapter, where the carry was made as stiff as possible. Evidently, with a strong wind against him, it would be impossible for the player to clear the hazard, and he would be reduced to playing short, which is an extremely unsatisfactory thing to do, besides which the hole would generally be spoiled.
In this chapter I am not concerned with the choice of seeds and turf, but it might just be mentioned that it is bad to have a too fine turf for a teeing ground, as it is so soon worn away. A rough, strong grass should always be selected ; and in the case of wet soil, when possible the teeing ground should be raised up, and be supplied with a bed of cinders, or some other loose stuff, to assist the drainage in rainy seasons.
Now a word as to putting greens. On' a course there should be all kinds, that is to say, they should be of various sizes and of different characters of undulation. It has already been pointed out that the greens should be large when they are expected to be reached in good play by a long shot, and correspondingly small when it is generally an iron club that will be used to get to them. It will be noted that the size of the green is not at all dependent on the length of the hole-that is to say, if there is a hole of, say, 300 yards' length, it is clear that the approach should generally be a very short one, and the green should therefore be small. So, too, in the case of a hole that is getting on for 500 yards in length, which cannot be reached in two shots, but ought never to need more than a short third, except in the case of an adverse wind. Long bunkers right in front of a green are not a good form of hazard ; but when they are made, the green should be of a fairly good size, to give the player a chance of staying on in the case of a following wind.
This raises the point as to the general shape of the green, which should be governed by the kind of approach shot that will usually have to be made to it. Many greens are made very much the same length from side to side as they are from front to back, so that they are nearly square or round ; but there are evident reasons why this is not always the best shape. For example, in the case we have just been thinking of, where the player needs room to stay on, he may be given it in length of the green forward and backwards, without the width being increased also. Such a green would be rectangular in shape, the long way being with the proper line of play.
Then there is the question of surface conformation. There are flat greens, greens with many and pronounced undulations, greens on plateaus, and saucer greens. Generally speaking, the former are not good, as they do not make sufficient test of the putting abilities of a player ; but one or two of them on a course are to be recommended. You might have such a flat green, being also a large one, at the very long holes, when the player has already been severely tested before he has to begin his putting, and in order also to give him a more than usually good chance of holing in one putt and effecting a fine finish to very satisfying play through the green. For the same reason, at such long holes as these you might have a saucer green, that tends to draw the ball a little towards the hole, so that the player may reap the fullest advantage from a long and straight shot up. At such times he deserves to be treated with more than usual kindness in matters of this kind. Reverting to the flat green, one is not out of place at the eighteenth, so that the finish of a match that goes to the home green may depend as little upon luck as possible, for, no matter how skilful the player may be, putting on a very wavy green, particularly if it is in a fast state, is necessarily attended by more luck than on a flat one. Therefore any undulations that there are on the home green should not be very pronounced, and the bigger this green is the better.
As to the undulations, they may be of all kinds, and a pronounced knob, not in the very centre of the green but a few yards to one side, is generally an excellent thing ; but the hole should never be cut either on the knob or very close behind it, because that would make it next to impossible to hole out from the other side. The purpose of the knob is to make the player avoid it or to play his approach to the side on which the hole is; and if he fails to do that and gets the knob in between his ball and the hole, he will have an unusually difficult putting problem to think out. But you do not need a knob of this kind on every green, and it ought never to be of a much exaggerated size.
There is the plateau green still to consider, and it is one that generally makes the approach difficult. Such a green should be of good size, and it should not generally be just beyond a bunker in the straight line of play. By this I suggest that the approach to the hole should be of such a kind as to encourage the running-up shot, which is usually the best one for this kind of green. Having dealt with the tees and putting greens, the beginning and ends of the holes, let us now consider the bunkers and the placing of them, but first of all their formation.
[see braid_on_bunkers.txt for continuation of chapter]