| Performance Standard | Parameter to be achieved (When measured at any time during the year) |
Comment |
| 1. Total ground cover | Min. 60% - 80% | This would depend upon whether the tee is a Par 3 or Par 4/5. If the minimum level is reached then this would probably indicate that this part of the tee needs to be allowed to recuperate before too much damage is done. |
| 2. Desirable grass species content | Min. 80% | This could be a range of grasses, including Browntop Bents, Chewing's Fescues, Strong Creeping Red Fescues, Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass, Perennial Ryegrass (fine leaved cultivars). The list could also include other species such as Hard Fescue where tees have limited to no irrigation. |
| 3. Annual meadow grass content | Max. 20% | Ideally this would be nil, but such a figure is unrealistic. It may be easier to reduce the maximum figure on lightly used teeing areas or those which have high contents of perennial ryegrass. |
| 4. Fine leaved weed content | Max. 5% | This would include weeds such as clovers, pearlwort, parsley piert, toadrush and yarrow. |
| 5. Broad leaved weed content | Max. 1% | This would include weeds such as daisy, dandelion, etc. |
| 6. Moss content | Max. 3% | This figure might be varied due to seasonal growth, allowing for may be up to 6% moss during the autumn / winter period, coming done to 3% during the main growing season. This would also depend upon light levels and the shade cast from adjacent trees, so individual tees may need to have different standards. |
| 7. Algae content | Max. 1% | Any substantial amount of algae is a good indicator of wet conditions and soil problems. Shade from adjacent trees may also be a problem. |
| 8. Earthworm surface casts | Max. 6 per m2 | A figure needs to be set to prevent smothering of the grass. A slightly higher figure may be considered if cultural control, alone, is being carried out. |
| 9. Pest infestation | Nil | This relates to leatherjackets and chafer grubs which will exhaust the grass roots and should not be tolerated. |
| 10. Disease infestation | Max. 5% | A balance is needed to prevent excessive chemical application and also to give the grass some potential to build up a certain level of resistance to disease. Different types of disease may be allowed to be more prevalent than others. Tees do not suffer from the amount of disease like that of the higher maintained greens. |
| 11. Grass length | (a) 6-12mm or (b) 8-15mm |
This would be stated for the (a) main growing season and (b) outside of it also. Choose a suitable figure for the type of tee. Other figures may need to be included if the tee is taken out of use over the autumn / winter period and also if the sward is predominantly perennial ryegrass and/or smooth-stalked meadow grass, with the height of cut being 25mm or so for this period. |
| 12. Thatch depth | Range 3mm-12mm | Too much will cause problems, whilst too little will reduce the resilience of the turf. There is greater leeway here than on greens. |
| 13. Root depth | Min. 75mm | In general, the deeper the better, but 75mm should realistically be aimed at as a minimum. Some form of criteria may also be built into this relating to root density as well. |
| 14. Sward colour | Uniform 'medium to dark' green | Some form of colour chart may be beneficial to clarify what this means. |
| 15. Quality of cut | Sharp and uniform | No jagged, blunt or bruised edges. This will ensure the mower is set correctly. |
| 16. Surface evenness | Using a 0.5m straight edge - Max ± 6mm | It is unlikely that a perfect evenness to the surface is achieved, but it should be fairly smooth. It will be important to ensure a suitable foothold can be achieved for striking the ball. |
| 17. Surface gradient | Max. fall 1:100, to Flat | A small amount of slope may be required depending upon the elevation of the tee in relation to the fairway / green. |
| 18. Soil pH | 5.0-7.0 | This will depend upon the grass species content of the tee. Once that has been determined then the range can be narrowed slightly, if desired. |
| 19. Phosphorus content | ADAS : 1 - 2 | Only very small amounts are required by the finer turfgrasses, with slightly higher amounts for perennial ryegrass. |
| 20. Potassium content | ADAS : 1 - 3 | This may depend upon how sandy the soil profile is and what is the potential for leaching, as well as the grass species composition. |
| 21. Permeability of the soil profile | 1.2 cm/hr | Consider that golf is played for 12 months of the year, although some tees may be taken out of use over the winter period and may not need too high a permeability rate. A suitable enough rate will need to be included, however, this will vary depending upon the geographic location of the site. |
| 22. Soil particle size analysis | Main particle range, say 60-80% within: 0.25 - 0.5mm | A suitable breakdown might be included, especially for the top-dressing which is applied during renovation or for divoting. |