Rectilinear Troon Tee Boxes??

[Carl Rogers]

Why?  They are, to my eye, very out of place.

[Jon Wiggett]

Carl,


somewhat perplexed by your question. Rectilinear are a traditional style of tee box and very common throughout the world. For a traditional club such as Troon they are the obvious choice. As to whether they look okay or not, I guess that is a question of taste. To me they look very much in harmony with the set up of the course.


Jon

[Tyler Kearns]

Carl,


The naturalist style that has come to the forefront during this second golden age is most appealing to my eye, however, I do have a soft spot for rectangular tee boxes.  I can't really justify it, but I really like the look.  I do suppose they could prove beneficial on blind tee shots where they help align golfers properly.


TK

[Ryan Farrow]

They are just tees, some are done better than others but at the end of the day, it is just a tee. We have a lot more problems in the world to worry about.


I would rather have a debate about the food or beer options at the clubhouse [size=78%].[/size]




If you want to make an argument about ease of maintenance, acceptable carry yardages, # of tees,  flat  or sloping, have at it,  but to complain about the shape is a little boring.




 

[Charlie_Bell]

I wonder if one's reaction is a function of what one is accustomed to.  All the tees on my home course are elevated rectangles, so anything else looks unnatural.   

[Josh Stevens]

Maybe there are just easier to mow?

[Joe Hancock]

They are just tees, some are done better than others but at the end of the day, it is just a tee. We have a lot more problems in the world to worry about.


I would rather have a debate about the food or beer options at the clubhouse [size=78%].[/size]




If you want to make an argument about ease of maintenance, acceptable carry yardages, # of tees,  flat  or sloping, have at it,  but to complain about the shape is a little boring.

Ryan,

I bet we like a lot of similar things in golf, but I'm almost the polar opposite as you on this issue. Bad landforms at the tee area is one of my pet peeves.

Rectangular tees on a truncated pyramid with a drainage swale in between each pad is about as bad as it gets for me, and apart from the obvious issue of looks, it makes for an unnecessary amount of strain to walk through that crap.

The details of everything, including tees, is what makes the difference between good and great. 

[David_Tepper]

Carl R.,


Rectilinear tee boxes are common practice in Scotland and almost everywhere else in the UK.


DT

[Matt_Cohn]

I like rectangular tees. To me, their form fits what they are: artificial. In fact, clearly artificial — dead flat expanses on land that presumably wasn't that way to start.


Of course, much of golf course construction is artificial, intended to look natural. But tees aren't intended to look natural; they're intended to be unnaturally flat. So why even pretend that they're "natural", undulating, curvy, etc.?


Besides, there's a certain poetry to it. There are two linear shapes on each hole: the man-made tee, where you start, and the man-made flag, where you finish. You start and end at orderly locations; in between, everything is "wild." It's a journey. I feel it...is this making sense to anyone?

[Sean_A]

I much prefer squared off tees, especially if there is no real landform and grass is just being cut. Unlike Joe, I prefer the separation between raised tee areas because

1. They can be more easily staggered and natural rough/flowers etc can grow between the tees...which looks lovely.  Beau Desert does exceptionally well on this front.

2. The height changes between area can be more easily disguised raher than on a large tee.  But there are times when one large tee does the job as well, often when flowing closely from the previous green. 

That said, if there is a natural raised tee or fake one which is meant to look natural, cut the entire top of the landform.  I don't like squared off areas where there is rough leading to a natural boundary which isn't squared off.  [/size][/font]

My pet peeve is circular tees....hate them.  They never look right because tees tend to be regimented in how they are laid out, and rounded off edges don't fit this look at all.

Ciao

[Tom Bacsanyi]

If rectangular tees are "out of place", then circular tees are downright stupid and inefficient.  A circular tee realistically has a "teeable" area that becomes a...wait for it...RECTANGLE. You can't put tee markers everywhere on a circular tee box, so you get a bunch of wasted turf that needs to be mowed, fertilized, sprayed, aerated, topdressed, etc. that will never actually be hit from.  Multiply those little wasted areas per tee by the number of tees and you get a significant square footage of high quality, useless turf.  So much for sustainability.

That being said, the idea of teeing grounds like you might find on some Doak courses is fine, as they are typically maintained the same as the fairways (cheaper) and allow for some cool flexibility. 

In my opinion, the ideal course would feature a combo of square tee boxes and teeing grounds but not a single circular tee.  Flame away, circulists.