GREEN TEE PROJECT

The Coharie Men’s Golf Association has been planning the “Green Tee” Project for over two years. The purpose of this project was to offer tees that would play a distance between the white and gold tees.

Once the Association agreed the project would be beneficial, an ad hoc committee was formed to designate where such tees might be located. Temporary tees were cut in those locations. This gave the Club’s membership the opportunity to play from these temporary locations and to provide feedback. After nearly six months of playing the temporary tees and receiving feedback, the Association considered several options regarding the scope of the project and the costs associated with these options. These options ranged from modestly constructing only a few new tees to renovating all tee boxes.

We were fortunate to have Bo Barefoot as a Club member. Bo has had both golf course construction and renovation experience in his career. Bo provided valuable advice on the location and size of the tee boxes. In so doing, the location of the new tees preserve the integrity of the hole. This provides to players as much as possible the same angle and aim point of the tee shot from the new tees as they are from the farther tees. More feedback was gathered from members. Final decisions were made with input from Richard and Kevin as to the course infrastructure and future maintenance. As to renovating and leveling all tees, the cost was too prohibitive and would have required a multi-year financial commitment from both the Association and the Club in uncertain times relative to the pandemic.

Bids were received and contract work was to begin the first of May. Several weeks of rainy weather not only affected our course but also delayed our contractors from finishing other jobs. Construction finally began on July 8th and was completed on July 21st. The tees will be watered several times a day for two weeks and with good weather should be ready for play in six weeks.

The CMGA and the Club would especially like to thank JL Spell and his workers for coming out and helping rake and form the tee boxes prior to sodding. This enabled the sod work to be done quicker and cheaper.

Many golfers have enjoyed playing the temporary green tees. The finished project will enhance the playing experience of Coharie for many years to come.