Matts....... Line them up properly, please!

[Oddsocks]

Ok so we are at that time of year where some courses opt to bring matt's in to protect the tee area, im all for this if it means the course will be in better condition come spring. but why oh why is it that 99% of matt's are completely miss-aligned.

Yesterday we played Royal Ashdown in Sussex and with the exception of some light casual water on some of the greens early on due to a down poor the course was really good. Fairways nice and short with no worm casts nice and green and even though winter rules were enforce, we rarely had to use them. We were off matt's, but to their credit the matt's were pretty good quality so not really and issue except the 10/15 broken tee's in my pocket come the end of the round. The gripe isnt with the matts, but the fact that when they were installed, no one has taken the time to align them correctly meaning you had to double check your alignment every time, as matt's would/could often be facing into the rough or woods and not effectively down the center of the fairway.

If clubs are going to go to the expense of installing matts, why on earth dont they take just 5 mins extra per matt and line them up correctly for the middle of the fairway....

Rant over.

 

[One Planer]

You forgot the :rant: option :smirk:

I played my local track at the weekend and the tee matts were frozen solid. After a few close calls (slips) I called it a day after 4 holes and went to the range.

 

[BTatHome]

Surely you always line up anyway, how are you double checking? Do you not line up when you have normal tee markers?

Played several places where the tee boxes are specifically set to point slightly off target rather than just down the middle.

 

[Andy]

Greenkeeper who laid them has a bent eye?

You do some amount of moaning Oddsocks.

 

[Oddsocks]

Surely you always line up anyway, how are you double checking? Do you not line up when you have normal tee markers?

Played several places where the tee boxes are specifically set to point slightly off target rather than just down the middle.

of course I line up, but some matts seemed to be almost 45* out on certain holes. i just cant see why matts if installed as a fixed point for long periods of time (2/3 months) wouldnt be set square to the hole. I have to admit when greenkeepers put the blocks down of line willy nilly that gets my back right up too.

 

[stevie_r]

do all the normal tee boxes at your club align perfectly with the fairways and greens then?

and another thing - your thread title needs to go in the typos thread

 

[Robobum]

Post count booster??

You'll still have to go some to catch Homer.

 

[Oddsocks]

do all the normal tee boxes at your club align perfectly with the fairways and greens then?

not they do not all align perfectly at my home club, but a good percentage do. I think its different with grass tee's as they have been there a long time and as the course matures you cannot just move a tee box. But with matt's, normally they will be a general playing ground for men and women, with this taken into account its pointless lining the matt up for a tiger line 250 yard carry when the average woman is hitting around half of that...

 

[AmandaJR]

The winter mats at our place are dreadful. Very old, more humps and hollows than The Old Course and the grooves to take the tee pegs are so wide you have to get a tuft of grass to stuff into them so the tee stands up firmly enough to take the ball.

Oh - and slippery too - in any weather !

Apart from that they're perfect :fore:

 

[StrangelyBrown]

My Dad commonly sets up at right angles to the tee markers without actually checking where this actually aims him down the hole.

 

[stevie_r]

its pointless lining the matt up for a tiger line 250 yard carry when the average woman is hitting around half of that...

125 drive for the average woman? are you sure about that or are you intentionally provoking a savaging off Amanda?

 

[AmandaJR]

125 drive for the average woman? are you sure about that or are you intentionally provoking a savaging off Amanda?

 

[Evesdad]

Our matts are fine to be honest! Good quality but I don't see why they should point towards the fairway for alignment you wouldn't get this aid in the summer, most tee boxes actually lure you into the danger areas. One problem I have on ours is the placement on the 17th tee, a raised tee box with steps upto the tee area and the Matt is about a metre to the right of the steps. Now this tee is surrounded by trees and gets little light and now is just a mud bath! If the Matt had been made bigger and placed infront of the steps this would have been protected or it could be moved to infront of the ladies tee which will recover quickly come the better weather.

 

[daymond]

Stevie-r beat me too it What are matts or matt's. Matt paint but not door floor shoe wipers. Sorry hope not to offend. Our mats are on concrete bases so no problem. It's the tee markers out of alignment that bug me.

 

[CMAC]

next you'll be wanting arrows down the fairway and red'n'yellow lines round bunkers

The tee box is a rectangular area extending up to two club lengths behind the tee marker, it's not there to show you the direction, simply to show you the area you MUST play your tee shot from

 

[stevie_r]

Stevie-r beat me too it What are matts or matt's. Matt paint but not door floor shoe wipers. Sorry hope not to offend. Our mats are on concrete bases so no problem. It's the tee markers out of alignment that bug me.

that should be "beat me TO it", I've got the grammar police disease today

 

[Oddsocks]

125 drive for the average woman? are you sure about that or are you intentionally provoking a savaging off Amanda?

if you check i said 250 yard carry for tiger line, when most men are carrying between 200/225 what do think actual carry is for a woman, i can only compare against a 9hc woman that plays as part of our swindle, she drives around 150-175 ish.

 

[One Planer]

That should be "beat me TO it". I've got the grammar police disease today.

Fixed that for you Stevie :smirk:

 

[stevie_r]

Fixed that for you Stevie :smirk:

Point taken.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We're fortunate to never have mats but I do take the point. However I do think you have responsibility for your own actions to line up properly and so the fact that the mat may not be straight should bear no significance to the way you set up