Anyone installed rubber mat tee pads in wooden frames (no crushed stone underneath just wood) that are mounted in a wooden deck structure so it can be installed on the side of a hill? The Park Dept for our ski hill course being installed in a few months is proposing making sturdy wooden decks that fit on the side of the hill for tee areas instead of modifying the hill by cutting into and/or building up tee pad mounds for installing cement. They would make them perhaps 4' wider than the mat on each side and the back to give players more room to step on the mat from the side or back for their teeing motion. They're used to making all kinds of structures now for skiers doing tricks and they feel this would be better than modifying the hill and dealing with erosion.

There are maybe 5-6 tees where this would be needed. The other tees are on level ground and could be cement instead of rubber mats. Would you rather have all rubber if otherwise you can only have 12 cement and 6 rubber tees?

Chuck,

We built a few temp tees on our course here for holes that weren't complete or weren't ready for a cement pad (testing different tee areas). What we did was build pallet-like structures and screwed the mats directly into the top of them. They've worked out great. The only trouble we've run across in the year they've been in use is a couple boards have broken under the mat. Since we used mostly scrap wood that wasn't pressure-treated, some pieces have rotted away a bit, probably leading to the breaks. Either that, or players were jumping up and down on the pad like a trampoline. ;)

I would think that if constructed properly with pressure-treated wood and properly maintained, they'd last at least a couple years, maybe more. Wood isn't going to ever be a permanent solution since all wood eventually will rot after being exposed to the elements (and wood-burrowing insects) and being half-buried in the earth.

Hopefully whatever solution you find will work well.

--Josh

......instead of modifying the hill by cutting into and/or building up tee pad mounds for installing cement. They would make them perhaps 4' wider than the mat on each side and the back to give players more room to step on the mat from the side or back for their teeing motion. They're used to making all kinds of structures now for skiers doing tricks and they feel this would be better than modifying the hill and dealing with erosion.



so how would the follow through/runout area look?? from your description i envision a dropoff down the hill at the front of the teepad......hate to see anyone take a tumble.....from a stumble.....lawsuit issue? just curious.......

None of the tees in question would be for downhill throws. The ones being considered are side hill or uphill so the run out in front would be right onto grass on the uphill ones. The sidehill ones would be an issue unless they at least agree to build up dirt on the lower front side.

All rubber would be best.

Chuck,
The decking method works great especially using �” rubber! Screw rubber down using 3” deck screws and #10 or larger washers. When I screw down the Launch Pads I inset the screws 2” from the edge of the rubber and put screws every 12” around the entire edge. A 5’ x 10’ pad uses 30 screws and washers. I will email you a photo of a Launch Pad on the deck in my backyard. �” spacing between deck boards allows for some drainage.
Pat Farrell