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real-life situation.” They found this
laboratory at Longleaf, buying the
property and working with Bill Bergin,
ASGCA, (read our interview with
him on page 12) to bring their vision
to reality. They renamed the facility
Longleaf Golf & Family Club.
A key feature of the redesign was the
conversion of the club’s traditional
four tee pads per hole to a new system
developed by USKGF.
Following extensive data analysis,
it was determined that on any given
course there would ideally be a total of
600 yards of separation over a typical
18-hole layout between each tee
marker option. Beginning with 3,200
yards from the forward tees, most golf
courses can be fit with six, seven or
even eight yardage options to choose
from. The gap between markers on
each hole is about 30 yards, but that
decreases on par threes and increases
on par fives.
With a broader range of tee locations,
every golfer, regardless of skill, can
play at a good pace, shoot lower
scores, and have more fun.
At Longleaf, they settled on a seven-
tee system, following the principles
set out above but also factoring in
the course’s topography, choosing
locations that facilitated ease of
construction.
Forty tee pads were
constructed, mostly related to
size or conditioning rather than
location. 29 tees were cut into
existing fairways, of which four
had to be shaped and a few
more may be modestly levelled
in future. Because of the
increased number of tees, size-
per-tee could be reduced, and
many existing tees could be
reduced by simply adjusting
mowing lines.
The back tees and more
heavily-used middle tees
may hold more than one
set of markers each, and are
respectively about 800 sq. ft. and
between 900-1,200 sq. ft. each.
The forward two-to-three sets of
tees are smaller, approximately
400 sq. ft. each.
Extensive data analysis
has determined the
ideal separation
between tees to ensure
that golfers of varying
abilities have a similar
level of challenge on
each hole
Photos: Longleaf Golf & Family Club