As fall arrives we are in the process of finalizing the bid and planning stages of renovating the driving range tee, which will include new drainage, modifying the soil mix, leveling, new irrigation, and adding a permanent synthetic surface, along with re-grassing the tee surface. The only thing that will remain is the square footage due to the existing footprint.
As you already know, the rate of recovery on a driving range tee is appreciably slower than tees located on the course. When golfers practice within the confines of a stall, they remove divots from an area until the turf has been all but completely harvested. With so little vegetation left, recovery from underground portions of the remaining plant and/or seed takes much longer. By knowing the area of turf damaged on a daily basis, time of year, and the general rate of recovery, we will have essential guidelines for use to ensure a successful driving range tee program.
Those guidelines will include the following:
– Based on the square footage only 12 stalls will be used for all events and usage.
– Monday’s and non-member events will be synthetic turf use only.
– The rear of the stall will be outlined with rope and usage must stay within those boundaries.
– During the winter months, we may have to increase the use of the synthetic surface based on amount of use, due to cooler soil temperatures and much slower recovery time. Heavy rain events will also require us to use the synthetic surface.
It is very important that we strictly adhere to those guidelines based on our square footage, and climate that we have here in Sonoma. We have attached a great video from the USGA regarding Driving Range etiquette.
Yours in Turf,
Stacy L. Wallace, Golf Course Superintendent
Sonoma Agronomy 
I suggest you construct the artificial part of the driving range at a level lower than the rest of the range. As a result, it would be less of a negative from a visual point of view.
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