Fly 18 Tee Pads

[whofarted]

Anybody played on these before?  If so, what was your experience like?   It seems to me that they are made of a pretty flimsy material, so any ideas on how to make them work if the ground is uneven?  do you build the ground up?  make a platform?   any and all feedbeack is appreciated.

[Jon Brakel]

Preparing a surface to put them on is key to a permanent installation.

[discmonkey]

If this is what they have at Oly Fields, then yes, I have.  The edges are curled up and make nice bowls for holding wet and debris.  Not as nice as cement, but better than natural stuff (limestone, gravel, grass, etc.)  Just my .02.

[whofarted]

Preparing a surface to put them on is key to a permanent installation.

The edges are curled up and make nice bowls for holding wet and debris

How do you prepare the surface?

If installed properly they should curl around the edges I am guessing - so do you bury maybe two inches of rubber into the ground or nail it down? 

[CEValkyrie]

I'm 99.9% positve the pads at Oly  are not fly pads. They suck big time.

I've played on some very nice fly pads. Mokena was prepared with boxed limestone that is compacted & flat. They are secured in several places with big stakes & washers to prevent them from ripping. We also played on a set at Am Nationals & Am Worlds 2004 & they are very nice when flat.

I however has also played Tinley Park. I am not 100% on this either but heard the owner of fly pads installed them. 2 of them were ripped. I figure if the owner can't install them correctly I wouldn't buy them.

[Bruce Brakel]

I don't think fly pads are a good option in an unsupervised public park.  They get ripped up by lawn mowers and are easily vandalized.  They are a great surface to throw from when they are kept clean and are properly installed. 

[whofarted]

I don't think fly pads are a good option in an unsupervised public park.  They get ripped up by lawn mowers and are easily vandalized.

i think you hit the nail on the head - it'd suck to show up some morning and find some snot-nosed little punk or a blind lawn mower has ripped up all the teepads to shreds. 

[Mukey]

I've played on some very nice fly pads. Mokena was prepared with boxed limestone that is compacted & flat. They are secured in several places with big stakes & washers to prevent them from ripping.

Mokena is probably the best example of how the SHOULD be installed. I haven't played Tinley Park but I have played Edgebrook and they seemed OK there last summer, but I think I was having so much fun tooling around in the cart that I really didn't pay any attention to the setup of the pads. Nothing in my memory suggests they were ripped or anything, but I went there early on in the season and it IS a pay golf course vs. public park.

They are good tee pads if installed correctly, but give me a concrete tee pad with some grooves in it for grip any day. (ex. Channahon) Fly 18 pads are kinda slippery when it rains. I saw the pros putting down a towel for their plant foot on the MSDGC dvds...

[discmonkey]

I saw the pros putting down a towel for their plant foot on the MSDGC dvds...

I was wondering what they were doing.  I assumed it was for footing, but wasn't sure because not everyone was doing it.

And, Brett, I'm glad someone else has the same opinion of the pads at Oly Fields.  My parents live less than a mile from that park and I play there all the time when I visit them.  This winter they got really bad.  I hope to see some repairs come this spring.  There's a tournament there at the end of April, anyone know anything about it?  Will that make them repair the pads?

[CEValkyrie]

I saw the pros putting down a towel for their plant foot on the MSDGC dvds...

I was wondering what they were doing.  I assumed it was for footing, but wasn't sure because not everyone was doing it.

And, Brett, I'm glad someone else has the same opinion of the pads at Oly Fields.  My parents live less than a mile from that park and I play there all the time when I visit them.  This winter they got really bad.  I hope to see some repairs come this spring.  There's a tournament there at the end of April, anyone know anything about it?  Will that make them repair the pads?

I've played the Oly Spring Opener the past 2 years. There has been a pretty good draw the past 2 years. I doubt anything will be done to those tees. When it's dry out there I don't mind but they are brutal with any type of moisture. If there is dew on the ground they can be slick as well just by getting a water on the bottom of your shoe.