-How do you dig and frame pads on left-right slopes?
-Front-Back?
-Back-Front?
-What kind of texture are we looking for on the finish? Just broom finished, or do we want to knock that down a little after it's broomed?
-If something needs built up, can we just put fill underneath it, or does it need to be more substantial?
-When is it time to be concerned with erosion?
-How many questions am I forgetting to ask?
How much you dig depends on how much slope you want on the tee. Forms can match any slope, so they aren't the deciding factor, nor do you want everything perfectly level. 1" of fall in 10' is the least amount you can have so it will drain properly. A pic of the area would help greatly.
Texture you want is a medium to medium rough broom finish. You MUST use a synthetic fiber broom to get it, too. Natural fiber concrete brooms use horse hair and while it makes an excellent broomed finish, its too smooth for DG apps. We just has a municipality do a course here and they used horse brooms for all the pads and they are too smooth.:\
You want to float it and hit it with the broom after you only leave an 1/8" footprint....yes, you can step on it to find out, just float out all prints before you broom it. To gauge if its ok or not, if the broom is dragging up rocks or tons of sand, you are too wet. It should groove up the top layer of cement and a small amount of sand....all sand and you need to float it out and wait some more. For best results, use a straight masonry brush to splash some water on the concrete before brooming. The broom should be wet, but never dripping. Just push the broom away from you and look at it....if you have timed it right, another pass, pulling to you will finish it off nicely. If you like what you get with the first pass, fine, pull the broom off. Overlap the passes by at least 4-6".
You will want to experiment a little to see what you want...just don't take too long. Concrete waits for no one. If its too dry, splash more water on and use the broom to scrub it back and forth many times to work up the top cream...then DRAG the brush back to you only...see if that looks OK. If not, flood with water and float it vigorously and broom immediately behind with single passes, again, only pulling them to you.
Another key to keeping the broom finish like you want it is to keep everyone off the finished product for 3 days. I know everyone wants to play immediately, but all that does is knock the finish down and smooth it out. Concrete hits 75% of its strength in 3 days. After that time is when you can play.
Once you have pulled the forms, backfill all edges up to at least an inch of the top. Erosion will become an issue when it gets under your pads. Then they will need more attention.