What Every Golfer Should Know About Home Putting Greens
Author: robert | Posted: 22.07.2008What Every Golfer Should Know About Home Putting Greens
How do you say goodbye to 3 and 4 putts? Practice, practice,practice. The key to improving your short game lies in puttingpractice. But where?
You can practice conveniently on your own home putting green andit may even increase the value of your home. If you're thinkingabout installing a putting green, there are several factors totake into consideration.
Will your putting green be portable?
Roll out greens come in many sizes. Popular sizes are 2' x 6',3' x 12' to 6' x 15'. Some feature a regulation cup, whileothers have a smaller cup than regulation size, which will honeyour targetting. Some feature a ball return.
Will you install your green inside or outside?
Indoors, there are small practice greens, rollout greens andlarger indoor greens. Large indoor greens can be as large as 12'x 30'. Outdoor greens can be as large as you want.
How much do you want to spend?
Roll-out greens can be found in a wide range of prices from $20to $300. Larger indoor greens can cost as much as $700. When youstart looking at outdoor putting greens, you are talking aboutcosts per square foot for all of the materials - the greenmaterial and the base layers.
What material will your green be made of?
Indoor greens are synthetic of course. When you're consideringoutdoor putting greens, you have a choice of materials. Yourchoice is natural grass or an artificial turf.
At first glance, you may think all-natural grass might be best.Think again though. If you choose grass, you will need to spendtime maintaining the green. The question is, would you rather bemowing, watering, feeding and weeding OR putting? Since mostgolfers choose putting, let's talk about artificial greens.
Artificial outdoor putting greens
With an artificial putting green, maintenance is minimal whichmeans more time to putt. The synthetic fibers are manufacturedto resist fading and matting.
There are two popular UV-treated materials: polypropylene turfand nylon turf. Nylon turf is easier to maintain thanpolyropylene turf. The fibers spring back so your ball has atrue roll to the cup. Nylon turf is also denser thanpolypropylene turf.
Polypropylene turf needs sand fill to keep the fibers upright.During installation, sand is spread across the top of thepolypropylene surface and brushed into the turf with a broom.Since the sand can wear away, from time to time, you'll need toadd more sand.
Outdoor putting greens also require a base of stone or concrete.The cups are concreted into place. As for drainage, syntheticturfs drain off the turf, not through it. Drainage needs to beprovided.
How fast will your outdoor green be?
Another decision you'll make is regarding green speed. Stimpmeasures how fast the green is. You can have your green speedmatched to your local courses or to a championship course. Ingeneral, adding more sand to your synthetic green makes itfaster.
Will you Do-it-Yourself?
You can buy a putting green kit to install yourself. Many comewith video instructions. Depending on the size and design, youmay need help in installing the green.
Once your new putting green is installed, you can enjoy hours ofputting practice and improve your golf game. For a putting greenresource site, visit http://www.allputtinggreens.com/
Raynay Valles is a writer for http://www.golfcoursechicago.com.Visit today for golf resource directories, articles and golftips.
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