Finally Finished Indoor Putting Green

[jwolf02]

Thanks in (very) large part to this article by Erik - http://thesandtrap.com/b/training/build_your_own_8_x_8_indoor_putting_green_cheaply - I convinced my wife to let me build a green in one part of our unfinished basement, which had become a glorified storage unit.  We had a little boy back in October and we were never out of the house, so I had this idea and started in early December.  I'm not completely finished, but it's close.  Everything else left to do is pretty cosmetic.

Our basement is something close to 22x20 and due to some supports and an old frame for an unfinished room from the last owner, more or less split in three rooms.  So I had about a 14x20 space I could use, and I although I wanted to go a little bigger than 8x8, I got carried away and ended up with an 11x18 green.  The pictures are kinda blurry, but here goes:

The main differences I made between Erik's design and what I ended up with, outside of the frame due to size of course, was that I used 2x4's instead of 2x8s - I won't be propping the green up from one corner with a brick, and since the 2x4s are resting directly on the floor I wasn't as worried about warping; and I used 19/32 plywood instead of particle board, mostly due to price.  But, other than that, I used all his tips and tricks from that article.  Definitely the way to go.  I ended up building two frames, one 8x11 attached to one that was 10x11 (except for a "notch" where I had to build around a sump pump for access) to get to 11x18.  Thanks to a comment from Ben in this thread http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/199/indoor-putting , I took a couple wood shims and nailed them to a stud before laying the plywood for a little break.  Due to the lay of the concrete I may not have needed it, but either way I've ended up with nearly every break I would need to practice.  I drilled four holes with Erik's method (4 1/8" hole saw sanded out), which worked perfect.  Toughest part was working around the sump pump, so I kind of made a panel I could cut out if it breaks down - and then reuse as a hinged door.  Anyways, the most expensive part ended up being the turf because I got most of the 2x4's off a buddy who had some 2x4x12s.  I got some clearance turf off of syntheticturfstore.com that rolls on my homemade (and probably inaccurate) stimpmeter at about a 9 - 10 going "downhill" and 8 "uphill".

Long story short, I wanted to post this to say thanks to Erik for his article (five years late) and let anyone know if you were thinking of doing something like this, do it.  I'm not the handiest guy in the world and it turned out perfect - if not slow moving (at least to me).  I'd be glad to answer any questions along the way as well.  I'm a terrible putter - I averaged 2.55 putts per GIR last year - but I feel like I've really been able to make some strides down here by being able to actually work on some drills whenever I can.

And yes... I have the best wife (and family) in the world.

[Williamevanl]

Awesome!!! :)

[Ben]

Holy moly that is so freakin' awesome!

And wow, that's an old thread you referenced!

Here's a great putting practice routing I developed. I've seen major strides with my mid-range and long-range putts. http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/43452/i-love-practicing-putting#post_569919 If I had something like to work on when its night, or rainy days. Sheesh, forget about it...

[clubchamp]

That's really awesome... I had plans for something similar not nearly as big funny thing is my girlfriend moved in and I'm not sure where she put those plans.

[jwolf02]

Originally Posted by Ben

Holy moly that is so freakin' awesome!

And wow, that's an old thread you referenced!

Here's a great putting practice routing I developed. I've seen major strides with my mid-range and long-range putts. http://thesandtrap.com/forum/thread/43452/i-love-practicing-putting#post_569919 If I had something like to work on when its night, or rainy days. Sheesh, forget about it...

I remember reading that thread because the title sounded just like Bob Rotella, which I think a couple guys mentioned as well.  But, looking back at it... I think I'll have to make that my new nighttime routine after the kid goes to bed, at least the 1'-3' and 4'-8' footers.  It sounds like just what I need, especially to ingrain some stroke changes... thanks man!

[jamo]

Man, that looks awesome! Like the putter collection also. I read that article years ago, If I had the space I'd definitely do it.

[turtleback]

Wow, that is so cool.  Can we come over and play??  Please?  Please??  Please???

[Johnnyooze]

looks like the start of a beautiful man cave!

[mihi4]

Greeeeeeeeeat work!!

I'm still jealous looking at the pics :)

Been thinking a long time doing something like this, bud sadly, our basement is already occupied by my other hobby stuff :(

(Nevertheless, SWMBO lets me have a 4 foot putting mat in our livin room, that makes up for a lot)

greetings

michi

[xxsoultonesxx]

I wish I had the space for something like that. What kind of break(s) do you have going on there?

[putput]

That is amazing!!!  i am sure your going to have some great winters down there, man i wish i had a basement now...

[B-Con]

That's awesome. Have you broken out a level and figured out what breaks are in your surface yet? :-P

[ejimsmith]

Killer!!!

[jlh1508]

Very nice looking.

I hope to build one this coming fall.  My wife and I just moved into a new house that has room for a practice area, but since its almost golf season my free time will be occupied.

Bookmarking this thread though so I can steal your ideas when it is time to build

[TourSpoon]

Alright, Tuesday night is Sand Trapper Night...right?  Great work...I am really impressed with how it came out.

[jwolf02]

Thanks guys.  It really turned out 100 times better than I thought.

Originally Posted by jamo

Like the putter collection also.

Ha, all my buddies give me a ton of crap about that collection because putting is so obviously in my head.  And in a way, that collection kinda helped push me to try and build this... I figured instead of spending money in the used putter section at Golf Galaxy every two months, I could put that money towards this instead and actually improve.

Quote:

I wish I had the space for something like that. What kind of break(s) do you have going on there?

Quote:

That's awesome.

Have you broken out a level and figured out what breaks are in your surface yet?

Haven't broken out a level but by putting around (and putting on the wood while I was building it) I know what each putt will do.. some by design and some that just ended up that way.

This is a real ugly depiction of what each putt does... and the red dots are where I put the two additional shims under the plywood for extra break, so the surface "crests" at those spots.  Rule of thumb, even without the "artificial" breaks, is that from this perspective everything runs downhill and to the left (towards a drain).  The biggest swingers are a fade putt towards that first hole on the left, and a draw putt to a hole in the bottom left corner that got cut off.  Towards the far end of the green everything flattens out, especially in the long-ways direction.  There's a little double breaker from the bottom left corner to the closest hole on the left which is nice too.  With all of these, I'm able to get uphill and downhill left to right and right to lefts, which is really all I wanted.

Originally Posted by jlh1508

Very nice looking.

I hope to build one this coming fall.  My wife and I just moved into a new house that has room for a practice area, but since its almost golf season my free time will be occupied.

Bookmarking this thread though so I can steal your ideas when it is time to build

Any help I can give man, let me know!  I never really drew up plans but I'd be glad to diagram what it ended up being.  But Erik's thread gets all the basics and then some down too.

Originally Posted by TourSpoon

Alright, Tuesday night is Sand Trapper Night...right?  Great work...I am really impressed with how it came out.

Anytime!  Just gotta get by the wife first.

[DAZinKC]

sweet! nice work!

[roggar]

Looks fantastic!! I would build one but I think my wife would have a lot to say. I have a high basement which allow me to practice my swing, that's aboult as far as I can go. Good luck with your practicing.