backyard putting and driving...

[Firebat138]

Well....I have always been one of those impulse buyers ya know....I have a couple of acres down here in Delaware and I usually buy some shag balls off ebay....and hit into the woods behind me...Nothing but woods, deer and etc back there...and on a good day while four-wheeling with the boy..I may find a couple dozen.....BUT...I need more. First..I do have a large golfing net...But I would like to get a boatload of it...Anyone know of a great and cheap place....PM me if you could. Second...I would like to BUILD a small driving mat. I was thinking of building a playwood box and putting some MATS on top....Maybe even build in a club holder and etc. Has anyone ever done anything like this or perhaps have some tips.

Thanx all...and talk to you soon

Eric

[lamebums]

If you don't care about the balls at all--I'd hit the local driving range. They usually get rid of their old balls for a few bucks per crate, and they easily go through tens of thousands of balls a year. I used to do that for honest-to-god balls I would use on the course (yeah, I was that cheap) but nowadays, they're good for going down to the Ohio River, grill up some burgers and drink some beer, and try to bean the barges out in the middle.

God, what I would give to own a few acres so I could do that...

[Parker0065]

I have built a little golf station at the end of my back yard. Basically I used patio bricks to build a platform for the golf mat and I have one of those Super Cage big golf nets. I have woods behind me but 150yds beyond them is a 4 lane highway so no hitting over the trees, may cause a wreck,,lol!


I may go for a synthetic putting green in a few years down the road. I know you can install them yourself, but I gotta believe that if you get into it and it doesn't come out right you would have a big mess.

[Dent]

what i did one year was with my aunts backyard, it was only half an acre i made a little chipping range, cut different lengths of grass for fairway, rough and green and put a flag in the middle, it was really fun, try something like that. Make a green far away enough for the driver and long irons.

[Parker0065]

Dent,
That reminds me of what my brother and I did in our yard when I was about 12 years old. We were fortunate to have a decent sized yard. The side lot was pretty much wide open and the summer before we attemtped to put in a make shift green. Basically at the end of the lot we set the mower as low as we could without spitting out dirt, and then we wetted it and rolled it. Suprizingly it would putt halfway decent but we only cut it like that about once every 2 weeks or it would burn up the grass plus you had to water it everyday or it would die for sure. It set up about a 70 yard shot from the far end of the lot but the really cool thing was if we went to the opposite side of the backyard you had a 40 yard shot over the swimming pool, instant water hazard!


So one summer day my dad leaves for work and I tell my brother what we really need is a sand bunker. So we dig a nice U shaped bunker next to the green about 2 feet deep and add some sand from my mom's rock garden. We were now officially ready to play the US Open,,LOL! Suprizingly my dad wasn't mad about the big hole in the ground, he knew my brother and I were golf crazy and probably wondered why we hadn't done it the summer before! We maintained that green and bunker every summer for 7 years until I joined the army in 1985.


One things for sure, we had countless hours of fun and practice on our little homemade pitch and putt course!

[Dent]

that is awsome, even having water and a sand is a definate nice addition. Thats sounds like fun and maintaining it for 7 years sounds like a blast. If anyone gets a chance to try this id go for it. As you can see from these stories its really fun!

[The Rambler]

my uncle lives out on the Potomac River in MD and he buys crates and crates of shag ball from the local driving range and i hit them into the river every summer

[Matt P]

my uncle lives out on the Potomac River in MD and he buys crates and crates of shag ball from the local driving range and i hit them into the river every summer

This sounds a little less than environmentally friendly, but is no worse than all the gas and oil coming from all the boating I guess.

[lamebums]

my uncle lives out on the Potomac River in MD and he buys crates and crates of shag ball from the local driving range and i hit them into the river every summer

I do that in the Ohio River...I try to bean the coal barges and whatever else is out there. You should try that too.

[The Rambler]

the hitting of the balls actually isn't that bad. the zebra mussels attach to them instead of other more vital things like the power lines to the island