Back yard putting green - design input wanted

[VMAN]

We are considering putting in a synthetic lawn and putting green in our backyard by Southwest Greens.  Mainly due to the high cost of water in our area.  The area is about 1,800 sf and the putting green will be 375 to 450 sf.

I'd like some design input on the green from those who have them and those that would like to give this some thought.

The area is rectangular and approximately 25' deep by 75' long.  We'd like to keep the green to the right side of this rectangle.

[mdl]

Do you want to be able to practice very long lag putting?  Maybe something like a 40' x 10' rectangle against the back right or left side where you could practice up to ~40' lag putts?  Maybe then you could design the slope to have sort of a trough running from one corner across the middle to the opposite corner, where you could have a couple holes in those two corners that would let you practice straightish, left breaking, and right breaking lag putts, and would let you have the two other corners to design different slopes to practice for shorter putts?

[RichWW2]

Agree with mdl.  Just try and build something that gives you practice for every kind of putt you can think of.  Try looking at a few of the greens at Augusta for inspiration this weekend and look at other PGA course greens.  PGA courses usually have greens that can have a ton of different pin positions, so drawing inspiration from some might be the way to go.  Also, go check out the practice green at a few local courses and really look at why they have the pins where they do. Should at least help you get an idea of how you want your layout to be.

[KGC]

I would suggest that an oval shape would be a nice looking element albeit more expensive than a rectangle. The main issue here is that i would make a part of it de.ad level so you can practice your straight putts. This was always an issue with our practice greens at my home course. Aside from that make the rest of the green as complex as you like!! An upturned bowl shape is nice and difficult

[Paradox]

i know a lot of people advocate practicing straight putts..but how often do you come up with a truly straight putt?

anyway.

Synlawngolf.com is a place to start.  I've been looking into their turf products for a little while now thinking of making my own green.

[RichWW2]

Originally Posted by Paradox

i know a lot of people advocate practicing straight putts..but how often do you come up with a truly straight putt?

I think the straight putt might have more with fine tuning your putting stroke vs practicing straight putts.  I wouldn't want to be practicing putting on breaks if I were trying to find a flaw, or just practicing good mechanics.  That way you would know you are putting the ball straight and on the line you intended.  Basically more of a quality control for your putting stroke.  Just a thought, but I do agree that you don't get that many dead straight putts on the actual course.

[VMAN]

Thanks for the all input...I welcome more.

I'm thinking that a 22' putt would be plenty long, though I didn't consider the 40 x 10 idea (almost like a lane pool).  Pretty sure my wife wouldn't go for it.  But it's a good idea and it makes me think that angling the green to get 30' from end to end would be great.  this would give at least a 25 to 26' foot putt depending on where the cups are.   I talked to the installer/president and the shape doesn't add to the cost it's just sf pure and simple.  Which makes me think a kidney shape in about one third or less of the space would work well.  They are more expensive than some of the other companies I checked out, but they don't nickel and dime you.  We'll see when it's all done.

I do want about a 10' straight putt, as Richww2 said more to work on a pure stroke.  Knowing that you can stroke a putt pure and know where it will go builds confidence.  Our club green is tilted heavily and the only straight putts are uphill.  Many of us pick a cup and practice 4 to 5 footers uphill before rounds just to get our strokes in line.

I also want a r/l putt and l/r putt.  the trouble with this is that I don't want it to get boring right away.  And with limited space this will be challenging.  the nice thing is that you can chip and pitch to these greens.  And their synthetic grass can handle it.

I've wanted this for a long time, I can't believe it's going to happen and I want to consider everything I can....short of building a course in my backyard.

[k-troop]

That's a cool idea.  I built a real (grass) putting green in my backyard when I was in highschool.  Man, was that a huge PITA.  It looked cool, and I could chip to it, but I never got the grass right to putt on it.

[WUTiger]

Originally Posted by RichWW2

I think the straight putt might have more with fine tuning your putting stroke vs practicing straight putts.  I wouldn't want to be practicing putting on breaks if I were trying to find a flaw, or just practicing good mechanics.  ...

Excellent point!

And as k-troop's cautions, real grass greens are difficult to maintain. I mentioned this to a local turf guy, and he said that in Illinois that you have to be licensed by the state to apply the herbicides you would need for a smooth grass green. Synthetic is the way to go.

[The Tin Man]

A real putting green uses a species of grass that can withstand being kept very short, and has to be trimmed with a reel mower every day in the growing season.  A reel mower alone is a pain to maintain. Keeping up one green is not much easier then 9 or 18.

[mtsalmela80]

I don't see how it can be so difficult. I mean greens go all winter without maintenance, they don't die or anything. They just need to be mowed. Once the green is going, how can it be so hard to maintain?

Originally Posted by The Tin Man

A real putting green uses a species of grass that can withstand being kept very short, and has to be trimmed with a reel mower every day in the growing season.  A reel mower alone is a pain to maintain. Keeping up one green is not much easier then 9 or 18.

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

I don't see how it can be so difficult. I mean greens go all winter without maintenance, they don't die or anything. They just need to be mowed. Once the green is going, how can it be so hard to maintain?

Seems like a total bear to build and maintain.  Your hobby would go from golf to greenskeeping.

http://www.complete-putting-greens.com/index.html

[k-troop]

I had a pushreel mower, but I couldn't keep the blades sharp enough to get a low, tight cut. Had to shave the wheels down and everything. Mowing every day wasn't a big deal; only took 10 mins. Building it was brutal. Soil base, then layers of sand, gravel, sand, gravel. Then topsoil and shaping.

[mtsalmela80]

Yeah but for example I can walk out to the 14th green at Trump National in the middle of January and putt, are you telling me they have greens keepers year round maintaining the greens? It seems like you can let a green go for a while without touching it.

Originally Posted by Mr3Wiggle

Seems like a total bear to build and maintain.  Your hobby would go from golf to greenskeeping.

http://www.complete-putting-greens.com/index.html

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

Yeah but for example I can walk out to the 14th green at Trump National in the middle of January and putt, are you telling me they have greens keepers year round maintaining the greens? It seems like you can let a green go for a while without touching it.

I would imagine the grass on the greens stops growing during the winter, just like my lawn does.  Summer would probably take up a lot of your time though.

[VMAN]

I think we're getting a little off topic regarding grass greens.  I'm not installing once of those for the many reasons mentionned above.

The tough part about this design is the limited space.  With 800sf you can do two tiers which makes the design a lot easier.  With around 400sf this limits the possibilities.  So what do you guys think of a kidney shape that takes adavantage of as much of the corners as possible (like an elongated triangle sort of) with a slope coming from the right side boundary of the green.  This should allow for 3 to 4 pin placements, give it some slope for putting and chipping and still allow for a straight putt to practice a pure stroke.

That's the general idea above, the drawing is a bit sketchy but what do you think?

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by VMAN

I think we're getting a little off topic regarding grass greens.  I'm not installing once of those for the many reasons mentionned above.

The tough part about this design is the limited space.  With 800sf you can do two tiers which makes the design a lot easier.  With around 400sf this limits the possibilities.  So what do you guys think of a kidney shape that takes adavantage of as much of the corners as possible (like an elongated triangle sort of) with a slope coming from the right side boundary of the green.  This should allow for 3 to 4 pin placements, give it some slope for putting and chipping and still allow for a straight putt to practice a pure stroke.

That's the general idea above, the drawing is a bit sketchy but what do you think?

I don't know if I'd tier a synthetic green.  If I did it would be a really subtle slope.  Kidney shaped is usually your best bet, as it is visually pleasing and offers some challenging putts.

[iacas]

800 sf is not at all big enough for a tier.

I'd simply build a rectangle of some sorts, maybe curve the corners a little to make the kidney shape, but put some slopes in that range from 2% to 4%, perhaps like a ramp: 2% for a bit, 3% for a bit, and 4% for a bit. That way you can putt across one or all of the slopes on various putts.