A backyard putting green lets homeowners enjoy their favorite game without leaving the house. Enjoy hours of putting practice, day or night, on a premium artificial grass putting green that suits your playing style. Thanks to the low-maintenance benefits of synthetic grass, these lawn features are more accessible than ever.

The sturdy fibers in artificial turf are manufactured from resilient materials like polyethylene and nylon to mimic the smooth surface of a professional course. While they appear freshly grown, synthetic turf products don’t require the same maintenance as natural grass. This allows homeowners to save money while boosting property value and personal satisfaction.

If you’re wondering how to design the most realistic backyard putting green, read on for our top design tips! Whether you’re a professional landscaper or a DIY homeowner, this article has all the knowledge necessary to create a PGA-quality putting green!

Realistic Contours

If you’ve ever been on a professional course, you’ll know that it isn’t just flat and straight. Country clubs and public golf courses have various hills, gradients, undulations, and curves that make gameplay more interesting by forcing players to think strategically and exercise pace control. Incorporate these elements to create a more realistic and satisfying course.

Hole Placement

Where you place your holes dictates the kind of gameplay you’ll experience. You could just plop the hole right in the middle, but that makes for predictable and uninteresting gameplay. Instead, vary your hole locations with different distances and unique positions, like on the edge of a hill or beside the rough. These locations force players to hone their ball control unless they want to end up stuck in the rough or chasing their ball down a hill!

You can also use varied hole positions to create different difficulty levels, which is perfect for homes with younger players. While the tiny tots are enjoying their beginner course, the adults can challenge themselves with tricky hole positions that require more thoughtful strategies.

Green Speed

Green speed refers to the degree of resistance that your ball encounters, which impacts its speed across the green — hence, green speed. You can alter this by brushing your artificial grass fibers against the grain, increasing friction and slowing ball roll. Do the opposite by brushing with the grain to create a smooth, faster surface.

Another way to influence green speed is with synthetic grass infill. This accessory provides ballast to artificial turf putting greens, ensuring that turf fibers stay upright for consistent support. Adjust your infill to increase or decrease density and adjust resistance. Aim for a green speed of 10-11 on a Stimpmeter for the most realistic gameplay.

Terrain Dynamics

While you want to maintain a consistent surface texture across most of your custom putting green, you can create more dynamic gameplay by varying the terrain in specific areas. One way to do this is by adding rough areas surrounding different parts of your course. These areas use synthetic turf products with longer pile heights to create textured obstacles. They’re also perfect for practicing different golf shots, like chipping.

You can also add a sandtrap to elevate gameplay to PGA levels, or include subtle variations of texture to practice putting on different kinds of grass. Varying the gameplay on your artificial turf putting green will provide optimal realism and improve your skills. 

If you want to bring your dream putting green to life, there’s only one name to call — SGW Florida! We offer premium artificial turf products and reliable customer support. Explore our wide selection of wholesale synthetic turf with vibrant colors and lifelike textures. Whether you want to create a kid-friendly mini golf course or a challenging, pro-level green, we have the tools and products to help — all available at factory-direct pricing! Call SGW Florida today at 800.676.2154 or contact us online to learn more.