How to build your own putting green

Almost every golfer would love to have their own putting green, but many assume it’s something that can only be achieved if you’re very rich. Actually, the truth is as long as you have a garden with a decent amount of free space, you can create an amazing putting green easily and relatively cheaply. Let’s take a look at how you can build your very own putting green.

Real or artificial

The first choice you’re going to have to make is whether you’re going to have a putting green with either artificial or real grass. There are benefits and drawbacks to each option and the choice you make will generally fall to personal preference and the requirements of your garden.

• Real – a real putting green can be preferable if you’re looking for the most accurate representation of a green on a golf course. However, they require a serious amount of maintenance and upkeep, and they can go wrong if you don’t have experience in building and looking after one.
• Artificial – modern artificial putting greens have improved enormously and now provide a fantastic recreation of genuine grass greens. While the initial cost of buying the artificial green is much larger than real grass, there is a lot less ongoing maintenance. Equally, an artificial green can be placed in almost any garden, where as real grass usually requires favourable conditions.

If you do opt for an artificial putting green make sure you choose a high quality model, and you can have it installed in your home in an afternoon. It is quick and it easy, and it is definitely recommended if you are building your first ever home putting green.

However, if you choose real grass, you’ve got a real project on your hands and you’ll need to follow a step-by-step guide to get it right. Here’s how to build a real grass putting green.

Step 1: Choose a location

The first thing to do is to choose a good location for your green. Natural grass needs an open area that gets a good amount of sunlight. Also if your garden has any lower areas or dips, these are best avoided due to challenges surrounding drainage.

Step 2: Get the soil ready

Your next step is to get your soil ready. Take a look at the current soil in your garden – ideally you are looking for a sandy loam soil, but grass can grow in many types if soil. If the soil contains too much clay, however, this could be a problem. Remove any turf from the planned green location and rake away rocks and other debris.

Step 3: Add drainage

It’s a good idea to add drainage to your green. Dig trenches that run from the edge of your green through the middle. The trench should slop downward away from the green to carry away any excess water.

Step 4: Separate the green

Next, it’s a good idea to separate your green from the rest of your garden. This can stop weeds from growing in the green. The best way to do this is use a plastic lining.

Step 5: Place the hole

Now you need to add the putting hole. Cut out a hole that this slightly larger than a golf ball. You don’t need to add a cup or anything else just yet, this simply acts as a guide to the layout of the putting green. The rest of the work can be done later.

Step 6: Plant your seeds

Now the soil is ready, you can plant your grass seed. It’s a good idea to mix the seed with a little sand to give it some cover. This could be very important if you get a lot of birds on your property.

Step 7: Fertilise, water, mow, repeat

Now comes the labour-intensive part of the putting green creation process. You’ll need to fertilise and then water your grass. It should take around 10 days for the grass to germinate, although you’ll still need to fertilise and water regularly after that. Once the grass has sprouted you’ll need to start mowing. This should be done between three and four times per week.

Step 8: Finishing touches

Finally, you can add your putting cup and a flag. Now your putting is green is ready and you can start enjoying it.