Practice Putting Greens

Every golf course will have a practice green. These practice greens serve several purposes. The most obvious purpose is to let players practice putting. Practice greens give players a chance to get a feel for the speed and playability of the greens of the golf course. Practice greens also give maintenance crews an opportunity to test new products or maintenance practices before using them on the course.

A quality practice green will be a fair representation of the greens found on the course. If the greens boast undulations and severe ridges, the practice green should be built in the same manner. Hole locations on a practice green must be fair. This gives players an opportunity to develop quality putting techniques without getting frustrated with missing difficult practice putts. Hole locations and overall playability should match the test players will be faced with on the golf course.

Practice greens must be large enough to accommodate the influx of golfers. This will cause many golf courses to build practice greens as big as 15,000 square feet, or have multiple smaller practice greens. The turf of a large practice green will be able to handle higher traffic than turf found on a smaller practice green. This is because large greens spread players out over large areas instead of compacting them in a small space.

Practice Putting Greens for Homes

Many golfers are building practice greens at home. Home practice greens are much more convenient to use than a local golf course's green. Advances in the design and manufacture of synthetic turf have created fake putting surfaces that closely match natural greens. A private practice putting green can be built on a much smaller scale and will cost much less than a golf course's practice green.