Practice Greens

[Steve Curry]

I am in the process of planning and building another new practice green.  Some here are of the thinking that it should be "flat as a pancake" and I the contrary.  Any thoughts and possibly pictures of practice greens would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

sjc_superintendent@yahoo.com

How do you go about changing ones e-address?

[A_Clay_Man]

Stephen, Sorry I don't know your specific situation, but shouldn't the PG mimic the courses greens?

[TEPaul]

Stephen:

We, at GMGC, will be building a new practice putting green next year (in a slightly different spot). Our present one is small (about 5,000sf) and pretty bland. The new one hopefully will be a minimum of 8,500sf. The area it goes on should dictate what the surface will be in a general sense but we would like to get some of the characteristics of some of the greens on the course on it. I think the thing to concentrate on is to not do too much with the surface---eg not put too many types of contours into a limited space. What do you think the ideal amount of pins to have on a practice putting green is?

[JohnV]

I think that a practice green should have two parts: One that should reflect the surfaces found on the golf course in terms of undulation and slope; and the other should be a flat area where a person who really wants to work on his stroke can practice.  I know, from watching the players on the Futures Tour for two years, they gravitated to the flatter area of a green to work on their stroke for hours, but would use the more undulating areas for "warming up" before playing.  Therefore, it probably should have more of the flatter area.

[Steve Curry]

Tom & Adam,

I agree with the concept of resembling putts seen on the course and must say that part of the issue is surely due to the fact that I was forced (building and grade designs) to use a space that was much too small and to contoured for the current new practice green.  So I had to tier it and people are turned off because of the tier.  So I am looking for a large replication of our subtly contoured greens that in my opinion would be great if we could easily move 8-10 cups.

Steve

sjc_superintendent@yahoo.com

[A_Clay_Man]

and people are turned off because of the tier.  So I am looking for a large replication of our subtly contoured greens that in my opinion would be great if we could easily move 8-10 cups.

Steve

sjc_superintendent@yahoo.com

Steve, JohnV makes a very good point. It sounds like flat isn't a problem. Making everyone happy, is dern impossible, idn't it?

[cary lichtenstein]

Provide as much flat space as possible.

[Don_Mahaffey]

Ever the contrarian, I hate flat practice greens. Unless a course is hosting a lot of tournaments (State Am, Open qualifiers...) why build a flat featureless green? I suppose my attitude comes from the fact that I find putting practice on par with taking out the garbage. What I really like is practice greens with enough interest to play endless 7-up games. That kind of green requires lots of break and elevation change. Build a couple hundred feet of flat space for the chalk line and string grinders and build the rest for fun.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Steve Curry,

My own thoughts are that the practice green should mirror what the golfer will find out on your golf course, that the practice green is really the first green on your golf course.

This is contingent upon the luxury of having adequate room, drainage, etc., etc..

Ridgewood in NJ has a great practice greens.
I think GCGC's is reflective of what you get on the golf course as well.   Surprisingly, ANGC practice green has all the room in the world, but none of the contouring of the big course, likewise Pine Valley, without much room.

[Peter Galea]

Get the village idiot, give him the sand pro and a leveling rake.
Tell him to make it as flat as possible.
There will be plenty of interesting putts on your practice green.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

I practice my putting first before heading to the range.  Something inside me works better from small task to large task.  

My favorite greens to practice on have 3 important elements:

1)  Mirror the greens on the course in terms of grass, texture and slope/features.

2) Provide a chance to practice long putts without hog's backs breaking up the roll.

3) Have enough apron/chipping area to accomodate putters and short game/chipping (Not Pitching - not safe).

Needless to say, the green installed at our course in 2001 which went with the new clubhouse location has neither.  It is close to the 1st tee which helps if one prefers to warm-up on the range and then putt.

JWK

[Doug Siebert]

I second the motion for at least a small flat as a pancake area on the practice green.  But it would be a terrible idea to make the whole thing like that.  Another idea is to build a small secondary flat green:

I played a course in Florida years ago (damned if I can remember the name or even where it was, it was a long time ago) that did something I've never seen before or since.  They had a normal practice putting green with typical slopes, etc.  They also had a tiny little "warmup green" right next to the first tee that looked to be dead flat, and was maybe 20' in diameter if that, with just one cup.  Had a little sign by it saying that the warmup green for was for the use of the next group waiting to take the tee ONLY.

I'd love it if every course I played had that, so I could take a minute out of the three minutes I typically arrive before my tee time to get the speed of the green down, rather than crossing my fingers and hoping I don't leave myself with a downhill 60 footer on the 1st to take my guess as to the speed with!