We’ve all heard the old golf axiom about “putting for dough.” And there’s undeniable truth in the importance of putting, especially given that putts comprise about 40 percent of all shots taken in a round of golf.
But most golfers spend far less time practicing with the flat stick than they do taking full swings. Look no further than your local golf course, where the driving range typically gets a lot more traffic than the practice putting green.
There are a number of companies looking to change that, providing golfers with home putting mats and systems that are a major upgrade over the old-school method of practicing on the living room carpet by putting golf balls into a drinking glass. These home putting set-ups can help keep the short game sharp throughout the year.
Big Moss
Big Moss offers a range of training greens as well as mats that allow for putting and chipping practice, with the 4×10-foot “Augusta” among its traditional models. In addition to two cups, the Augusta features a backstop, “break” pads to simulate terrain variations, and a chipping mat with limited-flight chipping balls. The newest Big Moss models have a heavier, rubber-backed surface that ensures the mat lays flat, even over carpeting, without any bunching. bigmoss.com
BirdieBall
This small, family-owned, Colorado-based business makes a host of customized greens ranging from 2×8 feet to 8×18 feet. The lightweight, indoor mats are a half-inch deep (allowing putts to drop into the holes), can be rolled up for easy storage, and have easily removable rubber side and end rails that keep golf balls from getting away. BirdieBall’s unmarked foam putting surface has a consistent roll and features two “Stimp” speeds so golfers can practice putting into and against the grain on the same surface. birdieball.com
Perfect Practice
These slim Perfect Practice mats, which range from eight feet to 15.5 feet, gained traction on social media and through a number of notable partnerships with pro golfers, including one with Dustin Johnson. The mats feature “Train Track Alignment” lines that help improve a user’s stroke, roll between 10 and 14 on the Stimpmeter depending on how hard the underlying surface is, and have an integrated automatic ball return via a wooden track on one side. The standard model comes with two different hole sizes. perfectpractice.golf
PuttOUT
In 2017, London-based PuttOUT debuted its parabolic ramp for perfect putting practice. That product is still the centerpiece, with the ramp returning putts to players at the same distance the ball would have gone past the hole had it missed. PuttOUT recently released three new home putting studios with mats of various sizes—Travel, Academy, and Tour—along with accessories like gates and a mirror to help golfers with eye alignment and putter face position. puttout.golf
Wellputt
Wellputt developed its putting mats designed to train accuracy and speed control with the input of Cameron McCormick, the coach for one of the game’s great putters: Jordan Spieth. The mats come in black and green, range from 10 to 26 feet, and are loaded with visual reference points that help golfers really dial in their practice sessions. wellputt.com
PUTTR
Could this be the Peloton of putting? This portable putting system folds up neatly into a stylish box, then rolls out to allow putts from three to 11 feet in distance. What really separates PUTTR is its connected camera and computer vision technology that’s integrated into a mobile app and provides feedback on every putt. Users can make practice fun with single and multiplayer games both at home and online, and compete in Arcade-style games and against friends in online tournaments. PUTTR is taking pre-orders with initial deliveries to the U.S., Canada, and UK starting in April of 2022. puttr.co
What practice putting mats have you used?
