Your guide to understanding how roll works on artificial turf.
The Physics of Golf
Physics. It impacts everything in life, especially the wonderful game of golf.
Physics, the nature and properties of matter and energy: how the club impacts the ball, the ball’s flight through the air, the initial bounce, and the ball’s roll out.
In an ideal situation, the ground in the direction of the shot would be perfectly flat, perfectly uphill, or perfectly downhill would be perfectly flat, perfectly uphill, or perfectly downhill in the direction of the shot. This would make getting the ball into the hole a simple task and hitting it along a straight line.
That said, you will observe that the ground is sloped. When this happens, the ball trajectory cannot be a straight path to get in the hole, making it a more difficult task. The ball has to follow a specific curved path to enter the hole. Whether the ball must curve to the left or right depends on the grade of the slope and undulation of the putting green.
Whether synthetic turf or natural grass is chosen to create your ideal backyard putting green, the physical attributes of the turf factor into the performance. Southwest Greens utilizes a mix of common golf course tests and proprietary playability testing.
One common test to measure ball roll is the stimpmeter test. Stimp testing gives the calculated distance a ball rolls on artificial turf in meters when dropped from a height of one meter. The ball-to-surface interaction of the grass is directly related to the distance the ball rolls.
The proprietary playability testing for roll provides an analysis of the consistency of standard putting stroke outputs. This test analyzes the initial bounce of the club face and the spin to roll transition.
Now we’ll take a deeper analysis into the items that impact how a golf ball reacts and rolls on a turf.
Green Characteristics
Product Construction: Plastics that are extruded and recycled and offered in various combinations of constructions, colors, and lengths. Proper construction is vital to allow key putting green installation practices; construction will allow turf to be infilled and rolled. Properly rolled fibers appear and play like natural greens.
Pile Height: How thick and tall the grass blades are will provide differences in friction; affecting the speed and smoothness of your putt.
Fiber: Fiber composition has a sizeable effect on how a golf ball moves throughout the putt. Fiber composition influences friction and pile lay. How the ball interacts with the surface is affected by how the turf lays.
Infill: Intrinsic to the turf system, infill is made of rounded washed silica. Infill allows ballast and aids drainage. How the infill is shaped is vital to performance; angles and edges create roll disruptions.
Aggregate Base: Stone is compacted to create challenging slopes and undulations; the result performs and drains like a championship golf course.
The formula to creating a Backyard Putting Green that performs like a Championship Golf Green utilizes the best raw materials with elite-proven-tested installation techniques. Very important when you’re on the putting green seeking to gently get your ball into the hole.
The Southwest Greens Difference
Southwest Greens has quantified key performance indicators. Because we have the understanding of which variables affect performance, we’re able to reproduce natural greens.
With Golden Bear Turf, you will experience smoother rolls that feel like playing on your favorite championship course. Scientifically tested and developed to mimic natural grass, from the initial bounce off the clubface... to the spin transition… to the smooth ball roll into the cup...
Golden Bear give you only the best! It’s the perfect backyard practice putting green offering the most realistic putting surfaces you can find on the market.