Your guide to understanding how roll works on artificial turf.
The Physics of Golf
Physics. It touches everything around us, and, notably, the beloved game of golf.
Physics, the nature and properties of matter and energy: the hitting of the ball, the ball’s path through the air, its initial bounce, and the ball’s roll out.
Ideally, 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 straightforward matter by hitting it straight.
However, at times, you will find that the ground is sloped. When this happens, the ball’s roll cannot be a straight line to get in the hole, meaning it is a more difficult task. When this happens, the ball now must follow a precise curved path to make it into the hole. Whether the ball must curve to the right or left is contingent on the grade of the putting green’s slope and undulation.
Regardless of if synthetic grass or natural grass is selected to your dream backyard putting green, the physical characteristics of the ground factor into the performance. Southwest Greens Northern CA West employs a combination of common golf course tests and our proprietary playability testing.
One common test to test ball roll is the stimpmeter test. Stimp testing is calculated by the distance a ball rolls on artificial turf in meters when dropped from a one-meter height. The ball-to-surface interaction of the grass is directly related to the ball roll distance.
The proprietary playability testing for roll analyzes the consistency of standard putting stroke outputs. Our test analyzes the initial bounce of the club face and the spin to roll transition.
Now we’ll take a closer analysis into the components that impact how a golf ball reacts and rolls on a turf.
Green Characteristics
Product Construction: Plastics that are extruded and recycled and come in various combinations of constructions, colors, and lengths. Proper construction is critical to allow key putting green installation practices; construction enables turf to be infilled and rolled. Properly rolled fibers will look and play like natural greens.
Pile Height: How thick and tall the grass blades are will provide varied frictions; having an effect on the speed and smoothness of your putt.
Fiber: The composition of the fibers has a sizeable effect on how a golf ball moves throughout the putt. Friction and pile lay are impacted by fiber composition. How the ball interacts with the surface is impacted by how the turf lays.
Infill: Intrinsic to the turf system, infill is comprised of rounded washed silica. Infill allows ballast and improves drainage. How the infill is shaped is critical to performance; angles and edges impede roll.
Aggregate Base: Compacted stone creates challenging slopes and undulations; one that performs and drains like a championship golf course.
The recipe to creating a Backyard Putting Green that performs like a Championship Golf Green uses the best raw materials with elite-proven-tested installation techniques. This is especially important when you are on the putting green trying to gently get the ball into the hole.
The Southwest Greens Difference
Southwest Greens have quantified key performance indicators. Because we have the understanding of what variables impact performance, we’ve been able to replicate natural greens.
With Golden Bear Turf, you’ll enjoy smoother rolls that feel like playing on your favorite championship course. Scientifically developed and tested to reproduce natural grass, from the initial bounce off the clubface... to the spin transition… to the smooth ball roll into the cup...
Golden Bear presents only the best! It is the perfect backyard practice putting green that will offer the most realistic putting surfaces you can find on the market.