Putting Green FAQs

Questions? We’ve Got Answers.

Our indoor putting greens are made out of a proprietary aerated polymer (a super- fancy dense foam material), that we treat the surface of in order to draw out the grain. The material is ½" thick, so the ball will drop into the hole without being on a raised platform, and no contrived ramp is needed.

Our RollTech Foam indoor putting mats boast the most realistic putting surface on the market. We engineer the surface to mimic the grain of a real putting green. Each green is manufactured with a grain, so that you can practice putting both down grain and into the grain on the same practice surface.

Simply put, we use foam because it’s the only material we have found that mimics the spongy feel and true roll of a natural putting surface. We believe that you should practice on a surface that closely replicates a natural putting surface. Accurate feedback is essential when it comes to putting practice.

Competitor greens may look like a putting green, but they do not perform like a natural putting green. Our quest for a true-rolling surface is what led to the development of the patented BirdieBall putting green, and the decision to use an aerated foam technology. One common misconception is that we use foam because it’s cheap. This is simply not the case. We could easily make our greens out of turf or carpet, but we prioritize accuracy and feel above all else. The truth of the matter is that artificial greens made out of a woven synthetic material simply do not mimic the roll or feel of a natural putting surface.

Yes! US Patent # 8,979,663 and #9,486,690

Yes, remarkably so. With normal use and proper care, the green will last several years. Be mindful of exposure to direct sunlight, dog/cat claws, and metal golf spikes/high heels. The Indoor greens are not intended for use outside, and if left outside for an extended period of time, the exposure to UV rays will warp the material and create unwanted waves.

In general, it’s a good idea to treat your indoor putting green with the same care as a natural green on the golf course. Imagine things you would not do on a natural putting surface: walk in someone’s line, take a chip shot, walk in high heels, etc. These are the same sorts of things that will damage your indoor putting surface. The same things that will take a divot out of a natural green will damage your BirdieBall Indoor putting mat.

When treated with care, your BirdieBall mat will last for years!

The best way to keep your green clean is to brush with a stiff broom to remove any loose debris. To remove dirt, spot clean with mild soap and water. Do not vacuum the green. The rotating drum on many vacuums can tear up the surface.

Yes. We have “fill” material which can be mixed with water and inserted into damaged areas on the putting surface. The fill material is free and available in the Putting Green Accessories section of the website (you just have to pay a little shipping).

To store the green, remove any bumpers from the sides of the green. End bumpers can be left on for storage. Remove the cups and flags. Flip the putting surface over prior to rolling up so that the fuzzy putting surface is on the outside of the roll. Do not store anything on top of the rolled up surface. The cardboard shipping box is a handy thing to save for storage. Storage bags are also available.

No. BirdieBall Indoor putting greens are engineered for indoor use only. Mainly because the sun can damage the material. We do have an outdoor option available that is made out of a traditional turf material.

Heat, intense sunlight and pointed objects are basically the three enemies of the indoor putting mat. The mat should not be used in direct sunlight, as the green absorbs heat. Excessive sunlight (even indoors) can heat the green. This heating effect can elongate the green creating a wave or bubble. High heels should not be worn on the green. Spikeless golf shoes can be worn with zero twisting or dragging of the soft spikes on the green. Never hit an iron off of the green. Use a turf when chipping onto the green. Beware of dog and cat claws.

Yes, we do have an outdoor option! Our outdoor putting greens are made from a traditional turf material that can withstand the elements. Please note that the outdoor option does not have a grain, or as true a roll as our famous state-of-the-art indoor putting surfaces. With that said, we wanted to offer a viable solution for use outdoors, and also for high-traffic situations that need a more durable alternative to our standard indoor putting mats. If you need an awesome and durable putting surface that can be used outdoors in the elements, the outdoor green is right for you.

If your priority is to get meaningful practice on the most realistic putting surface possible, you will want to stick with one of our indoor mats, as you cannot beat the true roll and grain feature on our indoor surfaces.

We have sourced some of the best nylon turf available for this product offering. Not all turf is created equal, and ours is the best of the best. Boasting an ultra-tight weave and heavy face weight.

The “fuzzy” or grass-like side should be up, while the shiny side should be underneath. The fuzzy side is on the outside of the roll when you receive the green in the box. When rolling the green up for storage, keep the “fuzzy” side facing out. This will make the mat lay down flat faster after storage.

Breaks can be made easily. For an added challenge, try our Contour Shim Package which includes multiple hole reducers and enhanced breaking shims. You can also get creative with household items. For gentle breaks, slide a magazine, newspaper, or towel under the green. For more pronounced breaks add layers as needed. Try not to walk in the areas where the shims are placed, to avoid damaging the green.

Yes! The greens are engineered to be stood on/walked on. Feel free to stand/walk on your green with bare feet, normal athletic shoes, flat soled shoes, or spikeless golf shoes (with no twisting). High heels and other sharp objects will damage the surface. Other than that, have at it!

Click here for 8' - 10' long greens

Click here for 12' - 30' long greens

Footprints on the green will be visible, and then quickly disappear. This phenomenon speaks to the accuracy of the green. On a real putting surface, you need to be mindful about walking through a fellow golfer’s line since your foot prints could affect the roll of that golfer’s putt. The BirdieBall greens will behave the same way. Watch your footprint materialize and then quickly disappear!

Do not chip off of the putting green with an iron. This will most likely cause a divot in the material (just like it would on a natural putting green). You can however, chip onto the green from a chipping mat, and then finish putting out. If you want to be able to chip off of the putting green, check out our outdoor mat!

The putting greens perform best on hard, firm surfaces such as hardwood, concrete, and tile floors. The putting greens can be used on carpet, as long as the carpet is tightly woven and does not have a thick carpet pad underneath (something like a Berber or office carpet would be ok). The greens will have a softer feel under your feet if used on top of carpeting that has a plush carpet pad, and is not tightly woven. If plush carpet is your only option, we have had many customers place something firm between their putting surface and the carpet (such as plywood, or rubber tiles that snap together) to make the green perfectly functional in that application.

On carpet: Use the hook/male side of Velcro tape, available at home supply stores. Use approximately six inch pieces and strategically place them in areas under the putting green that will not affect the roll of the golf ball when putting, but will hold onto the carpet. Move the location of the velcro if carpet begins to fray.

On hard surfaces: Use both halves of the velcro, stick to bottom of green and stick corresponding side to the floor. This allows you to unfasten and move or roll up your putting green.

Cups are installed from the bottom of the green. The cups have a flange on the bottom to secure them in place. The flag pin + flag base installs from the top. Line up the 4 holes on the flag base with the 4 holes on the cup. The flag base actually helps the golf ball stay in the hole by dampening and absorbing the energy of the golf ball. Shorter flags are available if you would like a more stable flag in the cup. Also, flag bases can be used without the flagstick with the same ball dampening effect. Using the base only will make your usable putting area larger, as you can stand directly over the cups and base without any interference from the flag.

A high-back cup is included with every Classic Indoor Putting Green (and the outdoor green). The high-back cup has a raised lip at the back of the cup, and is provided to practice firmer putts. As with all of the cups, the cups function better with the flag (or flag base) installed.

The black rubber bumpers snap onto the end/edges of the green. Locate the internal retention teeth, and orient the teeth to snap onto the end/edge of the putting green. There are two openings on the bumper. The second opening points upward when installed properly. When installed properly, the bumper will have a raised lip that stops a golf ball from rolling off the green. In high traffic areas, bumpers can be taped on from the under-side of the green using duct tape. This will help with bumpers and trim being kicked off if necessary.

If need be, you can use scissors (or sharp box cutter) to cut your bumper pieces to the exact size. Start cutting from the open end through the heel.

You will receive a hole deepening shim with the purchase of your Classic Green. Simply line up the hole on the shim with any existing hole on your putting green. Locate the shim underneath the desired hole on your putting surface, and use the high-back cup to align and keep in place. This will increase the depth of the hole to a full 1” deep.

A hole reducer insert will be included with every putting green. This is a donut shaped hole cut-out that can be placed inside any hole on your putting mat to reduce the hole size from 4.25” in diameter to 2.5” in diameter. The hole reduction insert can be placed either in the hole with the cup, or insert into the hole without the cup. If the insert is loose, pull lightly on the outside diameter slightly to make it more snug.

The putting green has a grain. The nubs of “grass” are angled one direction toward one of the ends. You can determine which way the nubs of grass are leaning by rubbing your hand toward each end. The green will feel smooth when running your hand down grain, and will feel rough when running your hand against the grain. Using a stiff broom or our stimp maintenance brush, sweep into the grain to slow the mat down, and sweep down grain to speed the mat up. This process will also serve to clean debris off the green and keep the grain refreshed.

Yes, and it is easy to do! If you would like to convert your Classic green to the Double Depth model, send us an email (questions@birdieball.com), and we can send you the necessary info and pricing. The benefit of this is to increase the depth of the hole to 1” deep for a more realistic drop-in feel. 

Each putting green will come standard with the number of cups and flags needed for your particular configuration. You do not need to add them on separately if you are purchasing a putting surface.

The widest Indoor green available without a seam is 4’ wide. To make our 8’ wide mats, we seam together two 4’ wide mats, leaving a seam in the middle of the green. In the beginning you will notice the seam. Based on customer feedback, the seam becomes un-noticeable after it is used for a while. Over time, walking on the surface will blend the seam together. There is a break-in period from a few days to a few weeks depending on how much use your green is getting. Walking on the green, particularly over the seamed area, speeds up this break-in process.

If you are handy, you can save some money by purchasing two separate 4’ wide putting greens and opt to seam them together yourself. Order two 4' greens of the same length, and let us know in the order comments that you intend to seam the greens together. We will bevel the edges in production so that the seam comes together completely flush. We also recommend purchasing a hole cutter so that you can cut the holes once the two greens have been seamed.

VIDEO: Informational video on seaming


You will receive two pieces of ½” thick material (one piece is the putting surface, and the second piece is the sub-base). You will also receive the components to assemble your green once you receive it. We cut the sub-base piece slightly longer than the top putting surface to ensure they will fit properly after transit. You can easily trim the base (with a simple box cutter or similar knife) to the perfect size once assembled. Please review the Double Depth instructional videos for instructions on this semi-permanent assembly.

*Please note that all the double greens come with no holes pre-cut. A hole cutter is included with the purchase of the double depth green so that you can cut the holes where you would like them after you have adhered the sub-base to the putting surface. We have replaced the spray adhesive with double-sided tape in this process.

VIDEO: Double Depth Install Video (short and sweet).

VIDEO: Double Depth Instructional Video.


You will receive three pieces of ½” thick material (one 8' putting surface that will already be seamed together, and two 4' sub-base pieces). You will also receive the components to assemble your green once you receive it. We cut the two sub-base pieces slightly longer than the top putting surface to ensure they will fit properly after transit. You can easily trim the base (with a simple box cutter or similar knife) to the perfect size once assembled. Please review the Double Depth instructional videos for instructions on this semi-permanent assembly.

*Please note that all the double depth greens come with no holes pre-cut. A hole cutter is included with the purchase of the double depth green so that you can cut the holes where you would like them after you have adhered the sub-bases to the putting surface. We have replaced the spray adhesive with double-sided tape in this process.

*If you order an 8' wide double depth green the top putting surface will come pre-seamed.

VIDEO: 8' Double Depth Install : Adding Sub-Base Only


Yes, you can still utilize additional bumpers on the Double Depth Mat. Please note that the bumpers will only cover the top ½” of the putting surface, and will not cover the sub-base. To install bumpers on your Double Depth Green, you will want to leave about 1” of space from the edge around the perimeter with no tape so that the bumpers can be easily snapped between the two layers (the bumpers can be put on prior to adhering the sub-base, or after adhering the sub-base as long as you leave that slight gap.

Please upload your art file in a jpeg or png format. While you are only able to upload those two specific file types, we will reach out to you via email after your order has been placed to see if you have a vector format available to ensure the best print quality (.eps or .ai preferred). Once your order is placed, we will follow up with a proof and alert you if your artwork will produce a low quality print or if we feel we need a different file type.

The custom logo greens take a little longer in production, so please allow up to 2 weeks for delivery. If you need your order expedited, there is a $50 rush charge. Email us if this is the case (questions@birdieball.com), and we’d be happy to work with your in-hands date if possible.

Yes! We will email you a proof of your custom logo green and/or custom logo flags before we send the order to production. This helps to ensure we received the correct art file and that you are happy with the placement and overall look before we send it to the printer. You can expect a proof within 1-2 business days from when the order is placed.

No, the UPGRADE (to add 2' feet for free) promotion that you may have been told about and/or read about online, is no longer active or available. Orders that have the comment "UPGRADE" will not be upgraded to the next size and will recieve the size that was ordered.

VIDEO INFORMATION

Check out some of our videos for even more info.

VIDEO: Perfection in Putting Practice

VIDEO: Why is our Putting Green Technology Better?