Putting Greens News & Blog

A Source of Frustration

Monday, September 11th, 2006

For many golfers trying to fit in a game or two per week between work and their other social obligations, inconsistent and undependable greens conditions can be frustrating.

“I mostly play in the mornings,” said Scott Lee, a former collegiate golfer working as a chemist in Salt Lake City, “And in the fall and spring those greens are like tundra that early in the day. Sometimes, it’s more like shooting pool than playing golf.”

Afternoon golfers experience similar aggravation, often having to play while dodging massive sprinkling arrays and eventually putting on waterlogged, marshy ground. In a game like golf, where consistency is everything, dealing with logistic annoyances can make the game a good deal less fun.

Scott initially heard of the advent of modern synthetic greens while researching synthetic residential lawns online and the idea intrigued him. “The things they can do with artificial grass these days are amazing,” said Scott, “I know there are courses around that have artificial putting greens near their pro shops, why not on the course too?”

Ease of play is only one concern. Salt Lake City, and indeed most of Utah, is a desert. Water conservation, while perhaps not the concern it may be in Southern California or Arizona, is still an important and galvanizing issue anywhere in the western United States.

“It takes a huge amount of water to maintain a golf course,” said Scott, “And I don’t think we’re far from seeing the first all-synthetic courses popping up. For now, it doesn’t seem far fetched that you could put together a course that’s part natural and part synthetic. Cut their water usage by twenty percent? Maybe even fifty percent?”

The idea of an all-synthetic golf course is not a new one, but seems closer now than ever before due largely to the advent of the modern era of artificial grasses. Enthusiasm for the idea has never been higher. “If someone built one,” said Scott, “I’d definitely play on it.”