Are synthetic greens a reality now? Is the technology there?
Southwest Greens are a company I came across only recently and it seems they’re doing a roaring trade installing synthetic greens all over the place.
Using synthetic greens is not a new idea, I remember playing on one as a kid and it was rubbish. You can see why golf clubs go for them as it offers them a maintenance free option that doesn’t need sunlight, chemicals and summer to thrive but in my experience it’s the quickest way to ruin a golf course.
Well apparently things have changed a bit since I was a kid. You can still buy the crappy Astroturf greens of course but now there’s an option available that apparently reacts just like a real green does, even allowing backspin, true roll and of course, low maintenance. You have to ask yourself, why wouldn’t you? Once you’ve paid out, that’s pretty much it.
As long as the product does what it says on the tin, it’s the perfect solution for a high usage chipping green, putting green or even a green that never gets any sun. Some clubs I know spend thousands trying to make grass grow in places where it just won’t. At what point do you say enough is enough, let’s install a synthetic green?
I haven’t seen the greens in action for myself yet but I have high hopes. If they’re good enough for the likes of Reteif Goosen, Justin Rose, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia to install in their own homes, then I’d imagine they’re good enough for the rest of us. The greens are supposed to be comparable to what you’d find on a championship calibre course which is awesome. Imagine having one of those in your back garden! How cool would that be? Come on, tell me you haven’t dreamed of it before now, a putting green in your back garden? I know I have.
We’ll be checking out one of their projects in construction soon and we’ll keep you updated when we’ve had a play. The company seems to really be going places and they’ve got new projects being installed all over the world. In fact they’ve just signed a three year licensing partnership with Nicklaus Design and will offer the Nicklaus Design services for free with any green ordered before 30th April, 2009.
The two companies have just unveiled a new Golden Bear synthetic turf, exclusively available through Southwest Greens and its exclusive turf supplier, Challenger Turf. This new turf was developed to provide a premium product to its customers. They’ll even install a Golden Bear trademark on each green which is pretty cool I must admit.
After a good chat to UK owner Warren Bailey, it seems there’s a lot going on here at the moment. He suggested that more and more people are spending their money in driving ranges rather than on membership. In turn, that’s allowing driving ranges to offer Golf Academy style services and what do you need for an Academy? A green. What’s the perfect product? A South West green it seems.
The costs aren’t astronomical either and you can install a 50m2 green in under three weeks from around £8,000. Obviously, the larger you go the cheaper it gets. £8,000 might sound a lot but when you consider that all you need to do after that is blow off the leaves every now and again and go over it with a garden roller it starts to add up.
Warren and his team do offer a maintenance service with every green and will come back every year if you want. For a few hundred pounds they’ll make your green look like spanking brand new every year. It sounds like you won’t need it though unless you’re in a high-moss area and the like. We’ll let you know how we get on Fairway Finders, we’ll be having a play very soon.
For more information, check out their website at www.southwestgreens.co.uk
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