A DIY Guide to Indoor Putting Greens & Practice
Whether you’re outfitting a basement or hedging against future inclement weather, the ability to practice putting indoors is the #1 way to get the best return on your time. That has motivated many golfers to consider adding putting surfaces to their homes and private spaces. If you are in the market for a custom indoor putting green or a even a portable putting mat, you have a lot of choices. In this DIY guide to indoor putting greens, we’re going to break down your options and help you decide what is best for your needs, your space, and your practice goals. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Are Indoor Putting Mats Any Good?
How Home Putting Greens Can Help Your Game
Improving Your Technique with Indoor Putting Greens
Tips for Creating a DIY Indoor Putting Green (Low & High Effort)
Are Indoor Putting Mats Any Good?
The short answer is yes, indoor putting mats are a fantastic way to practice golf at home. Putting is arguably the most important way to improve your golf game, and you don’t need much space to build confidence and skill. Putting practice should focus on controlling pace, making good contact, and rolling the ball online…all factors that can be accomplished on practically any carpeted surface.
But if you’re going to take your putting practice seriously, a small investment in a proper indoor setup will pay dividends on the course. Here are some things to consider before you get started.
Realism: A good indoor putting mat should mimic the feel and speed of a real green as closely as possible. PGA Tour pros use high end materials from retailers like Camry Golf to mimic the conditions they see, but you can find a range of options online.
Distance: Unless you have a terrific amount of space, you probably aren’t using your indoor setup to practice lag putting. And in fact, data from Tom Fielding suggests that mid-handicappers should focus their time on putts of 3 to 10 feet. From a width perspective, we recommend a mat wide enough to accommodate at least two if not three hole locations.
Durability: A good indoor putting mat should be made of high-quality materials that are designed to last years, because that’s how long it’s going to take to fix that putting stroke of yours (joke!). Most of the indoor mats are sufficiently durable for light to moderate use, but read the reviews. Nobody wants to drop several hundred dollars (or more) on a mat that shows wear and tear in the near term.
Portability: We’ll talk about your options later, but if you plan to move the mat around your home or office, look for something lightweight and easy to roll up. This is great for small spaces but also gives you the option of moving it around in your home or storing it when non-golfing guests come over.
Price: Indoor putting mats can range from tens of dollars to several thousand. The price is directly related to how much effort it takes to install them. You can get a basic rollup mat on Amazon for $35, but a custom indoor green with wooden frames and multiple hole locations can get into the high five figures. The most expensive mats tend to be of higher quality and offer more features like distance marks and ball returns.
Ultimately, the best indoor putting mat for you will depend on your specific needs and preferences. Let’s get into that now, shall we?
Do Home Putting Greens Help?
Yes, home putting greens can help improve your putting skills. Having a putting green in your home allows you to practice whenever you have free time, and repetition helps build muscle memory, improve accuracy, and develop consistency.
Some home golf greens even mimic the conditions of real golf greens, allowing you to work on your speed control and putting technique. Additionally, practicing in a familiar and controlled environment reduces distractions and lets you focus solely on your putting.
It's important to keep in mind, however, that a home putting green is not a substitute for practicing on a real golf course or playing actual rounds of golf. Being on the course is where you’ll figure out the putting elements of your golf course strategy, get a true feel for the game and test your skills under pressure.
But when you can’t get out to the course, an indoor putting green is a great way to complement your other golf practice and will improve your putting skills over time.
Only perfect putting practice will lead to perfection on the greens.
How to Improve Your Technique With Indoor Putting Greens
As with everything in golf, you want to practice purposefully, and indoor greens can help when used with intention. Absent-mindedly rolling putts is a good way to pass the time, but it won’t deliver real improvement. That comes with purposeful practice focused on three elements of putting: aim, stroke length, pace, and pre-shot routine.
Improving Putting Aim
By practicing aim, you identify your tendencies in order to create a setup that corrects them. You can use an alignment stick, rulers, or practically any straight-edged object to help line up your putter face with the desired line of your putt. You’ll quickly discover whether you tend to miss right or left, and that information can help you correct your alignment as you develop the muscle memory required to improve accuracy and consistency.
Improving Stroke Length
Stroke length is another key to better putting. Unless you’re intentionally working on a pop stroke like Brandt Snedeker or Webb Simpson, you want your backstroke and forward stroke to be of approximately equal length. Grab a yardstick and a quarter and practice this drill:
Improving Putting Pace
The pace of your putting is all about controlling speed and distance. Once you get confident in your alignment and stroke, improved pace will help you make more putts and reduce the dreaded three putt. While you might need a longer setup to practice lag pace, you can still develop an ideal pace for those crucial 6-8 foot putts that help you score better. Here’s a drill: Set up a temporary target on your indoor green that leaves 3 feet of space beyond the end. Practice hitting a putt three feet past, then three feet short, and then finally right into the target with “perfect” speed. Repeating this drill helps you understand how it feels to control pace.
Improving Putting Routine
Finally, we’re big believers in consistent, repeatable pre-shot routines for every shot in golf. Given that golf is such a mental game, standardizing your approach can help you focus more on execution. With putting, a typical pre-shot routine includes lining up the putt, practicing your stroke according to expected pace, and then setting up to make your stroke. If you nail down all your motions and make this routine second nature, you’ll have less variables in your head prior to making the stroke and can focus more on the factors over which you have less control.
Tips for Creating a DIY Indoor Putting Green
Now that we have proven the viability of indoor putting greens, let’s talk about how to create one on your own. Whether you want a simple basement putting green or something fully integrated with your space, you can achieve it easier than you might think. But first, determine whether you want to go the low effort or high effort route.
Low Effort Indoor Greens
The easiest way to practice putting indoors is to purchase a rollup mat from Amazon. They’ve got a variety of options ranging from $50-300. Our favorite cheap option is Putt-A-Bout’s Par Three Golf Putting Green, a 3’ x 9’ surface with a non-skid backing, three holes and built-in hazards that also serve as backstops to catch errant putts. It’s easy to roll up for storage, long enough to practice speed and distance drills, and doesn’t cost much more than a dozen Pro-V1s.
For another $100, you can get the more attractive, feature-rich Perfect Practice Putting mat. It features a ruler for distance feedback, a regulation size hole and ½ hole for accuracy, and a ball return to save you the 9’ walk to retrieve your makes. It boasts a higher quality surface made of “unique crystal velvet” than the polyester used in other mats and includes your choice of solid pine wood or acrylic frame. It’s also the official golf putting green of Dustin Johnson, for whatever it’s worth.
On the higher end of the easy scale are the larger, rectangular mats that can still roll up for storage, but have extra features like a thicker rough around the edge and realistic flagsticks that mimic what you might see on a true outdoor putting green. With 5x10’ dimensions, you’ll get more variety on short and medium distance putts, and the material is durable enough to be used on a deck or patio.
High Effort Indoor Greens
If you enjoy a project and have time to invest in a true DIY indoor putting green, the materials are rather easy to source and there are a number of step-by-step instructions available on the internet. Here we will share a basic template to get a sense of the level of effort and expertise required. If you take the time to do it right, this DIY method will produce a high quality, custom putting green on a raised frame for less than $500.
If you want a quality raised green but don’t trust your skills or attention span, there are a number of companies like Pro Putt Systems that will sell you a full kit with simple detailed instructions, and many offer regional consultants to help with the process.
Materials You Will Need
Artificial putting surface (Camry Golf is the best in the business)
Carpet padding or underlayment
Carpet Adhesive (e.g., double-sided tape or glue)
Plywood or composite board for framing (cut to desired length and width of frame)
2” x 6” lumber for framing (cut to desired width)
Golf Hole Cups (make sure they’re 4 ¼” to match a regulation hole)
Razor or carpet knife
Carpenter square
Power Drill
Hammer
Circular Saw with 4 ¼” hole saw blade
Tape measure
Level
Bonus Materials for Advanced Features
PVC Piping and elbow fitting joints for a backstop
Furniture levels to add break and undulation
Putter Display Rack to organize your space
How To Do It
You can order the putting surface and golf cups online and borrow any tools you don’t have from a friend. Or if you don’t have friends, rent them from Home Depot or Lowes, which is where you’ll be going to buy the plywood and lumber for your frame.
Build the Putting Frame
This isn’t advanced carpentry, but you will be constructing a frame with slats for your putting surface. So before you get in the car, measure your space and decide how big you want to build it. A square or rectangular frame is the play here. Make a diagram to determine the length of your frame; you’ll need two of the 2x6” lumber pieces for it. Then, you’re going to build inner slats (like an old school bed frame) to support body weight. You’ll need about 7-8 of these, to include the outer framing.
Construct the Platform & Drill Holes
Once you’ve constructed your frame, you’ll add the plywood or composite board and secure it to the frame and slats. Then determine where you want your holes to be. Drill the particle board with the 4 ¼ hole saw blade. If you are planning to add break with the furniture levels, take that into consideration before you drill your holes.
Create the Putting Surface
Now you’re ready to create your putting surface. Measure the total square footage of your frame. Add a few inches to your surface to account for any variance, as you can cut away any excess material that you don’t end up using. Adhere the underlayer to the frame with the adhesive following the instructions in this guide from Camry Golf. This is an extra step but worth the time as it will create a more comfortable, quieter surface.
Install the Holes
Rather than attempting to cut a perfect circle in your surface where the holes are, use an Exacto knife and slit a small “X” in the middle of the hole you drilled. Then you can pop the cups in and have a nice, flush look. If you have trouble getting the cups in, just cut the X a little longer until the cup slides in.
Create Break and Barrier
At this point you can drill the furniture levelers to the outside of your frame to add break and slope to your custom putting green. If you didn’t create a natural raised backstop when you constructed your frame, you can use the PVC pipe to add one around the edge of your surface. This will help balls from rolling off onto your floor. A perfectionist may wish to paint the PVC pipe for a more attractive look, but that depends on how much energy you have left.
Prepare for the Back 9 at Augusta
Now that you have created your awesome, custom, DIY indoor putting green, you are ready to perfect your putting and prepare for your future as a professional golfer. We don’t recommend quitting your day job just yet, but we aren’t going to tell you how to live your life!
From simple rollup mats to custom indoor setups, any golfer can improve their putting with the ability to practice in their own space. If you focus on the drills recommended above and determine the best DIY indoor putting green for your needs, you’ll be draining putts and well on your way to winning your share of golf betting games.
