My indoor "putting green" project

[joneser]

I have seen some discussions on here concerning indoor practice greens so I thought I would share the project I finished this week. I don't have a ton of room for something in the house so when I started researching putting greens I was looking at 12 foot and under. I wanted something with a hole or holes that you can see the ball roll into. I quickly found that prices could get seriously out of hand and when I got down to the $400 and $500 range I was not getting much for my money. I decided that I would build my own.

 

First thing I did was find the Toyota Camry trunk carpet that Web Simpson made famous in his Feherty interview. The carpet was actually fairly reasonable so I was off to a good start. I purchased it from a member here who had it for sale on eBay. I had decided on a 4 foot by 10 foot green that I could move from room to room in the basement. I wanted to be able to leave it in one of the finished rooms in the basement and move it out of the way when it would not be used a lot. I ended up going with a 4x8 green instead. This is because this thing was going to be heavy with the materials used and quite honestly, I was mostly concerned with 7 feet and in to work on our strokes. This was technically built for my 16 year old son who has college golf aspirations. I have however found myself using this thing a lot this week.

 

I started out by building a base using 2x4's from Lowes. I think I bought three 10 foot pieces and about five 8 foot pieces. I also needed to have a 4x8 sheet of 1 inch thick MDF for the surface. I ran into my first issue when I could not find 1 inch thick MDF. I ended up buying two 1/2 inch thick pieces and would glue them together when the time came. I layed the MDF down in the garage and built my base about 1/4 inch bigger than the MDF. Below is a picture of the base before I took it down to the basement.

 

 

Once in the basement I trimmed the base using 1x6 poplar. I drilled holes in the side for rope handles that I would need in order to pick this thing up off the ground on one side so it could be moved into another room. I painted my poplar grey and then dropped in the 2 pieces of MDF. I screwed and glued the first piece and then put the second piece down with a good layer of glue in between. I put in some screws and nails from a finish nail gun and let it sit overnight. I filled any screw holes in with wood filler and let that dry. I cut holes in the MDF with a 4.25 inch hole saw and prepared to carpet.

 

 

After letting this dry, I layed out the carpet and glued it down to the MDF using carpet glue. I took my time to spreading with a 1/16th trowel and rolled the carpet out in sections. I broke this into 4 pieces and when I finished I let it sit for almost 3 days. Once the 3 days were up, I put down the quarter round on the inside edges of the green. The quarter round covered any gaps between the 1x6 and the carpet after I cut the carpet. It also makes it easier to get the balls off the side and end walls. I poked a hole in the carpet with a carpet knife, and then cut slits in it with scissors. I then took the aluminum cups I bought and forced them into the holes. This left me with a very smooth good looking holes and it was a lot easier than trying to cut a perfect circle. I then put 1 foot increment labels on the quarter round and called it complete. What I have is a perfectly smooth surface that I can see will pay big dividends this year. I have less than $300 wrapped up in materials.

 

 

Here is a link to a video which may give you an idea of the speed.

 

[Shanti2]

Great work! Congrats!

[ekimox]

Looks very well built. Good job! I'm looking at doing something like this in the near future too.

[Tusk]

Very nice! I might end up following your lead on this one!

[jtitleist12]

Looks awesome!

 

How quick does a putt roll on that trunk carpet? I would think that would be lightning fast.

 

- Josh

[KDBeach]

Awesome!

[Leftymoose]

Nice work...am thinking of doing a very similar green at home...just need to move all the kids toys out of the way...should only take another 10-15 years.

[joneser]

Couple other comments and answers. I have been told that this would be 10-11 on the stimp. Its quick but its not like its unrealistically quick. The good thing about this is that the ball tracks perfectly. There is not any of the wandering you get on some carpets. I purchased real good quality holes from a company called Markers Inc. I bought the aluminum holes so they make a nice sound when the ball goes in.

 

I did end up putting a couple more support pieces in the base. I found that the MDF was a little flexible for my weight. For my son it was fine. Once I added the extra support it was rock solid. This could have been done a little cheaper. I used the best quality lumber and I used 1x6 poplar for sides. I am super anal so I sanded it real good and rounded off all the sharp edges of the wood.

 

My putting mirror will be in the mail tomorrow so I plan on spending some serious time on this thing before spring comes. I wish I would have done this earlier. If anyone knows how to post an iphone video, pleas let me know and I will try to post it. The video will show what type of stroke you have to make for a 6 - 7 footer which should give a good idea of speed.

 

If you have any questions please feel free to ask or IM me.

[jtothep21]

Upload your video from you iphone to youtube then attach a link into the forum. Hope that helps, great job on the putting green!

[TheUpAndDown]

That looks great! Got a link to the carpet? I may try something like this.

 

Did you use a spray adhesive of some kind? Did you have to stretch the carpet? How much did it end up weighing?

 

Thanks in advance.

[knudson81]

That looks great! Got a link to the carpet? I may try something like this.

 

Did you use a spray adhesive of some kind? Did you have to stretch the carpet? How much did it end up weighing?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Yeah, also wondering what carpet was used

[joneser]

That looks great! Got a link to the carpet? I may try something like this.

 

Did you use a spray adhesive of some kind? Did you have to stretch the carpet? How much did it end up weighing?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I used a carpet adhesive from home depot. It looks like a putty and you spread it with a 1/16th trowel. I had laid the capet out for a day to let it settle and when I glued it down it I had it folded over so I could do about 1/4 of it at a time. I took piece 12x18 piece of acrylic I have on hand and used that to apply a little pressure to smooth out the carpet onto the glue and to force the carpet up against the sides (could have used a text book or something like that). I did not apply a ton of pressure and I did NOT have to stretch the carpet. After about 24 hours I cut the carpet along the edges with a carpet knife and then let it dry for another 2 days before walking on it. I was really concerned about the gluing of the carpet because the carpet doesn't have a foam backing or anything. It took about 30 minutes total to lay the carpet with a little help from my son (very little help). I couldn't be happier with the results of the gluing of the carpet. When I get home I will post a picture of the carpet glue.

 

As far as what type of carpet, if you want more info, send me an IM. I have no affiliation with the person but I can get you an email. It was not overly expensive and it was a smooth transaction. I just don't want to break any rules on here so I am not posting any email address or anything.

 

The only negative of this project is the weight. The MDF is freaking heavy. The base with the 1x6 trim was simple to move around. Adding the MDF made this a 2 person job to move. I put the rope handles on one side so you can get it up off the ground onto its side. Once on its side, you can move it around on the carpet. Slap a couple of those furniture disks under it and it would slide around easily. I am sure I could have used a lighter material but MDF is the smoothest thing that I know of so that is what I went with.

[BSprink]

Looks great! Nice job.

[Dr. Frankenputts]

Sweet looks awesome

[bjno1300]

Very nice

[Dr. Frankenputts]

Can you share a link or picture of the exact type of Toyota Carpet you used. Thanks in advance

[Dan42nepa]

are there any breaks? Or all straight putts?

[joneser]

are there any breaks? Or all straight putts?

 

Flat, no breaks. I wanted this to be flat so I could focus on the stroke.

[joneser]

Can you share a link or picture of the exact type of Toyota Carpet you used. Thanks in advance

 

A picture isn't going to show you anything. The carpet is too dark to really see much. It's trunk carpet and no, there are no camrys out there with bare trunks because of my project. I will be happy to share an email address for those that IM me. As I mentioned! I am not affiliated with this person at all but it's good stuff and it was easy to do.

[joneser]

I have added the picture of the glue and a link to a video.

[Sec]

I need to build one of these for my garage!

[J_Birdie]

I wish I was handy and could build something badass like this.

[fmzip]

Nice job!

 

I am on the fence on using a wood frame or an extruded aluminum frame.

 

How level is your unit?

 

Is this the carpet you used?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Golf-Putting-Green-Indoor-Turf-54-x90-recommended-by-PGA-Tour-Pros-read-desc-/262240247318?hash=item3d0ebc9e16

 

I already have Pro putt turf which is one of the best out there but the above stuff look like a cheap way out. I like to chip on mine, it has a nice backing

[cota0429]

That looks so cool.

[joneser]

Nice job!

 

I am on the fence on using a wood frame or an extruded aluminum frame.

 

How level is your unit?

 

Is this the carpet you used?

 

http://www.ebay.com/...=item3d0ebc9e16

 

I already have Pro putt turf which is one of the best out there but the above stuff look like a cheap way out. I like to chip on mine, it has a nice backing

 

My "green" is very level. The only time I see any break is going diagonal from one corner to another and that could be the floor. I really wouldn't change anything about it other than the overall weight. Its very heavy.

 

The link you provided is the carpet I used. Its very thin and really does not have a backing so I am not sure it will be something you wold want to chip from.

[dadup]

wow, thats pretty cool! nice work!

[Thug Hunter]

The quarter round is a great idea. I may just have to do that myself. My wife is going out of town with this kids this weekend and when she returns home the upstairs bonus will have a 6'x8' putting green, she just doesn't know it yet.

[greihing]

I'm using this thread as a template for a birdie ball green platform. it's 14x4 though and I don't think it will be very movable. I went with 3/4 plywood instead of the mdf. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the post/guide.

[greihing]

Just finished:

 

 

[smokedturkey]

I'm with you all on this subject. I stopped around local carpet retailers looking for an inexpensive carpet remnant low pile indoor outdoor carpeting. spent $70 on a 8 x 12 piece that rolls like Augusta National and laid it down in my garage. It's brown, no harm no foul when car drives over it, so what a little AC condensation drops in it and its kinda nice to have soft carpeting down when I do projects in the garage. Get a putting disc and I can roll up to 12 -15 footers in my garage now for less than $100 dollars. My garage is now my "Short Game Training Center" Wife loves making jokes about my carpeted garage.