backyard hitting area (R10+SPG-8) and putting green

[darinbrown]

I'm starting down the process of turning an area of my backyard into a practice area + putting green.. I've got a 15x30 rectangle space and had the following plan.. Spornia SPG-8 + 4x5 stance mat (with a GungHo strip inserted) that I'd simply take up and down when wanting to hit balls into the net. Looking at an R10 as well so this will need 15-16' of space. initial thought was to just have playground/athletic artificial turn laid down over the 15x30 space but leaning towards making that space into a 15x30 putting area instead. the 15' width is bordered by a fence and house so I'll have about 1' on each side that'll be fringe but won't be able to have any chipping capability from the sides.. each end will be open so may utilize about 2' on each end and install some chipping fringe to be able to practice chipping the length of the green?

the putting green will need to be mostly/all flat in order to work with the SPG-8/mat/R10 setup so I'm not sure how much wiggle room I really have to do anything too drastic.. but for those that may have a similar setup outdoors anything you wish you would have done differently with the putting green or a better way to maximize the utility of my available space? 

[ugly sketch attached to give a general idea]

 

[Canada8888]

May be good to imagine a full power shank or massively high miss hit ball ...  where would it go?

[darinbrown]

I'm planning on the side extension nets with the SPG-8 to help with an errant shank.. thankfully I'll be hitting towards my backyard and an open greenbelt space beyond that for any skied shots

[Canada8888]

Good approach.  The other thing I realized having the hitting mat outside was that it picked up moisture etc from sitting on the ground.  I added rubber fatigue mats from Home depot under the hitting mat.  Made the hitting surface a bit softer with a nice give and kept the bottom of the hitting mat clean and dry ...  added a tarp on top and then when I take it off the hitting surface is dry and feels brand new 

[macedan]

I wish I had the height for the SPG-8 in my garage. I have the SPG-7 w/ 7-8' of ballflight. I have hit a couple of pretty gnarly shanks that still caught it from that far. There are so many setups where the target line does not run into the center of the net, as long as your target line is not off-center the SPG-8 should have no problem with errant shots, especially with side netting. That being said, I can't hit more than a full 50 from this distance. 3/4 SW/LW still go straight into the sky netting.

 

Regarding the R10, I have been getting very consistent and accurate numbers from a less than ideal setup. I have 7-8' of space (gravel) b/t my R10 and mat. The space between my mat and net is covered with one strip of roll-up yoga/gym mat material from Walmart, not even as wide as the net. My R10 sits on a random piece of cardboard I had lying around on the gravel.