Before and after of the installation of a Tour Links putting green.

This is a special contributing article from the founder of Tour Links, Dave Barlow. When I found out that Dave had recently installed his dream green at his house...I asked him to write about the installation. Here it is...

The goal was simple, design and build a backyard retreat that would demonstrate to every Tour Links customer and dealer just how easy achieving a professional quality putting green is with our system.

There was also the added challenge of transforming my boring backyard into a great place for friends and families to hangout by the fire, listen to the soothing sounds of water tricking down a stream, roll a few putts and, ultimately, feel as if they were on vacation at tropical hotel resort.

The first job was to remove the existing landscaping from my yard. Since this was only a weekend project this took awhile to create an empty pallet, but as a designer I wanted to start from scratch.

It was decided early on the putting green was to be the focus of the entire landscaping project. After all with visitors from all over the world traveling to Florida to see the Tour Links system first hand I had to create something that was impressive when my guest first stepped foot into the yard. My yard isn’t very big only about 60’ x 100’ so every inch had to well planned.

Of all the projects that I tackled I am very pleased to say the easiest was the construction of the putting green and the installation of the panels for the synthetic lawn grass. The putting green was a one day project for 2 men and the lawn was only a day which I did on my own.

In this installation most of the contour of the yard was satisfactory for the type of putts I wanted to experience on my green. I was also able to check the drainage by rolling a tennis ball across the ground to make sure it rolled to the proper drain areas in the yard. This is a very important step. You do not want water to settle on your green and if it does due to heavy rain, it needs to drain very quickly.

The fact is that with a Tour Links green the panels are built above ground and the drainage is exceptional. I did bring in about ¼ yd of crushed limestone to build a few additional contours here and there.

I was only spreading an inch or so of fill so this site prep time was very quick, only about an hour. On the back of the green I brought in about 5 yards of top soil to build a large burm that would hold a variety of grasses, much like you would see in Scotland.

This was not a necessary step for the actual green installation but a creative decision I made along the way. You will notice however in the finished shots just how well the panels followed the terrain of the large burm, proving once again that our panels can replicate nearly any contour.

Once the ground was raked smooth and compacted with a hand tamp and watered in it was time to lay down the fiberglass weed cloth and start panel installation. It was important for me to have a long straight putt in the middle of the green so a bit more attention was paid to the center panel placement to make sure the putt was just right.

It is always important on a panel installation to know where you want the cups placed. I like to drop the hole panels into their approximate location to check out the layout prior to actually assembling the panels. It is much easier to move a panel now than when already assembled. In this installation I elected to use a regulation depth cup in one of the holes so that I could have the realism of a standard golf course flag. Usually with the Tour Links system a 2” deep practice cup is standard but if you choose to have regulation cups, no problem.

With the panels all assembled and cut to the proper shape the nylon turf and fringe were cut to size and seamed together.

The turf was stretched evenly on to the panels and fastened to both the panel structure and the ground below. Stretching the turf on to the panels helps to eliminate wrinkles that could appear as the turf expands and contracts during the course of the day. All turf, especially newly laid turf, will move with the heating and cooling during the day so this step is a good preventative measure.

Eventually turf seems to settle down and the huge size swings that are first noticed will begin to diminish. The cups were ready to be cut into the turf. My green is nearly complete.

The final step is to landscape around your new green. There are numerous options from sod to mulch to stone. I selected planting beds with mulch and a running stream with a border of rock traveling along one side of the green. This is really where the creativity and fun begin. By changing the way you landscape your green you can effectively change the entire look of your project.

I will admit this entire project was hard work and countless hours of moving rock and dirt but for me the results were well worth it. I was able to document just how easy building a professional quality putting green can be.

Compared to building the pond, laying the flagstone patio or planting hundreds of plants the construction of the Tour Links panel green was easy, a project that any Do it Yourself weekend warrior could handle. Trust me when I say the satisfaction you will get from doing it yourself while watching your scores drop as you begin to experience quality practice at home, will make the time spent building your green one of the best investments you have ever made on your golf game.