Bushy's backyard practice green

[BUSHY]

Work starts Monday, will keep a log of what happens and add as many photos as I can. I'm actually going to try and set up the gopro on time lapse for the work. See how it turns out.

The green is planned to be roughly 3.5m x 6.5m in a little elevated spot between my shed and an area off my patio. It'll have 3 holes + flags- two up the back and one central at the front-with fringe on 3 sides (4th side butts up against the top of the retaining wall). The intention is to have one half dead flat and the other half with a slight tilt so that I can practice straight putts at one hole, odd ones at the other and practice my 3ft circle drill at the front/central hole. There's also plenty of space to hit shots at it from roughly 180 degrees.
I went and looked at another green they installed in 2011 locally. This thing was beautiful, roughly 150m2 with mounded fringe surrounding the green. It rolled incredibly smooth, very consistent and the way it accepted pitches really made me feel comfortable with my decision. Will post a couple of pics of it below.

Very excited. Actually I'm bursting out of my skin to get this thing in and playable.

[BUSHY]

Here's one of the green I went and demoed. Very big and very nice. Subtle slopes, very true roll and pretty fast. It is very smooth all over too.

28539

Below is the area I'll use for my green.

28538

More to come.
*the stakes are marking the boundaries of the green. The ones in the middle are the approx location of the holes.

[Captain Nemo]

That's a nice setup.
Is your yard the last pic?
Chipping area?

[BUSHY]

Yeah mine is the bottom pic. I'm lucky because I've got a fair bit of room and could have put it anywhere however we decided to put it on the raised section because it'll create a usable space, allow me to pitch from most directions and I could potentially put a practice bunker in the front of it. But that's for another project.

The other one I went to see was awesome. Big, smooth, fast and looked amazing. Next time I have a spare 20k it might be on my list.

[SirTop]

Yeah mine is the bottom pic. I'm lucky because I've got a fair bit of room and could have put it anywhere however we decided to put it on the raised section because it'll create a usable space, allow me to pitch from most directions and I could potentially put a practice bunker in the front of it. But that's for another project.

The other one I went to see was awesome. Big, smooth, fast and looked amazing. Next time I have a spare 20k it might be on my list.

That's just awesome, well done!

Looking forward to seeing it develop. Am sure you mentioned it, but you have a chipping section to it?

[BUSHY]

The front edge closest to the camera will have a wider section of fringe so I can chip up the length of the green to two holes. Because of the greens location though, I can hit shots from all directions.

[SirTop]

Ok that's good. I love chipping, and chip around the back yard already. Having a green set up like yours I could also chip on would be the ducks nuts

Enjoy

[BUSHY]

False start. After 80mm+ last night and hasn't stopped since, work has been postponed until further notice. Fn rain!

[Looney]

What are the rough costs you are looking at Bushy if you don't mind me asking. I am thinking of get one installed but would be looking at about double the size you are getting

[BUSHY]

Mine will be under 3k. Depending on how far down the hill I extend the front fringe. I originally wanted something much bigger and more 'like a green' but after a bit of thought I weighed up the options and decided the size and location suits our needs.

[Looney]

Great thanks.

[Billch]

Looks like it should be a sweet setup

[BUSHY]

Just wish this rain would ease up so they can start. At this rate it might not kick off until week after next. Grrr

[TR66]

Actually your pretty lucky that you hadn't started Bushy, image if you had of started a fortnight ago and then the rain came pissing down and f**ked up your levels and the rest of it.
Looking to do the front of my house so will be interested in watching your project evolve. All the best.

[BUSHY]

Yeah, I know.

[oldracer]

send it all down here Bushy, we need all we can get

[BUSHY]

Well it has begun, got a text late yesterday saying they'd be at my place first thing this morning. They've made some solid progress and will be back first thing in the morning to finish it off. One thing surprised me was the actual size of the area. It appears much bigger now that the base is down compared to stakes and paint on the ground.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/14/typamy5u.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/14/y9e5etyg.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/14/8y2ysydu.jpg

[Captain Nemo]

Looking good so far....

[SirTop]

Awesome. That's a big back yard, obviously you don't live in Sydney!

[BUSHY]

That's only one corner. Behind where the dog is in the first photo the yard opens up again but even bigger. It's a prick to mow, but I'm on over 800m2.

[SirTop]

Nice, no wonder the wife doesn't mind it going in

[BUSHY]

Well as if last night the holes are in, the base is complete and the surrounding area has been reshaped. I pulled out the flags and put them in to see what it looked like. Photos to follow.

[BUSHY]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/16/y9a9aqyj.jpg

[BUSHY]

28787
28788

[Captain Nemo]

Bushy, hard to tell but did you get some contours put in?

[BUSHY]

The pin on the back right is going to be a flat/straight putt from the front so that I can practice my stroke without worrying about the line and speed. So the first metre in from the wall on the right is flat from front to back. There will be a small amount of right to left break from that point and slightly uphill to the back left pin. The front pin will be slightly downhill from the back with a left to right break, we are going to do all the subtle shaping today.

[BUSHY]

Turf is down and the flags are in. The green will be sanded, broomed and rolled tomorrow to ensure the glue is dried. I won't get to see it until Wednesday night. Really came up better than I expected. Can't wait to hit some balls on it.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/16/padyqa8u.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/16/y3ujany9.jpg

[Captain Nemo]

Well done mate, looks great!
You'll be very happy ypu stuck the extra bit in for chipping, trust me!

[BUSHY]

Yeah I was weighing up if it was a good idea, losing some green space in exchange for an area to chip from. In the end it was a good call.

[mrbluu]

Looks awesome mate. you can hit balls from the lower level too.

[IamViva]

that looks really good bushy, you will probably play host to the weekend bbq more often than not :D

[Captain Nemo]

Yeah I was weighing up if it was a good idea, losing some green space in exchange for an area to chip from. In the end it was a good call.
Trust me, you will NEVER regret it......

[Captain Nemo]

Looks awesome mate. you can hit balls from the lower level too.

Yeh didn't think of that, some nice little lobby's..

[BUSHY]

Yeah I can hit shots at it from the lower level which goes back maybe 30m total and also from the bottom of the slope in the front of the green. Looking back that way I've got some space where I can hit up to 18m pitches. This was part of the plan, he also left his off cuts which are fairly large. The big roll is green, the 1mx1m square is fringe which will be glued to a soft fall square I have and the long roll is fringe too.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/16/eqygesyq.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/16/emu8a6ab.jpg

[wazandnic]

That is awesome indeed! Nice one

[peter_rs]

Can I get a close photo of the edge

[BUSHY]

Can I get a close photo of the edge

As in the fringe grass?

[SirTop]

Yeh didn't think of that, some nice little lobby's..

Hey titleist, how's your putting been since you put your green in?

[PeteyD]

Can I get a close photo of the edge

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS4qdIj25dSp144P606AxGwHNUTLqSoB 3aU6m1kXq7Ai9sEUKpG_g

[Captain Nemo]

Hey titleist, how's your putting been since you put your green in?
Alot better....as is my short game.

[Lagerlover]

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS4qdIj25dSp144P606AxGwHNUTLqSoB 3aU6m1kXq7Ai9sEUKpG_g That is very clever.

[BUSHY]

:-D

[3oneday]

What's the guarantee on the grass and how hard wearing?

Purpose of the question being, if you erected a hitting net nearby to hit full shots into, would you wear the spot you hit from?

[Captain Nemo]

3, from his little chipping area you mean?
Id imagine from my chipping spot, which is fringe grass it wouldnt last forever hitting full blown shots, but im only hitting soft chip shots?
Ive since mad a portable board to stand and hit longer chips, but ive used the actual green turf and glued it too some rubber mat.
Ill post pics later, but works a treat.

[BUSHY]

Well the grass has an 8 year warranty on fading and defects, but being a green I definitely wouldn't be hitting shots from it. Like I mentioned before I have 5 soft fall rubber squares from a child care centre that measure 1m X 1m. I already have a rubber doormat that I've glued cheap synthetic turf from Bunnings on to give me a chipping/hitting mat. I've had that for 2+ years hitting irons into a net and chipping and it's starting to look a little worn but it's still fine..

I'll take some photos of the 2 mats when I get home Wednesday. The soft fall mats are from my wife's work when they replaced the soft fall area in the play ground with synthetic grass. I've been using them in the garage for my workout area to protect the floor from weights dropping. Didn't pay a cent for them.

[BUSHY]

3, from his little chipping area? Id imaging from my chipping spot, which is fringe grass it wouldnt last forevere, but im only hitting soft chip shots?

Yeah that's all I'm doing. The chipping area actually has rubber particles broomed in to protect the base in case of 'divots'. I suspect they might have had the issue previously from an over zealous owner. The fringe grass is actually pretty long. I'll take more photos of it when I get home.

[davepuppies]

That looks really good!

[TR66]

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS4qdIj25dSp144P606AxGwHNUTLqSoB 3aU6m1kXq7Ai9sEUKpG_g

Ha ha brilliant Petey.
This belongs in the 'Home of Threadjackers' Thread

[AndyP]

Bump!

30402

[BUSHY]

Well my green has been in for a while and it has been fantastic. The surrounding area has started to recover fully from the build. I've yet to put a light out there but the light from the carport gives enough light on half of the green. As I'm working away alot at the moment my daughter is getting the most useful out of it but we're using it all the time when I'm home.

I'll try take some photos tomorrow morning before work.

[Feelzy]

That's a great addition Bushy! Love the fact you can chip from anywhere you like.