Indoor putting practice can be an ideal way to shave strokes off your game. While it doesn’t exactly replicate the undulations and breaks we see on real greens, having a static environment to focus on the basics is indispensable. Along with perfecting your putting stroke, a quality putting mat is great for working on things like setup, aim, and alignment. There are many options out there, and while the basic premise is usually the same, quality can vary greatly. PrimePutt believes they have created the highest quality mat on the market. That’s a bold claim, so we wanted to check out what they had to offer.
PrimePutt’s goal was to produce the best on the market, and to do so they sought assistance from a range of specialists like turf experts, scientists, and PGA professionals. This resulted in a material that they call “tour grade” nylon turf that they believe mimics both the speed and “pure” roll you see on Tour quality greens. According to PrimePutt, their mats roll somewhere between 9 and 11 on the stimp meter.
In addition to their focus on creating the best surface to putt on, PrimePutt spent a considerable amount of time perfecting the putting cups that come on each mat. The cups are slightly recessed below the surface and have a bit of a lip that allows the ball to ride the edge and drop in like we see on real putting greens. In addition, the cup is slightly tilted towards the backstop, which means you can putt multiple balls to each cup without a ball blocking your way. We found that you could putt as many as four balls into each cup at a time, though three seemed a bit more realistic.
PrimePutt is available in four different sizes (see above). All but the Compact version are three feet wide and feature three cups. The difference between the larger three is length, with the XXL stretching out to an impressive 15 feet. There are markers along the edges in three feet intervals that give users the opportunity to focus on the distances that may be giving them the most trouble on the course. We tested the Standard version, which allows for a maximum putting distance of around 8 feet. You’ll also notice a wood block that sits at the end of PrimePutt mats. This backstop secures via plastic nubs and prevents balls from rolling off the mat. It also has a small channel that can hold golf balls when practice time is over.
Primeputt comes rolled up and somehow instantly lies flat on a variety of surfaces. We put it on top of a collection mat in front of our projector and it fit perfectly. While it wasn’t used for putting with our SkyTrak+ simulator, it made sense to keep everything in the same area. At 3’ x 9’, the PrimePutt Standard is quite large, giving plenty of space to putt. Still, 3 feet of width really only gives one option to putt on with both feet fully on the mat (the far right or far left cup, depending on your dexterity). When using the center cup we found about 1/3 of our feet hung off the side, which was a bit awkward. PrimePutt sells a small extender that can be placed on the side of the mat so you can avoid this issue.
It did seem like PrimePutt’s claim of Tour level green speeds was accurate. It certainly didn’t take much of a stroke to get the ball to the cups, much like a grass green at a higher stimp reading. We didn’t notice any “tunneling” like you sometimes see on carpet mats. This is when a groove is created in the fabric. However, even with its very high quality, we did notice a very slight tendency for the turf to grab the ball and impart slight changes in the ball’s direction at times. This wasn’t enough of an issue to concern us about PrimePutt’s effectiveness as a practice tool, but we did think it was worth a mention. True to the company’s claims, putts on the edge of the cup did behave the way we’d expect them to on a grass putting green. The right speed would cause the ball to topple into the hole, while a putt that was too fast would lip out. In all, PrimePutt delivered on their promises of a very high-quality practice surface that lays perfectly flat out of the box and mimics the speeds of a faster putting surface.
Premium materials do carry a premium price, but PrimePutt believes their product is worth the extra cost. The company notes, “We’re just coming out and saying it—we cost more because we’re worth more. Our price reflects our incomparable quality and performance compared to similar mats on the market.”
Details
- You can order or get more information at primeputt.com
- Compact – 9 x 1.5 ($369)
- Standard – 9 x 3 ($440)
- XL – 12 x 3 ($549)
- XXL – 15 x 3 ($619)
- Currently 10% off with code SUMMER10
The post PrimePutt Putting Mat Review appeared first on The Hackers Paradise.