When new golf course construction was in overdrive in the late 1990s, it was common for a facility to add a putting course to their list of amenities. However, over the past two decades, many of those putting courses were underutilized and subsequently abandoned. I thought we had seen the end of the putting course era…until this year.
I have been to six different courses in the last three months that either have a thriving putting course or are planning to add one to their list of golf options. Every time I see one, I ask the same question: “How much does it actually get used?” To my surprise, the answer is a lot.
So, what makes a putting course work at some facilities, but not others? Here is what I found out:
Putting courses can be an especially good fit at resort facilities, where golfers often have extra time available during their visit.
For golfers that can’t or don’t want to play more than 18 regulation holes in a day but would still like to play more than one 18-hole round, putting courses offer a great option.
Proximity to a food and beverage outlet allows putting course users to easily enjoy drinks while playing.
Maintenance on putting courses can be challenging. Designs that feature narrow putting corridors with different types of turf make watering and mowing difficult. Traffic patterns are also an issue when there is a defined trail that everyone uses.
One unique method of caring for a putting course in Idaho is worth sharing. The 55,000 square foot putting course is a mixture of creeping bentgrass and Poa annua. Each year, the superintendent mows a new routing down to putting green height. The rest is allowed to grow as “rough.” The rough is cut anywhere from 0.200-0.300 inch.
By mowing the course in this way, the golf trail can be reimagined every season, or during the season, by simply changing mowing patterns. Traffic can also be moved to different parts of the course every year. Utilizing the same grasses at relatively similar mowing heights throughout the putting course also means that maintenance practices like irrigation, fertilizer, chemical applications, aeration and topdressing can be applied uniformly over the entire area.
Most of the putting courses I have encountered this year charge a small fee to play. Course operators report that having this option is a great opportunity for kids and nongolfers to engage with the game, and it provides a great way for all golfers to play as much, or as little, as they want in a given day. Long live the putting course.
West Region Agronomists:
Brian Whitlark, senior consulting agronomist – bwhitlark@usga.org
Cory Isom, agronomist – cisom@usga.org