DIY cheat "divot" mat

[AlexanderLaBrea]

Hi!

I recently built a "divot action" mat similar to ones I've seen both here and on YouTube. Turf, plexiglass/acrylic, yoga mat, high and low density foam. Unfortunately I had problems. The glue came unstuck from the turf and the foam, the plexiglass started warping weirdly + I got the dreaded green residue from the turf. I didn't want to spend much more money so I've made a new one, very simplistic but one that I'm very pleased with in terms of feel and I thought I'd share it with you in case there are cheapos out there like me

So basically I sent an e-mail to all golf clubs and driving ranges around my city (Stockholm) asking if they had any range mats for sale since most of them change them in the beginning of a new season. I got like 5 or 6 replies fairly quickly from clubs open to sell me one. Most of them were asking 30 dollars but I found one for 25. I vacuumed it thoroughly and cut out (actually sawed) a strip suitable for my needs. I won't be using this one as an insert, rather as a portable strip for practicing at home and when I'm at my family's summer house. I then attached self adhesive 17 mm x 17 mm squishy, memory foam type insulation strips from the hardware store to the back. I had these left from the first build and the whole 6 meter strip cost under 5 dollars.

I like that I can make use of the pre-existing cut outs for real tees and that it's heavy enough to stay in place when hitting yet not too heavy to easily carry. The squishy foam has just enough give for me and it's really easy on my joints. One other advantage of buying the whole 5 by 5 feet mat is that I can make a stance mat as well as cutting out new hitting strips if needed in the future. All for 30 dollars.

I'll attach some photos and video. Have a great day!

*EDIT* The Topic was supposed to say "cheap" but I guess "cheat" might have been more descriptive. Happy accident!

[Brettster]

AlexanderLaBrea - that's awesome, I wish you would have turned that mat over in the video so we could see how you attached the memory foam 'insulation strips'. I would also like to see a link to the 'insulation strips' you used - especially if they hold up. $30 is a bit absurd, but remember you're getting what you pay for - someone else hit off that mat for probably 1,000s of hits. I wouldn't want to start with that - as it will wear out very soon.

If 'cheap' is what you're after you've done it. I would lean a little more to the 'durability' side and the 'protection of my elbows and wrists' when building out a hitting strip like that. I'm also hoping to build one out like that, that has 3 turfs on it fairway, first cut and deep rough strips - as a way to make the Simulator golf a little more 'realistic' as I don't hit every shot from 'fairway lies', that's for sure.

[AlexanderLaBrea]

You're right, I should definitely have shown the back in the video. But there isn't much to it as the strips are fitted with double sided tape and can be cut to length with scissors basically so it was just removing the protective paper and pressing it on. The exact product is this: https://www.jula.se/catalog/bygg-och...gslist-540052/ , however they seem to be very similar to these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...f_=as_li_ss_tl

Yeah, I know, the downside is the wear. The strip I have in the video is from the "back" of the mat, furthest from the range, where very few balls were hit from. However, If that wears out I'll cut another strip from the front edge which had fairly little wear too, then maybe the side where left handers hit from. The right handed side was really worn out though. I'm gonna try it out for a while and see how much life I can get out of it for the buck

Sounds great man, I'd love to see your project if you manage to build a DIY "tri-turf mat"! If I were to build for realism based on my own usual lies I would probably just buy some potting soil and a plastic tree to simulate the woods...

[Brettster]

Thanks AlexanderLaBrea for the links. That's exactly what I needed. How many strips did you place on your hitting strip and would it be possible to take a picture of the underside? I could guess at 3 or 5, probably? How thick is your hitting mat that you made this out of and is it turf only, with no padding when you applied the insulation strips? Those little pieces can be had for all kinds of prices online (and all variety of quality, thickness, padded/not padded etc.

The key though for me is:

1.) cushion to my elbows/wrists so I do not injure myself - believe me you can do some pretty serious damage without even knowing it,

2.) realism - I would like it to feel like it does when play in real-life, and along with that comes

3.) launch monitor accuracy - when I hit it thin, does the ball behave the same way on the LM, and when I hit it fat, does it ding me by going 10-20-30 yards or more shorter coming off the hitting mat? finally

4.) durability of the mat - will it last long enough, at least 6 months-1 year, to make it cost affordable so I don't have to replace it all the time.

I see where you're going with using the least traffic area so you can get more hits... good idea. You'll probably want to replace it from time-to-time anyway, just to have a fresh hitting area.

Adding 'realism' is an obvious thing for my practice.... I don't hit the ball in the fairway every time, and I don't practice from fairway lies every single shot, even on the range with my own balls - I might head over to first cut, or rough to practice. Tri-turf mat is the simplest / easiest way to pull it off as you have the 3 types of grass thickness right there in a small/strip hitting area allowing you to fit it into your hitting area (that your LM requires), for example, my Garmin R10 allows for 2'x2' hitting area and I can easily fit in many types of turf, etc in that space... I may also add an upside down broom to simulate 'sand shots'.

Here's a decent Tri-Turf mat I've been looking at:

https://tinyurl.com/Tri-Turf-Master-TourGolf-Mat

Let us know how long your DIY hitting mat holds up...

[AlexanderLaBrea]

Sorry for the late reply Brettster . I tried to attach photos but I see now that I must have failed I'll try here, but there are three strips running along the underside, I had some short scraps left which I put on as extra support. The mat itself is 1", with the strips it's 1 3/4".

The cushioning is key for me as well. I'm prone to pain in those places, so this mat being quite soft feels good for me. However realism is hard. Like with most mats I've tried, especially the fat shots aren't really that punishing. A new golf store just opened up in my city and they had a hitting strip (turf only rather) with dense yet long "straws". They said it's meant to be extra realistic for those fat shots so I was kinda intrigued. I would like to have something the club can dig into. Not sure how that would translate to other types of shots though.

Nice mat there! Looks really good. Expensive to buy? Says "currently unavailable" for my.

[Brettster]

Hey AlexanderLaBrea

Thanks for the pics... looking good..

I wonder about what you say about this:

hitting strip (turf only rather) with dense yet long "straws". They said it's meant to be extra realistic for those fat shots so I was kinda intrigued.

That sounds a bit like a Fiberbuilt... is the mat still at the store, could you take a picture of it? That might give me a better idea.... I have about 10 kinds of mats/turfs around here, each one a little bit different than the other