Hi, I’m David!
I’m a dad and a certified golf nut. With a life that is getting busier by the second, I needed to find a way to practice the most important part of any golf game...putting.
Best Golf Putting Mat for your Home:
Keep your short game sharp!
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There are a ton of places to buy practice putting greens out there with almost unlimited variety in price, size, shape, and material. With not a lot of information about which one is "best", it's easy to spend a lot of money on something that is poorly designed, over-priced, or both!
I checked out the top at-home putting green sellers to find the best one and here's what I discovered:
The results
What I love:
Rolls true and at a great speed
I love having the smaller, high-accuracy holes
Flag and pin are a great touch
Laid perfectly flat immediately out of the box
Great construction, seems very durable
Stores away super easily
What could be better:
Backstop could be slightly sturdier
The results
What I love:
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What could be better:
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Taking testing seriously
Tough day at the (home) office
Some may think that practice putting greens are a "dime a dozen" but as an avid golfer, and someone planning on spending money to improve their game, I knew that I needed to truly test each brand. How can I test each brand independently without any sort of bias?
I was able to secure greens from the brands reviewed below and put them all through a series of tests for performance, durability and design. Needless to say, there was one clear winner that rolled the truest, was well-made and designed perfectly for those with 300 hundred or 3 thousand square feet of space.
Testing strategy: Unbox, Assemble, Roll 10 putts on each mat
These are the factors that mattered to me for putting greens.
- Absorbency
- Elemental Chlorine-free
- Dye-free (inside)
- Fragrance-free
- Latex-free
- Lotion-free
- Responsibly sourced material
- Manufactured with renewable energy
- Certifications
- Wetness indicator
First and foremost, these putting greens needed to be generally available and easy to buy. It didn't make sense to test something that requires an estimate and professional install. Second, they have to work well. They should roll true, be easy to open up and lay flat and look and feel "good". Third, they have to be reasonably priced. There is definitely a trade-off between quality and price, and none of these are the cheapest options out there, but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for something that would work just as well as a cheaper alternative.
I live in a house that has some room, but not tons to spare. Therefore, I looked at all reviews from the eyes of someone with a lot of space as well as those living with little to no available room.
Material choice matters
One other thing to consider: putting green style and shape. There are two primary types of putting green styles available on the market: the runway and the floating island. The floating island often has an undefined shape to it with more than one golf hole to put to, it's an attempt to replicate the actual practice putting green at your local course. The runway is a straight-away putt, often with the hole placed on an inclined ramp at one end. While the runway doesn't mimic your local course, it does save space and adds the convenience of the ball returning to you.
Style comparison: floating green (L) vs runway (R)
In these reviews, I looked at both putting green styles and evaluate them against each other equally. there are certain conditions that favor one style over the other, but for my purposes I was purely looking for the best quality, best performing putting green to practice with at home.
The top home putting green: Big Moss
What I love:
Rolls true and at a great speed
I love having the smaller, high-accuracy holes
Flag and pin are a great touch
Laid perfectly flat immediately out of the box
Great construction, seems very durable
Stores away super easily
Made in the USA
What could be better:
Backstop could be slightly sturdier
Winner: Big Moss
Big Moss has been around for a while. Their products were installed at Titleist's headquarters and they are the official putting mat of PGA's National Teach of the Year and Golf Channel host, Michael Breed. The mat includes awesome break pads that allow me to practice putts over different terrain variations. It also includes an easily-installed wrap-around backstop and a pin and flag for the main hole.
Packaging
Big Moss's packaging was straightforward. It arrived in a plain cardboard box, and it easily unrolled and laid flat right out of the box. Installing the backstop and the foam ramp was super fast and I was putting in less than 10 minutes.
Quality
The Big Moss product is Awesome. Their mat is made with a wrinkle-free rubber-backed surface that is heavy enough that it lays completely flat right out of the box, even over carpet! You won't find any bubbles, humps, or creases in it. Another great thing about the Big Moss is the two smaller holes that are included to practice high-accuracy putts: one 3-inch hole and one 2-inch hole.
Price
Worth every penny! Seriously. This cost a bit more than the others but it is awesome and will last me years.
Big Moss: Multiple hole sizes to putt towards and a great material make putting on this super fun and great for your game.
What I love:
Sleek, compact design
Feels pretty realistic for a carpet materials
Two hole sizes make you a better putter
Made in the USA
What could be better:
Expensive for the quality
Didn't lay flat out of the box
Ball return easily comes apart - only held by magnets
Runner Up: Practice Perfect
Perfect Practice is sort of a newcomer to the golf home practice market but can now be seen working with some of the biggest (and best) names in golf. Case in point, they are the official putting mat of PGA Champion, Dustin Johnson. In addition to DJ, they are also working with Dicks Sporting Goods (and their subsidiary Golf Galaxy), Golftec, PGA Superstore, and TGW to name a few. These putting mats are easy to find. I picked mine up at the local Golf Galaxy, but they can be found on Amazon, as well as other large retailers.
Packaging
The first thing you notice is Dustin Johnson's endorsement front and center on the packaging. The other interesting thing about the packaging was how compact it was, which created two thoughts in my head: 1. This is either amazingly portable (read: hotel room putting!) or 2. going to be a crumpled mess. I wish I could say it was #1, but it ended up being a tightly coiled mat, which never really laid flat for me, even after a week+ of weighing it down.
Quality
As far as the quality goes, Perfect Practice rolls well and the wooden casing is nice, but I just couldn't get over how much the mat curled and wouldn't lay flat. The entire unit rolls up into a compact, easily-storable box but I'm afraid it will just prolong the curling problem. I do like the fact that there are two holes to putt towards: a standard diameter golf hole and a smaller hole, demanding an even more precise level of practice.
Price
Not the cheapest option, and I would gladly spend a bit more for a better quality mat. See: Big Moss
Perfect Practice: looks good and performs great. I weighed it down to start, but didn't need to weigh it down after the first day.
What I love:
Putting mat grips the floor well, helping lay flat
Assembly was easy
Ball return works well
What could be better:
Not very realistic feeling
Plastic putting ramp feels and looks cheap
Can't store away nicely
Maxfli
Maxfli has a long history in the game of golf, once being a premier brand at the professional level. However, it seems like their product quality has suffered as much as their brand name. The Maxfli putting mat ranked last in the runway category, especially compared to the other incline models: Perfect Practice and Sklz.
Packaging
The box and imaging for the Maxfli putting mat is minimalistic. There are no fancy graphics or endorsements. When you open the box, you notice the putting ramp is a thin plastic material and everything is rolled up tightly inside the box. Everything comes across as utilitarian - will it win design awards? No. Will it work? Yes.
Maxfli: (Top) product quality appears much cheaper at unboxing; (Bottom) mat laid flat almost immediately
Quality
Laying the mat out, the "cheap plastic" thoughts are confirmed. There is a black, plastic ball return ramp that needs to be assembled. While the black plastic material is on par with the Sklz mat, the ramp assembly is easier on the Maxfli version. The mat lays fairly flat out of the box. Overall, the material feels "just OK", there are minimal alignment graphics, and the ball return works just fine.
Price
This is a cheaper option than the Perfect Practice putting mat. But you get what you pay for.
What I love:
Realistic feeling material
Affordable
The best storability
It looks "official"
What could be better:
No putting hole included - Seems like they were leading me to buy more stuff
Doesn't lie flat after unboxing
With no hole or backstop, long putts roll off the back
PuttOut
PuttOut is reviewed as one of the best non-incline putting mats. It is designed like the other runway-style putting mats, but it does not have a hole positioning up an incline. In fact, there is not hole at all on the PuttOut mat. It's more like a putting carpet with various markings.
Packaging
The packaging for this mat is awesome. It almost looks like a sleeping bag or one of those expandable lawn chairs you take to your child's sporting events. Super portable. Super easy to stow away. If you are a traveler and want to work on your putting on the road, this is the mat for you.
PuttOut: (L) packaging was compact, convenient and well-designed; (R) looks official but seems more like an area rug than a practice mat to me
Quality
The quality of the mat is actually quite good. I will admit, given it doesn't have a hole or ramp, it's almost a glorified area rug, but it's well made and has useful alignment markings on it. Not having a hole to putt towards was kind of annoying to me. My long putts rolled right off the back (careful around the steps!) and you couldn't gauge whether your pace was too strong or just right. The quality of the putting surface is great; however, the fact that I need to buy another product to serve as the putting hole - such as their Pressure Putt Trainer- has this ranking lower than others.
Price
This one won't break the bank, so if you're looking for something that stores away or travels nicely, this is a great option for you.
What I love:
Putt from three different distances
Alignment marks help with accuracy
Has a ball return
What could be better:
Can't store it away nicely
After unboxing, mat wouldn't lie flat at all
Materials feel and look cheap
The putting runway is narrow and doesn't look great
Sklz
Sklz is another runway style with the hole positioned on an incline at the end to promote a confident putting stroke through the ball. Sklz is a reputable sporting goods brand with other top-selling products across many other sports, including basketball, baseball and softball, soccer, football, and hockey. Sklz products are widely available at most big-box sporting stores, including Dick's Sporting Goods, and on Amazon.
Packaging
You can immediately tell that the packaging isn't nearly as high quality or well designed compared to Perfect Practice. The box is larger than the other brands, the imaging is lackluster and there is not much detail as to what's included inside.
Quality
It's hard to judge other runway + incline putting mats after using the Perfect Practice. The plastic backdrop and ball return lacks in quality to Perfect Practice's wood construction. And the putting mat material seems a little less "premier". However, I have no doubt that the Sklz mat will get the job done and help you improve your putting.
Price
The Sklz mat is significantly cheaper than the Perfect Practice mat, and it shows in the quality. However, as mentioned before, for it's price point, it is certainly a good buy.
Sklz: (L) Unboxing was almost identical to Maxfli; however, (R) the mat material was the thinnest and wouldn't hold shape at all
Why I Chose the Big Moss putting mat
Yes, Big Moss's product was the most expensive. But it's cheap for golf (sigh) and it will last me forever. It had, by far, the highest quality and nicest design. The putting surface mimicked real green surfaces. The mat's weight kept it flat and wave-free the entire time. The addition of the small putting holes for increased accuracy is awesome.
You can't go wrong with the Big Moss putting mat. Whether you're treating yourself or giving a gift, if it's good enough for Dustin Johnson, it's good enough for me!
- Absorbency
- Elemental Chlorine-free
- Dye-free (inside)
- Fragrance-free
- Latex-free
- Lotion-free
- Responsibly sourced material
- Manufactured with renewable energy
- Certifications
- Wetness indicator
Thanks for reading!
I’m a dad and a certified golf nut. With a life that is getting busier by the second, I needed to find a way to practice the most important part of any golf game...putting.