Orikoru
Tour Winner
That looks ridiculous @patricks148 - you're effectively teeing the ball up every time!
Fairway mats
- Thread starter rudebhoy
- Start date
rudebhoy
Q-School Graduate
On the website, they have long pile and short pile. I take it long pile = short grass and short pile = very short grass?
not on the smooth side, but of the spike side you can put your ball on the edge for a wood and it is a bit like teeing it up, one guy i know uses his driver
Orikoru
Tour Winner
I'm not surprised!not on the smooth side, but of the spike side you can put your ball on the edge for a wood and it is a bit like teeing it up, one guy i know uses his driver
The smooth side doesn't look like you're supposed to hit off it to be honest, it's just rubber isn't it? I suppose whatever works for you. I'd be using the tee-it-up side every time except for wedges I reckon.
KenL
Tour Rookie
not on the smooth side, but of the spike side you can put your ball on the edge for a wood and it is a bit like teeing it up, one guy i know uses his driver
We had "mat gate" in our winter group for that very reason.?
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No you can hit of either the smooth side has 2 holes to sit the ball in so def not tee'd up, stops the ball rolling off if you dont have a flat lie on the fairway, you still have to play it as it lies in the rough thoughI'm not surprised!
The smooth side doesn't look like you're supposed to hit off it to be honest, it's just rubber isn't it? I suppose whatever works for you. I'd be using the tee-it-up side every time except for wedges I reckon.
IanM
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No you can hit of either the smooth side has 2 holes to sit the ball in so def not tee'd up, stops the ball rolling off if you dont have a flat lie on the fairway, you still have to play it as it lies in the rough though
We use the same mats, like you I use the smooth side for irons and if wanting to hit a very spinny chip use the spikey side.
Got to hit it properly off the smooth side as like you say it is not sitting up.
Mandofred
Well-known member
I use that double sided mat....I go back and forth on which side I like better. Chipping I always use the smooth side. The spikey side is in reality kind of level....at least unless you put it on the edge. When I first started using them I was putting the ball on the end of the mat and almost literally teeing it up....I was informed that was a no-no.
upsidedown
Tour Winner
Same hereNo you can hit of either the smooth side has 2 holes to sit the ball in so def not tee'd up, stops the ball rolling off if you dont have a flat lie on the fairway, you still have to play it as it lies in the rough though
one of the guys in our group was using a 3 mat system last winter
would use the free carpet ones for short chips and anything he really wanted to spin, the double sides on in my pic for short shots and mid iron, a rocket launcher for long irons then the spiky side of the double sided for woods
.. he is mind numbingly slow anyway, so just brings a new level of it so now not only is he between clubs he is sometimes now between mats
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Golfnut1957
Newbie
The short grass is tight links turf which is the one I have. Difficult to comment on the longer one as I haven't seen it but I understand that it is not really long, not semi rough, just long enough to help the ball stop rolling on a slope.
TBH Fair most places up here are not playing Q comps in the winter, so it doesn't really matter, but with WHS coming in a few have said they are running their winter leagues as Qual comps, it could be an issue, esp some guys manage to hit driver if the mat is set in a certain way.
Mandofred
Well-known member
Not sure why that would be "fair". Serious. If everybody has a mat, and they can use them in the same manner.....isn't that fair? Everybody has the same playing conditions. They aren't the same playing conditions as during the summer.....but still the same playing conditions. Now....as has just been stated above....if they tighten up the rules on HOW you use the mat. But that I have seen, there are a number of different mats, each having a little bit different advantage/disadvantage. At times during the winter, people I'm playing with (and even at times the old roll-ups) we have just said "what the heck, use mats everywhere (not in bunker). I don't mind.....the conditions are the same for everybody.....and sometimes the mud off the fairways is just ridiculously horrible.
Mandofred
Well-known member
We aren't on mats....I can hit driver off the fairway now. When I'm having a crap round, occasionally I give it a shot (usually fail, but occasionally ok). I get where you are coming from, but pretty well all mats allow you to take that shot with the driver better than off the grass. But, it's the same for everybody. I don't get why people are so stuck on playing golf in exactly the same way all through the winter. Does it matter if someone wants to hit driver off their mat? I can do it if I want to as well. That is fair.....the same for everybody. What isn't fair is if you are playing in conditions that are not that same for everybody...then somebody has an unfair advantage. I have suggested a few times in the old roll-ups to do something different.....how about playing off the reds today? (mouths hanging open in horror usually). Why don't we let everybody today move their ball up to 5 feet three times? (but...but....those aren't the rules!!). They ARE the rules if everybody agrees to them. We play a 3 clubs and a putter comp....that's not in the rules. Have some fun.....the conditions are going to be yucky for at least the next 4+ months...... Mats are not the doom of the universe.
Jimaroid
Journeyman Pro
We'll be on mats from early November, never had any issue with them myself and I find some enjoyment in using them the few times I find the fairway... We do have a few arrangements in place as well as some local rules to ensure some equity because local clubs do hold winter qualifying competitions. The significant ones are that only mats supplied by the Links are to be used, balls may not be teed, and the ball must be placed along the central line of the mat and not at any edge in an attempt to tee up the ball.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
If I was forced to play off mats at my course I'd do it any way that makes it more fun to be honest. If you can fluff it up enough to hit driver that's just a silver lining of a poor situation.
Mandofred
Well-known member
Nah.....just keep pounding away. Golfers just don't like to do anything different (rather broad brushstroke there....
).
harpo_72
Journeyman Pro
We are going to mats soon, I have found it makes winter golf more enjoyable. The reason it’s done is because the fairways are sill trying to recover. I think they got cut too tight, and a dry stint really was bad.
If you think playing off a mat is a cheat or benefit.. try playing off the grass they use in Asia, Spain .. it’s like a vine and it sits the ball up beautifully, every shot is easy as. Then in America never played off a bad fairway , easy as well .. come to the U.K. and our fairways are at club level just not good enough.
If you think playing off a mat is a cheat or benefit.. try playing off the grass they use in Asia, Spain .. it’s like a vine and it sits the ball up beautifully, every shot is easy as. Then in America never played off a bad fairway , easy as well .. come to the U.K. and our fairways are at club level just not good enough.
rulefan
Tour Winner
Different grass species, more weather, less money.
