Fairway mats

[pendodave]

Yeah, I'm at Mill Hill in NW London. Obviously, it was even worse the past winter due to the record levels of rain we had. But as you say, the "divots" in the winter aren't actually divots, but just big splashes of watery mud, so there's no way of putting it back to fix it.
Even though I know the outcome already, I think that I may bring it up and see if it could at least be considered.

Sadly, we've had an Autumn which has been at least as wet as last year. We are at the point where I don't think it can dry out enough between episodes of rain to be in any way playable before March. It would need at least 2-3 weeks of dry weather, which seems unlikely.
We played at Royston last Friday, which is the nearest properly dry course north of London with both cheap green fees and a measure of availability. It was quite bizarre to hear the sound of an iron 'thumping' decent turf. Crews Hill is normally a lot better than us, but not as good as Royston.

 

[Robster59]

i'd imag most places would have them on sale or to borrow and return if the are going onto mats

We tried that but it's amazing how many people saw "borrow" as take at the start of the requirements and then return at the end of it. Now you can "borrow" one but with a £10 deposit. If you don't give it back in a couple of weeks, it's all yours!
To be honest, compared to what people pay on golf equipment, I can't understand why people are reluctant to fork out a few quid for a mat of their own.

 

[TogoPresley]

In the main our course is based on chalk-based heathland so is very playable 12-months of the year, hopefully no mats for us. I think The Berkshire mandated them for both of their courses last year after losing the fairways in the summer burn off. I played on the first day of non-mandatory mats - fairly certain I would have mangled the mat a few times otherwise.

 

[patricks148]

We tried that but it's amazing how many people saw "borrow" as take at the start of the requirements and then return at the end of it. Now you can "borrow" one but with a £10 deposit. If you don't give it back in a couple of weeks, it's all yours!
To be honest, compared to what people pay on golf equipment, I can't understand why people are reluctant to fork out a few quid for a mat of their own.

We have bin by the 1st tee to take one and another by the 18th green to drop it off again, not sure what they will do this year, i suppose like you the deposit, but the reason we had they free was then there was no excuse not to use one

 

[Mandofred]

We tried the "borrow" method a couple of years ago.....most of them never come back so you can borrow one for £5? now....or just buy your own of course. We currently have small bags to carry a sand/grass seed mixture.....they encourage people to fill their divots with this. I think they bought a gazillion of them....they are down to about 15 now. When people wonder how the virus is spreading so fast......it's pretty obvious to me......people think it's everybody else's fault.

 

[Deleted member 29109]

I used to play on a course built on clay that didn't drain very well.

Matts were introduced and some of the members complained loudly. They were the same members that complained loudly about the state of the fairways. And everything else.

Some of these mambers took to cutting the matts down to inch squares or playing off the edge of them. So a local rule was introduced to specify the minimum size of a matt.

The matts made a huge difference to the condition of the course in spring.

Personally I much preferred hitting off the matt than soaking wet fairways, and it doesn't take mutch to adjust to it. Just grip down a few mm.

 

[Deleted member 25172]

I used to play on a course built on clay that didn't drain very well.

Matts were introduced and some of the members complained loudly. They were the same members that complained loudly about the state of the fairways. And everything else.

Some of these mambers took to cutting the matts down to inch squares or playing off the edge of them. So a local rule was introduced to specify the minimum size of a matt.

The matts made a huge difference to the condition of the course in spring.

Personally I much preferred hitting off the matt than soaking wet fairways, and it doesn't take mutch to adjust to it. Just grip down a few mm.

Such a strange coincidence, don't you think?

 

[Mandofred]

I've never understood why some people complain about the mats because they raise the ball a little bit and they just can't hit it worth beans. My first thought is then "how do you hit a ball that's on the grass 3/4" higher than your feet?"......you adjust for it. The ball is almost never perfectly level with your feet.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Having got a net and hitting of astroturf into it I can see the merits of the mats. My take, and it's purely a personal view having never having to paly a course with a mat, is that golf even in winter is about making good strikes to ensure the best contact and having to be inventive and on point with the short game if you miss a green. As a result hitting off a perfect lie would take a lot of the challenge of winter golf away. That said, as I've said before I get the fact why clubs introduce it and if it protects causes then fine. Just not for me