Fairway Mats

[jimjoachim]

Recently moved golf clubs and of course for the first time ever they have decided to start using fairway mats in the winter months.

There was a lot of moaning about it on Saturday in the club after. Personally I didn't find them too bad when playing full shots but did stuggle a little with them in and around the greens.

Does anyone else use them? Any tips for pitching and chipping off them?

 

[patricks148]

We went to them a couple of years ago for shots on the fairway,though we don't go on them till the end of this month. If anything chipping is easy, you always get a good lie and the ball aways had plenty of spin, so you can go straight at the flag.

best way to get used to them is practice chipping from them as much as you can, until you get used to it.

 

[jimjoachim]

We went to them a couple of years ago for shots on the fairway,though we don't go on them till the end of this month. If anything chipping is easy, you always get a good lie and the ball aways had plenty of spin, so you can go straight at the flag.

best way to get used to them is practice chipping from them as much as you can, until you get used to it.

Are these the ones you would use?
https://www.fairwayproductsonline.co.uk/docs/winter_golf_mat_leaflet.pdf

I couldn't decide which side was better for chipping. with the grassy side it felt like I didn't have any feel. with the other side you needed perfect contact

 

[Orikoru]

Fairway mats?? Literally never heard of that. That sounds awful. Might as well go to the driving range and save yourself some money if you're hitting everything off a mat anyway.

 

[patricks148]

Are these the ones you would use?
https://www.fairwayproductsonline.co.uk/docs/winter_golf_mat_leaflet.pdf

I couldn't decide which side was better for chipping. with the grassy side it felt like I didn't have any feel. with the other side you needed perfect contact

No We use these. we are given them by the club and you either keep your own one or stick it back in the bin next to the locker room door after your round.


Nairn Dunbar use the same as yours and all the guys i know use the smooth side to hit off.

tried one of those but preferred ours

 

[Robster59]

Fairway mats?? Literally never heard of that. That sounds awful. Might as well go to the driving range and save yourself some money if you're hitting everything off a mat anyway.

Not at all. You're still playing a round of golf with your friends. It's just winter protection rules. Our club has them as mandatory from last week or you can hit from the first cut of rough. I don't mind them as I know it's for the good of the course.
I use a Divot End Smart Mat (aka Rocket Launcher) fairway mat which I prefer over the two previously mentioned above.
Divot End Fairway Mat

 

[shortgame]

Fairway mats?? Literally never heard of that. That sounds awful. Might as well go to the driving range and save yourself some money if you're hitting everything off a mat anyway.

Depends if you like your fairways to be clear of divots come Spring, lots of courses insist on it (Including I believe St.Andrews)

 

[PCWOX]

Fairway mats are very common in Scotland, but less so South of the border.

 

[Hobbit]

Hate them with a passion!

Courses have lasted without them, in some cases for over 100 years, including through the boom time of the sport in the 80's and 90's. I appreciate they do provide an element of protection but are they really necessary when fairways take just a few weeks in the spring to recover following divoting work?

But 5 months worth of mats - no, I just don't agree.

 

[IanG]

Yep, mandatory for us between Christmas and end of Feb. When I joined I found it a bit odd, but quickly got used to it. Hardest part is coming off the mats in March and having to make a clean strike again!

If your course gets a lot of play in the winter it is well worth the small inconvenience.

I fancy trying one of the divot end type mentioned above - being able to slip it in your back pocket seems very handy.

 

[IanG]

But 5 months worth of mats - no, I just don't agree.

Agreed, if my place was mats for 5 months I'd have a different view.

 

[Dan2501]

We switched to them last week. Doesn't bother me at all, don't find it any more difficult to hit off a mat than playing off the fairway.

 

[jimjoachim]

Not at all. You're still playing a round of golf with your friends. It's just winter protection rules. Our club has them as mandatory from last week or you can hit from the first cut of rough. I don't mind them as I know it's for the good of the course.
I use a Divot End Smart Mat (aka Rocket Launcher) fairway mat which I prefer over the two previously mentioned above.
Divot End Fairway Mat

Hmm, this looks interesting. I assume we are just allowed to use whatever one we want although im not sure.
Our place have us using them fairways and rough. Reckon this would sit okay in the rough?

 

[patricks148]

Yep, mandatory for us between Christmas and end of Feb. When I joined I found it a bit odd, but quickly got used to it. Hardest part is coming off the mats in March and having to make a clean strike again!

If your course gets a lot of play in the winter it is well worth the small inconvenience.

I fancy trying one of the divot end type mentioned above - being able to slip it in your back pocket seems very handy.

Same here, we are on them a bit longer than you but then again we are much further north.

The club were finding with the milder winters of the last few years far more were playing and the fairways were getting destroyed with little or no growth for 3 or 4 months and the course was not recovering until may or june sometimes. the drop to the side raised the same issues, the first cut was destroyed when we were doing that so made sense.

agree with the getting used to hitting off grass again once you go back on, it can take a few games .

 

[Orikoru]

Not at all. You're still playing a round of golf with your friends. It's just winter protection rules. Our club has them as mandatory from last week or you can hit from the first cut of rough. I don't mind them as I know it's for the good of the course.
I use a Divot End Smart Mat (aka Rocket Launcher) fairway mat which I prefer over the two previously mentioned above.
Divot End Fairway Mat

Hang on - so the club provides you with mats right? Surely you don't have to buy them yourself?

 

[jimjoachim]

Hang on - so the club provides you with mats right? Surely you don't have to buy them yourself?

Nope, we had to pay £4.50 for the privilege. Visitors have to pay £5 refundable deposit.
I'm trying to find out if we have to use their mat or whether we can use a different one.

It is not ideal but tend to agree about protecting the course. Do feel it should be needs must rather than standard for winter months.

 

[Robster59]

Hang on - so the club provides you with mats right? Surely you don't have to buy them yourself?

Yes, they do but as I said, I prefer the other type which is why I bought it. £10 for mine (including the tees) which is the same price as a sleeve of balls. A small price in my eyes.
And as was said above, the winters are much milder and courses don't shut down as much due to frost and snow as they used to. But it's still cold out there so the grass doesn't grow hence course protection.

 

[IanM]

Yes, it's a north / south thing.... never seen it anywhere I've played. Understand why it might be necessary in some places. Grass still growing down here

 

[CliveW]

Yes, golf is a very North/South thing. Up here at Blairgowrie, we use fairway mats from November through to March which is very common even on links courses. I played at St. Andrews on Saturday and it was mats from the fairways but I'm at Elie tomorrow and there are no mats. Other courses will not use mats until January, it is all dependent on the type of soil and the greenkkeeper.

One thing we don't have here, which appears to be common down south, is hedgehog wheels. I'd never heard of them until I read about them here. I actually saw some not that long ago and I would have thought they would do more harm than good, but that is another debate.

 

[2blue]

Has taken a couple or more years or so but I’ve eventually got our Vlub to accept the idea of Optional Mats... the owners of the course don’t want to be thought of as a ‘Mats Club’ & as we’re open through all types of weather get lots of visitors from the adjoining Private Clubs when they are shut.
Optional won’t fully protect the course but it will help & hopefully send a strong message to members who couldn’t give a toss about care-of-the-course. We’ll see. Divot end are the preferred mat choice at our neighbours, Sandmoor.