If you are a golf enthusiast considering purchasing a professional synthetic putting green, you need to ask yourself several important questions.

• Do you want to purchase direct from the manufacturer?
• Do you want the highest quality product in the industry at half the price of others?
• Do you want a product that provides the look, true ball roll, and holding ability of a natural grass putting green without the maintenance?
• Do you want an effective golf training aid that will help you develop solid putting and chipping techniques, read the green and alignment skills, and build confidence in your short game?
• Do you want 24/7 technical support?
• Do you want to purchase from the manufacturer that supplies 90% of the companies on the Internet with putting greens?
• Do you want to work with a company that not only manufactures but has been constantly driven to improve and update the product and installation procedure?
• Do you want a systematic, simple and easy step-by-step approach to installing putting greens that produces a desired result — every single time?
• Do you want an installation procedure that requires materials that you have local access to?
• Do you want a 24/7 putting and chipping practice facility with a product that easily enhances and complements your existing landscape and increases the value of your property?
• Do you want to be the envy of your neighbors and your golf buddies?

If you have answered “yes” to many of these questions then you are the person that is seriously considering having a backyard paradise with a professional synthetic putting green.

Thousands of golf enthusiasts across the country have improved their short game and lowered their handicap by installing a putting green in their backyard. Many companies have a mission statement ... few have a mission. This magazine and our company seeks to inform and educate you about professional synthetic putting greens before you make a purchase decision. Compare our informative material, our product, our price, our customer service. Compare any aspect of our company and you will know for yourself, you will know for a FACT, we are the industry leader with a far superior product like none other.

As a golf enthusiast there are several options to consider when researching the synthetic putting green industry. While there is quite a lot of information written about the subject it can be confusing and misleading. Our competitors have created information about synthetic putting greens that is either inaccurate, half-truths, or completely false. All Pro Greens is committed to providing you with accurate and factual information before you make a purchase decision. We will arm you with the facts - no misleading, false, or out-dated information.

In this article we will present several options you may be faced with while considering adding a putting green to your backyard. Plus we’ll show you how All Pro Greens provides you with advantages over other products in the industry.

You can purchase materials from a middleman or buy directly from the manufacturer.

Many turf companies have claimed to be the manufacturers of the product. But most of the time that’s not the case. They purchase from a manufacturer and re-sell the materials to you, usually with a hefty mark-up. You end up buying a more expensive turf.

One problem with working with a middleman is you never know what kind of condition the materials will be in when they are sent to you. A middleman generally never sees or inspects the product for quality because they are in one location and the manufacturer is in another. As a result, it becomes a common practice for these middlemen to send what is called a factory “second.” A product may be classified as a second if there is a color difference in the yarn used, is fewer number of ounces per square yard (reduced to save money), a flaw or streak in the size of the material, or the backing material is defective. This puts you in an awful position. You will be buying an inferior product that will not preform like a synthetic green should.

Other companies that claim to be manufacturers can actually be manufacturers of synthetic turf. But what kinds of synthetic turf do they manufacture? Most of these manufacturers make synthetic turf for soccer fields, football fields, tennis courts, baseball fields or a variety of turf for other applications. Generally, they try to adapt these types of turf for putting. They try to accommodate all sporting industries and don’t specialize in golf. Again, leaving you in the middle when you’re unhappy with the product.

Another type of approach that companies may try, is to sell many types and styles of putting greens. They, too, are NOT manufacturing synthetic turf. These companies think by offering various qualities and prices of putting green turf they are giving you choices. But in reality it’s only helping to confuse you. They’re really trying to get your money any way they can. Their strategy is if you have a little money, you can afford a low quality product and if you have more money then you can afford a higher quality product.

• All Pro IS the manufacturer of synthetic golf greens. You will only be dealing with us and we guarantee that you will never receive a factory second.
• All Pro specializes in only golf greens. We are constantly testing, installing and improving our product and leading the industry.
• All Pro stands behind our products AND we guarantee it 100%. We are the only manufacturer and the only company in the industry to provide a 1 year money-back guarantee on our product. We also provide a 10 year workmanship and 5 year no-fade warranties.

You can use filled or non-filled greens.

While doing research in this industry you will come across several different types of putting green material. Depending on the material, it may be required to be sand filled or not. By examining the basic types of turf and the filling process you can understand how the turf will react when putting or chipping.

Filling the putting green fibers is the mark of a professional synthetic golf green. The turf necessary for filling is primarily manufactured using a fiber called polypropylene. The polypropylene fibers are ideal for all climates and designed to be filled. Having the right turf is just the beginning of a good golf green — the materials you chose to fill the green make all the difference. Other companies may use polypropylene turf, but they usually fill it with sand — which is not ideal for putting surfaces.

Infilling a green is the process of sweeping materials like sand into the fibers of the turf. The fill material causes the fibers to stand up vertically allowing the ball to travel on only the tips of the fiber. This process plays a couple important roles. How much fill material you use will control the speed of the putting green. The more material you use the faster the ball roll. The less material the slower the ball roll. The fill material cushions the ball when chipping to the green and gives the green a more realistic feel. Understanding this concept will help you in your installations, however, you also need to understand the characteristics of the material you use to fill the greens.

Most companies use silica sand or sand blasting sand. The disadvantage to this type of sand is that it absorbs water and starts to compact. Over time, the sand hardens and does not provide the realistic cushion it did when originally installed. Most companies we know use silica sand in whole or in part in their putting green installations. However, silica sand is used primarily in sand blasting applications and is known to be hazardous. Silica sand has been known to cause “Silicosis” which is a degenerative disease of the lungs.

Other companies use use a special blend of silica sand and a “unique” top dressing or infill product like crushed rubber. And that unique dressing or infill product is only sold by one company. What company you ask? Why, theirs, of course. As you may suspect, the people making this claim are hoping customers will continue to come back to them to purchase the “unique” top dressing or infill product. And once again, you must purchase the product from the company that sold you the green and pay its inflated price.

Non filled putting greens obviously do not require infill. Typically this type of putting green is made from nylon. Nylon is a great product for football fields but not for putting greens. There are several disadvantages to this type of synthetic turf. Because it is not filled with sand, the fibers will start to “mat down” over time. This causes the ball to roll very fast. What can you do to fix that? Nothing.
Many companies selling nylon greens claim the fiber has “memory” and will not mat down but this is simply not true. It just makes common sense, if there is nothing to hold the fibers up, then they will mat down over time. Also, read the “fine print” of these other companies warranties about nylon greens — “Normal matting is expressly excluded from the warranty”. Once the fibers mat down there is nothing you can do to bring them back up, making the ball roll very fast.

Some companies have tried adding sand to the nylon greens but the fiber was not designed to accept sand thus causes additional problems. We have even had installers of these companies selling the nylon greens that have ordered our polypropylene greens because their customers were not at all pleased with the performance of the nylon product.

Also, with nylon non-filled turf you can not control the ball speed or cushion of the green. The inconsistency of the surface is due, in part, to the texture of the fiber itself. During the manufacturing process the nylon turf will produce ridges on the surface of the product and cause the ball to bounce or hop.

What happens when the you want your green slower or faster? We know each golfer likes his or her green speed a certain way. We accommodate your requests by only offering polypropylene infilled greens. This puts you in control of the speed of your green.

Nylon is typically a stiffer, more rigid fiber. This creates problems when chipping to the green. The ball has a tendency to bounce and not hold the green well. If a rubber backing is used then the problem of ball bounce is compounded.

Also, the nylon fiber is a darker fiber. This darker color gives the surface an unnatural dark green or blue-green look. Don’t take our word for it. Go on the Internet and look at the “photo galleries” of companies selling nylon greens. Notice photos of greens that are abnormally dark or actually look blue-green. You want the green looking as natural as possible to accentuate, enhance, and blend into the surrounding landscape of your yard — not stick out like a (blue) sore thumb!

Lastly, nylon putting greens are much more expensive than polypropylene greens. This will require you to pay more and profit less. All of these problems combined will handicap your short game.

We have spent many years of research, have talked with many contractors in the field and have determined that the technology for a nylon putting green has yet to produce a putting surface that will provide a true ball roll and holding characteristics of a real golf green. All Pro Greens produces polypropylene synthetic turf and provides you with the knowledge to use your own local resources to fill the greens properly. Our turf will remain vertical and will not mat down over time. By using an easy-to-find local product called Black Beauty coal slag, we are able to keep our greens from compacting or hardening. The coal slag infill surrounds each fiber like the natural ground holds a blade of grass. The infill provides a non-compacting, flexible, natural putting green feel.

• All Pro’s infill process creates an ideal putting surface. The combination of the turf and the coal slag infill provide an effective practice area with a natural green look. The black color of the coal slag enhances the green making it appear rich and natural in color. As opposed to silica sand, the coal slag is not hazardous to your health.
• All Pro greens do not hold water like sand. Our greens with the coal slag provide a nice sponge-like cushion all year-round.
• All Pro does not sell costly nylon turf, we specialize in only polypropylene. This makes it more affordable to you and gives you a more versatile product.

You can purchase a synthetic putting green or natural putting green.

When deciding whether or not to purchase a synthetic putting green, you need to understand the advantages it has over a natural putting green.

Natural putting greens are great if you have a full-time greens-keeper but not for the average homeowner. Natural greens often pick up diseases or fungus. Perhaps they come from your golf shoes after coming home your local golf course or they can come from the family pet. An entire green can be dead from disease in as little as 10 days if not properly treated. Or perhaps you or your landscaper applied too much fertilizer or chemicals and accidentally burnt the green. With natural greens you will spend more time taking care of it than putting on it. And what about cold weather? In most climates you can forget about putting on a natural green during the winter months.

Homeowners that have tried a natural green usually end up dissatisfied and usually blame the landscaper that installed it or the sod farm that sold them the turf. As a result, we are now selling to several turf sod farms that grow real Bent grass and Bermuda sod, so that they can offer customers an alternative to natural grass and keep them satisfied. As you can imagine, we regularly have homeowners call us saying they are tired of the maintenance of their natural green and want the synthetic alternative.

Check out the comparison chart below to see why All Pro greens are the obvious choice over natural greens for backyard use.

A maintenance comparison synthetic vs. natural putting greens

• All Pro greens are weather resistant, maintenance-free and can be used year-round. They are very well suited for any climate condition and don’t require the homeowner to take care of it constantly.

Natural Green Before	Synthetic Green After