The first thought of having an 18 hole course with artificial turf seems to make sense. There would be no maintenance cost of cutting the grass, watering the grass, and putting harmful chemicals on the grass.
Digging a little deeper though and weighing the pros and cons it seems there are a few legitimate reasons below that golf courses don’t use fake grass.
- Synthetic grass lifespan is too short to make up for savings in real grass maintenance
- Most synthetic grass either holds shots well or putt well, rarely do they excel at both
- Artificial turf has not been perfected for fairways yet, fake grass blades currently tend to melt leaving unfixable divots
- Artificial grass holds heat faster, grass would be uncomfortably hot on summer days
- The hard rubber or concrete layer beneath the artificial grass will lead to joint pain and muscle strains
- The hard sublayer also leads to possible golf club damage due to increased resistance compared to grass and soil.
Artificial Grass Lifespan is too short
On first thought, it seems like you would be able to recoup the cost of artificial grass with savings in not having to water the course, fertilizer and chemical costs, mowing/aeration equipment, etc.
Most artificial grass has a lifespan of 10-15 years. It would be nearly impossible for 99% of golf courses to make up the money saved on grass maintenance in that time.
Factor in a year or so for installation of artificial grass along with another year of re-installation and disposal of the old artificial grass. Most artificial grass used for golf greens is installed in warm, dry climates. There is no information on how long an artificial turf would last in a Midwestern climate where it sees ranges of 0-100F, plenty of snow and rain, etc.
Until artificial grass technology gets to a point where it will save courses money, you will not see an all synthetic golf course anytime soon.
Artificial Grass Performance
Artificial Grass technology currently has a huge problem. It can either putt well or hold a shot, but not both. According to Brent Hugo, “The greens that putt well won’t hold a shot,” Hugo says of the several artificial par 3 courses he has built, “while if we add enough resilience to hold shots, they putt erratically.”
Weston Weber, founder of Southwest Greens, says the artificial turf has not been perfected for fairways yet. He is involved in R&D to create a synthetic blade that can hold up to repeated impacts of golf swings.
The synthetic grass blades tend to melt or shatter after a relatively few amounts of swings, leaving unfixable divots. The performance and lifespan of artificial grass is currently the big hindrance of why you haven’t heard of any artificial green complexes being built.
Artificial Grass gets too hot in warmer climates
Artificial grass quickly heats up in direct sunlight and holds in heat a lot better than natural grass. If you have ever played or stood on a football field in 90F+ heat, you understand how hot it gets.
The surface temperature of artificial grass can get up to 150 F! Considering most golfers have a few beers or mixed drinks on the course, this is a recipe for disaster as far as dehydration and heat exhaustion go.
As the majority of golf is played in warm climates during summer, building a golf course that will be uncomfortably hot seems like a great way to lose money.
Artificial Grass leads to joint pains and muscle strains
The amount of injuries on synthetic grass compared to real grass is alarming and is very noteworthy. However, these studies are done on high impact sports like football and soccer, not something stationary like golf.
The hard rubber or concrete sublayer beneath the artificial grass obviously has less give than natural dirt and grass. This leads to more impact pressure and soreness/joint pain on your legs while walking and arms and upper body while hitting shots from the artificial turf.
The thousands of swings on artificial turf could lead to pain, inflammation, joint troubles, and possible long term injuries.
Artificial Grass can lead to damaged clubs
The hard rubber or concrete sublayer beneath the artificial grass has the effect of changing your irons’ lie angles. This would take thousands of swings, but to the golf sicko this is possible for those who practice in some form almost every day.
Forged irons are susceptible to damage from mats or having the lie angle altered due to being made from a softer steel. Graphite shafts can also be damaged easier due to being softer than steel shafts.
Your swing type will also determine how much the synthetic grass and sublayers affect your golf club. For those who “sweep” the ball off the ground and barely leave a divot, your golf clubs will be minimally affected. For those who take a steep downswing leaving a divot (myself included), the golf club will be affected and could be affected by hundreds of swings on artificial grass.