We at Kaizen Golf take a lot of pride in the quality of our products and test our products extensively to ensure that we continue to provide the best value and advice to our customers.
To us, testing does not mean having a quick whack for a few days, being golf enthusiasts ourselves, we use and test our products all year round. We really feel that this is the only way that we can gain insights on our products from an everyday golfer's point of view.
One of our most popular products is the Kaizen Golf Tri-Turf Portable Mat. We are now 1 year into testing of our VERY FIRST unit from the factory and we want to share how it has stood up to the test of time and tips/advice we have gained along the way from using this mat.
A Bit About the Product
- 35mm Tee Turf - our premium hitting surface which will allow you to insert your own tee.
- 35mm Rough - simulates thick rough, yes we all hit our balls there.
- 12mm Fairway Turf - simulates tight/links style fairways. We also use this surface for making our Putting Greens, it gives us a smooth putting surface which rolls at around 10 feet on the stimp.
For how these surfaces influence ball flight - read our review here where we measured ball flight data off different hitting surfaces using a launch monitor.
The surfaces sit on a 5mm EVA foam base for some additional shock absorption. Finally, we have a 2mm non stick/anti-skidding rubber backing at the very bottom.
Each hitting surface is 20cm x 40cm in size and the product is designed to be folded up for easy portability and storage (see below).
This product is ideal for home set-ups which need to be packed away or be moved around. For example:
- You don't have the space in your indoor/outdoor space to permanently have a large 1.5m x 1.5m mat set up.
- You want to have mat which you can place on different parts of your backyard to chip from without damaging your lawn.
1 Year Test and Results
The Set Up
For the test we used our first ever sample from the factory which we received around a year ago. It has been used regularly in an outdoor environment together with out 3m practice net. The mat was not packed away when not in use. So this should give a very good indication on how it has stood up to the test of time and the Australian outdoor environment.
Can you tell that the bottom mat has been used and has been left outside for around a year and the top mat just came out of the box? You can probably just make out the scuff marks.
We are really pleased with the fact that there are no noticeable deterioration with the one year old mat. It's definitely fair to say that there's plenty of life left in the one year old mat.
Other Observations / Tips
Through regular usage over the last year, I thought I would share the following tips on how to get the most out of the Tri-Turf Golf Mat.
- In terms of the 3 different hitting surfaces
- The tee turf is a great hitting surface, and given it's thickness, it offers great shock absorption. For practicing with the driver, you can insert your tee directly into the mat to get your ideal tee height. The only drawback is that it does sit slightly above the ground due to it's thickness.
- The advantage with the fairway turf is that it is almost level with the ground at less than 2cm thick. However, if you have the mat on a concrete floor and have a pretty steep swing, we definitely don't recommend long hitting sessions due to the limited impact absorption offered by this surface. If you have it placed on top of your lawn then no issues. This is the surface I used the most for iron practice outside. The tight lie is also a great surface for chipping practice.
- The rough surface was the one that got the least use, I predominately used it for chipping practice.
- Even with the anti-skid rubber bottom, the mat still does move from time to time. However it's easy to just move it back.
- Use the lines / boarders between the different surfaces for alignment.
- I actually hit the occasional ball off the hosel. One of the things that I do when I start to develop a 'heel tendency' is to place the ball towards the outside of the hitting surface and use the rough as an obstruction to encourage more of a toe strike much like placing a headcover or another ball that you see in lots of YouTube videos, see below.
Final Thoughts
One year on, we are very pleased with the durability of our Kaizen Golf Tri-Turf Portable Mat, especially considering the fact that it has been left outside the whole time.
Being super portable and with the versatility of having 3 types of turf to hit off, it will be a great addition to any 'golf at home' set up. Add our 3M net and you will have your own home driving range.
If you are after a larger mat, we also have a wide range of 1.5m x 1.5m large golf hitting mats which will suit your needs, see our Golf Mat Collection here.
1 comment
Is it viable to use the triturf on lexan and create my own divot-acton-like mat?