Birdieball 2-In-1 Putting/Hitting Mat - 2023 Forum Review

[GolfSpy_APH]

Testers Announced: Birdieball 2-In-1 Putting/Hitting Mat!

From birdieball:

"Our high quality tour-grade Putting Green/Hitting Turf Combination is a perfect addition to your simulator space!  We all love simulator golf, but the putting aspect is often overlooked. Now, you can utilize your simulator space for both simulator golf and realistic putting practice. A simulator golf dream!

You can choose to use the putting surface itself as your hitting turf (you can hit directly off the turf), but keep in mind that you will likely experience some wear in the center of the green from repetitive swings. If you'd prefer to keep the putting surface free of wear, add on a 3' x 5' hitting turf to place in the center on top of the putting mat when using your simulator, or behind the putting mat. This will keep the putting surface pristine. Remove the hitting turf with ease when you are ready to practice your putting. Don't forget to add on the Hole Deepening Corner Shims to take your home putting practice up a notch."

Please welcome and congratulate our three testers!

@Nick_D

@Dooby

@MattF

[Nick_D]

Hello all! My name is Nick and I want to start by saying thank you to MGS & birdieball for giving me the opportunity to test the 2-in-1 putting/hitting mat. This is my first testing opportunity and I have to say, it was the one I was most excited for after seeing it hit the forum.

I’m 26 and live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I picked up golf about 10 years ago after playing with some friends and have been hooked ever since. My wife of (almost) 1 year is forever tolerant of my addiction, and was kind enough to let me have the third stall of our garage to put my simulator setup in. We met at work and are both tax accountants (we sound fun don’t we?)

I first bought a simulator in 2020 when the Flightscope Mevo+ was released and set up a hitting mat, net, and my iPad in the garage. Over time I slowly added a projector, screen, and some cheap turf to stop golf balls from rolling all over the garage. I never really tried to have a good putting setup as the Mevo+ left a bit to be desired in the short game/putting area. I have since upgraded to a Bushnell Launch Pro and added a raised platform to be flush with my hitting mat.

*Two iterations of the garage setup, 2nd is mostly current

I currently having a gaming PC I built in my office on the other side of the house that runs the sim software. I used a KVM extender to run HDMI & USB over ethernet to the garage so I can use a mouse and keyboard to control the PC. I've also built a course that is playable in GSPro for those interested. It is what I would call my home course in Hamilton, Michigan - Diamond Springs Golf Course. It is a bit outdated compared to some of the newly released courses that are starting to look more like art pieces. Seriously, for anyone that hasn't seen some of the courses built in GSPro you have to check them out. The course design community is awesome.

*Diamond Springs Golf Course in GSPro

I’ve always looked at birdieball’s website and built out putting greens of different sizes and with different features, but never pulled the trigger. I’ve seen raving reviews and am excited to finally roll some putts on one of them! My main areas of testing will be how well it sets up, durability, and the quality of roll. Putting on a simulator is difficult because of the lack of depth perception and I am hoping that putting to an actual cup on the mat will help. Durability is a huge concern for me, and I’m interested to see how hitting full shots off of it will hold up.

For now I'm hoping for some cooler weather to hit before the birdieball mat arrives so I can survive out in the garage!

First Impressions: (8/10)

When the two boxes showed up on my doorstep, I'm sure my FedEx delivery driver was not quite as pleased as I was. The larger of the two boxes included the mat itself, along with rubber bumpers and a small accessories box. Everything was well packaged and in great shape! They even included large bubble wrap type packaging on the inside of the putting mat so it wouldn't fold or crease.

The next box contained the additional corner shims, which are not included normally with the Simulator Putting Turf, and are $99 according to their website. It includes 4 corner shims, two of each size and deeper cups. In the larger box they also included some generic instructions that look like they go out with all BirdieBall putting mats, I assume they have one for their indoor greens and this one for the outdoor.

Now that everything is accounted for, time to roll this thing out! Let me tell you this thing is a beast. I went with the 7.5' x 13' size and according to the shipping info it is around 80 lbs. They claim on the website that the putting mat is "Portable (can be rolled up and stored away easily if need be)" and while I agree that it certainly can be, I would say it would not be easy. And for that I decided to deduct a point here, even when rolled up it is very cumbersome and I personally will not be moving mine again anytime soon. I will admit when I was originally trying to decide on a size I was wishing they had something deeper/wider than 7.5'. I have a pretty narrow Sim setup and if I set it up the long way, there are still some gaps on each side. If I set it up according to the picture on their website, there was no way I would have been able to take a full swing from the putting surface. I have a Bushnell Launch Pro, which is a camera based unit that doesn't need a specified amount of ball flight to work, but I used to have a Flightscope Mevo+ which needed at least 7-10 feet of ball flight. If I'm thinking this is a solution for Simulator setups that doesn't necessarily need an extra hitting mat, I just don't see how 7.5' will work for most people. This is ultimately the reason I decided to deduct a point here as well and give my first impressions an 8/10.

I decided to do a little cutting and piece together what i thought was the best use of my 7.5' x 13' for my space. First impressions of the putting surface and the backing are very good. This is a high quality putting mat. They claim that it can also can be used as a hitting surface, but I'm not sure it will provide quite enough cushion on its own. I will definitely cover that in a later section!

Aesthetics: (19/20)

Like I said in the previous section, this is a very high quality putting mat. Its heavy, lays flat right away, and has been VERY durable. Since it's in my garage, almost every time I walk by I will hit a few putts. I'll do this whether I'm bringing the trash out, in the middle of mowing the grass, or any other sort of house chore. The mat has had grass, snow, dog pee (downside to it looking like grass... lol), spider webs, etc. on it and has shown very little signs of wear. I have also hit some full swings off it and you can see some slight signs of wear, but along the lines of what you would expect to see on any hitting surface. Personally I would absolutely pair this with another hitting mat instead of hitting off the putting surface.

Now for the accessories. The cups and pins are plastic and feel as such. If someone steps on a cup without a pin, or if the pin falls over and gets stepped on I could see something breaking. However, it is all high quality plastic and I have no concerns for normal use. The rubber bumpers are made of very quality rubber, no concerns here. You can step on these and nothing will happen to them. The shims are the classic birdieball foam and as long as they are under the turf I don't see them showing any wear either.

I'm again going to take a point away here for the sizing of the mat. Having it setup as the website shows, there is just not enough depth (7.5') for a simulator setup in my opinion. With several radar-based units out there needing ~10' of ball flight some people can't even butt up a hitting mat to the edge of the putting surface, which would defeat the whole idea of this product improving the putting aspect of your simulator. If they could stretch the depth of the mat to 10' I think it would fit a lot more consumer's needs.

The Numbers: (20/20)

I can say with confidence that this putting mat has improved my putting. I don't have enough data yet to support this claim, however, from 10' and in I have noticed more putts dropping than earlier this season. My start line and confidence giving putts more pace in this range I think have been the key. 

Regarding sim play with the birdieball mat, I always find it really important that the stimp matches what is set in the software. Pace control can be difficult on a simulator because you really don't have any depth perception like you would outside. Because of this, I made a makeshift stimpmeter and can say this mat definitely is rolling at least around an 11-12 and matching up this speed with my sim software has been pretty accurate I feel. If you play any online tournaments where all settings are preset, this could be something you should consider.

Practice Makes...?: (20/20)

Having this setup in my garage has absolutely made me want to practice more. Like I said earlier I'm hitting putts almost every time I walk past this thing. Having four different cups to putt to and the corner shims offers plenty of variety of putts and ways to train. I'm also working with a very slight break in the floor so every different spot I putt from is a different breaking putt. I've been really pleased with how smooth putts have been rolling. The longest putt I can really hit on my setup is about a 10 footer and I've noticed out on the course that I'm just oozing confidence in this range. Having the feeling that a lag putt only needs to get within a 10 foot circle has been huge for my game.

 

 

The Good, the bad, the inbetween: (20/20)

Overall, I have very few complaints with this putting green. The shipping & packaging was a positive experience and left little to be desired. Everything showed up in good shape! Having a large putting surface is a gamechanger for putting practice. It has made hitting putts much more enjoyable instead of hitting the same putt over and over with a small putting strip. Playing on the sim has made my putting just a bit more precise. I feel like it has been easier to trust the pace of putts and has made lag putting much easier while playing. I keep bringing it up but my only real complaint is the dimension options! Ok ok I'll stop.. 20 out of 20 here!

Play it or Trade it?: (10/10)

100% play it. This will not be moving out of my setup anytime soon and have been very satisfied with the product. It has transformed my short range putting and I don't see that changing in the future.

I think this product is fit for anyone who wants a quality putting green setup at home that is ready to go right out of the box. Is it tailor-made for simulator setups? Maybe? I really think they were already producing these size putting mats and thought they could tap into the simulator market. If the dimensions fit for your setup then great! I would very much recommend those interested to consider the ball flight needed for their simulator when looking into this mat.

At $1,632 for my 7.5' x 13' mat its a tough decision for me if I were to buy myself. I think I would be looking into bulk, commercial putting surfaces and installing myself. However, that would be missing cups and pins... so tradeoffs. Comparing to other simulator consumer products I think its a pretty decent price point. My mind goes to the SigPro simulator flooring at over double the price of the birdieball. Now I realize you're getting more with SigPro, but I think Birdieball is fitting into the lower price of high-end in the simulator flooring market with this. Curious of everyone's thoughts of where Birdieball fits in the market!

Conclusion: (Final Score: 97/100)

All in all, this is a very nice putting surface. It is heavy, durable, and rolls pure. I wouldn't buy this mat if you are thinking about a portable solution, I won't be moving mine around anytime soon. I really enjoy having actual cups to putt to and that aspect has made practice a lot more fun. If you're looking for a large putting mat in this price range, I would absolutely recommend Birdieball. My only concern is the dimension options being stuck at 7.5' for simulator specific use.

Edited December 1, 2023 by Nick_D

[Dooby]

Hey everyone - first time tester here. My name is Brendan and I want to start by thanking MGS & birdieball for allowing me to test the 2-in-1 putting/hitting mat and provide some feedback for the forum. This is my first testing opportunity and I am pretty excited as this is a super cool product.

I'm currently in St. Louis, Missouri so with the seasons and unpredictable weather, this product will certainly get its use.  I picked up golf about a year ago now and have been very addicted and enamored with the sport and journey. I currently am around a 25 handicap. I just recently began shooting in the 90s consistently and it has a been a thrill.  I practice quite a bit and am one of those obsessive golfers that probably watches too many tips videos and coaching sessions online while bothering my own coach too often over text.

My wife and I recently moved and we have an area in our new home dedicated to fitness and golf but it is very much a work in progress as we continue unbox and set up our home.  I have a Garmin R10 as my simulator (I also have a garmin watch and the C10 censors and a basic hitting net that was a gift from a friend which will likely get replaced.  Up until the birdieball mat, I was using a simple 3-surface hitting mat off of amazon and a very cheap putting green that had a felt green.  I have a tv in the room and display the Garmin simulator software on the tv since my net doesn't have any sort of screen to project onto it.  Over time - I hope to add on and make it more of a professional setup.

 

I very much look forward to birdieball's turf and putting surface.  I love the idea that the putting surface can include contours and curves and being able to adjust it.  I will also be likely trying the turf outside when the weather is nice.

Overall - I will be looking at the durability of the turf as well as the ease of setting it up, putting it away, moving it, etc. as I know it may be important to a lot of readers that do not have a significant amount of space for a simulator or a putting green. 

If any readers have questions or further suggestions on testing or what they would be interested to learn - feel free to send them my way and I will do my best to give answers and feedback.

 

FOR MY FINAL REVIEW PLEASE SEE MY MOST RECENT POST ON THIS THREAD OR FIND IT HERE

Edited December 8, 2023 by Dooby
Update

[MattF]

Good morning everyone,

 

First of all, thank you MGS and Birdieball for this testing opportunity.

A lot of you "know" me from being here over a decade now but for those that don't...

My name is Matt, I'm a grumpy semi old man and originally from Sydney, Australia. I've been in the US for the past 18 years because I met my wife online and she's from NE Ohio. I've been trying to play golf for the same time because my FIL played and he sucked me in. We have a 16 year old son and I have 2 20+ year old daughters back home. We hope to be able to move from NEO at some stage for a warmer climate, which is looking more and more like the south coast of Georgia.

I'm currently a 14.2 and have been down to a 12.2 but I'm hoping with a new found want to practice, I can get down to a single digit, even if it's a 9.9, I'd be happy.

I recently acquired the new SkyTrak+ simulator/monitor and have it set up in the garage. Because I actually want to park our cars there, I have to set it up and take it down every time but it only takes about 5 minutes, so it's not that much of a hassle. I'm now looking at a screen and projector down the road some time because I can and I'm getting lazy.

This is my setup at the moment, although the small green thing has been replaced with a TV table and I have a chair as well.





The mat I'm currently using is a GoSports mat I got off Amazon. It's a bit thin for my liking so I  have 1/2" rubber puzzle piece mat from Harbor Freight under it for cushioning. I also use BirTees to tee the ball because they come in various heights and I can move the ball around the mat...plus I hate those white rubber tees that you stick up through the mat.



For my purposes this works well, except for the putting, which the Birdieball mat will be a big help, I think.

Now the wait for the mat begins.

 

 

First Impressions (7/10)

Wow that box is big and heavy.



I thought my son was joking when he said he had trouble getting it in the garage but it weighed about 69 pounds. There were two packages, the mat and the accessories which included 4 Standard Drop-in Cups + Extraction Flags, 1 High-Back Cup to practice extra-firm putts, U-bumpers (6 heavy rubber bumpers to create a "U" shape on each end of the putting green), Hole Plugs, Hole Deepening Shim to deepen the hole to a full 1" deep, or use it to create a break anywhere on the putting surface and a Hole Reduction Insert to reduce the size of the hole for an added challenge.





Next I rolled it out in my garage, where my practice area is. Unfortunately I don't have a dedicated area and have to set up and take down my stuff for every practice session.

The mat is thin but very well made.



I would suggest not kneeling on it because you'd get something akin to carpet burns if you drag yourself around.







Initial practice putting is pretty good with the mat providing a very good putting surface.

As for being portable, I don't think so. Sure, you can roll it up but even with mine being one of the smallest sizes, it's cumbersome and heavy. I wouldn't like to have to put on and take off the bumpers every time I wanted to practice, so I think it's more of a remain in place type of thing and for me, that's not the garage.

More to come later.

Final Review

Aesthetics (16 out of 20) 

This is a quality piece of gear that I wouldn't think will wear out, almost ever. Maybe if you practiced 5 hours a day, 7 days a week, you may wear the mat down eventually but I don't think anyone here has to worry about that.

I got the 7.5' x 10' mat, which is not the smallest one they make but it's fairly large. I'd hate to see how big the the others are and as I mentioned, it's heavy.

The instructions that come with the mat are for the putting mats but they are pretty much identical, so they work just fine.

Holes in each corner let you practice longer putting without having to dodge anything in the middle of the mat.

Ease of use...throw it down and start putting, it's really that easy.

The Numbers (15 out of 20)

I don't know if my putting have improved since getting the mat because I think I was a good putter before.

However my practice has increased because the mat is there and I can roll a few or a lot any time the feeling strikes.

I honestly have not used the mat with my sim for putting purposes for the simple reason that putting with a sim absolutely sucks. Sims are terrible for putting and I don't know anyone using a sim that doesn't use the auto putt feature.

My putting, since receiving the mat, has remained about the same level but I expect with the winter now here, my putting should improve somewhat because of the ability to just practice as well as changing the slope of the mat.

Let us know how your swing or game has changed over the testing period. Use of launch monitor date is great here! Or Arccos/Shotscope and more.

Practice makes…? (18 out of 20)

Did having the mat make me want to putt. Yes, because it's sitting right in front of me and I can roll the rocks with the TV on. I will admit that I'm not someone you'll see on the putting green at the course because, boring but I now make time a few times a week to roll some balls to at least pretend to stay something resembling sharp.

I like the corner shims for providing slope right next to the hole. While they don't look like much, they will make your ball veer away so the practice is real.



The Good, the bad, the in between (13 out of 20)

Out of the box Birdieball could do a bit better job cleaning up the stray threads from where they cut the holes and the edges of the mat. Nothing a box knife or scissors could do, but something that should be done before it's shipped.

Also, the corner shims are not 100% lined up with the holes in the mat, at least two of mine weren't.

I would also encourage them to maybe put in one or two contour strips and maybe remove 2 of the 4 corner shims, which are not as useful as contour strips would be.

Now, one of the main things Birdieball says it that you can use it as your hitting mat with your sim. Or, buy the matching hitting mat and use that on top of the 2-in-1 and hit off that to reduce wear on the putting surface. (Birdieball provided me with the hitting mat for doing a review on Google.)



I disagree. It's just not thick enough. The majority of people would be using this on a concrete floor and there's no way you'd want to hit full swings for fear of hurting your wrists or breaking a club. There's a reason why most swing mats are about 2+" thick.



BUT, you can certainly chip off the mat and I have been doing that using foam practice balls.

If you had a dedicated permanent sim space, this mat would be great as a base and have a thick hitting mat on top. Also, if your sim is in your garage, like mine, this mat is a beast to roll up and store away with it's size and weight. It's much better as a permanent setup rather than a setup/take down every practice type of device.

Play it or Trade it? (6 out of 10)

Play it with a caveat.

If you can put it somewhere permanent, it makes a pretty darn good practice aid. If you have to pack it away when you've finished your practice, I'd look at something else. That's why it lives in my basement now.



With the ability to change the contours this will help anyone with their putting practice but for hitting full shots, it's a no.

If I was to have to purchase this mat, the price would give me pause. It's not cheap at all and to me it still only has one function, a putting mat.

Conclusion

Great for a permanent setup, not for something that needs to be broken down every time because of weight and size. Helpful for improving your putting or just practicing it but not for hitting full shots.

If you have the space and $$, it's a winner. If you don't, you can find other alternatives fairly readily.

Final Score (75 out of 100)

Edited November 28, 2023 by MattF

[Paul Hedrick]

Congratulations testers!  I am looking forward to your reviews.

[Josh Ross]

Congrats! Such a cool item to get for testing!

[MDGolfHacker]

Congratulations!  Looking forward to the reviews!

[KevGolfnut61]

Congratulations to the testers. Looking forward to the reviews. 

[Nolan220]

Congrats testers I was looking into this can’t wait to see how it goes

[revkev]

An awesome opportunity - great team - looking forward this reading the reviews! 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Congrats to the testers! Now the fun begins

[jaygur16]

Very interested to see how this goes for my new build. 

[MaxEntropy]

Congrats testers!

[SpanishHands]

Congrats!! Eager to read the reviews!

[Willie T]

Congrats to the testing crew.  This will be a great baseline in my quest to one day build an at home simulation station….

[ccostel18]

Congratulations! Looking forward to hearing how it performs. 

[OdinSnipes414]

What a fun group! Congratulations on the test! Can’t wait to see how it performs! Been dying, to get something for the garage! Winter practice!

[TSauer]

Congrats @Nick_D @MattF @Dooby

 

[russtopherb]

Congrats all! Looking forward to your thoughts on these.

[fozcycle]

Congrats testers!

@Nick_D

@Dooby

@MattF

[Derek Lusk]

Congratulations testers!! Can’t wait to read your reviews 

[beerbellybbq]

Congrats testers! I am excited to see the reviews of this as I am looking for a better mat for my setup.

[goaliewales14]

Congrats testers!!!  

[dback]

Awesome test, congrats to the testers! Someday if I get a sim room set-up (currently just a retractable net and Garmin r10 in my garage) birdie ball will be at the top of my considerations list. Looking forward to seeing how the testing goes!

[JeremyD]

CONGRATS all. Looking forward to reading the updates and reviews

[cojobro77]

Congrats testers! 

[Clayton]

Super super high congratulations to those picked.  I cannot say that I’m not disappointed I wasn’t picked as I’m ordering all my Optishot net setup to full on Eye Mini Carls Place upgrade stuff now. It’s the one place I AM gonna skimp in my build. I have an inexpensive but adequate putting strip I’ll put into service and just use foam tiles and puzzle piece “turf” on the sides, so it’ll be cool for sim golf but not really good putting practice. I am really looking forward to what everyone has to say about this product because I can see adding a smaller practice area within the sim but not part of the sim at some point in the future. Looking forward to the reviews!

[rkj427]

Congrats. to this great group of testers. Really looking forward to seeing the comments and results during this test.

[sirchunksalot]

Congratulations testers! I can't wait to see how the BirdieBall mat works for you guys. 

[Glenmore5]

Well done testers