With water being scarce and maintenance expenses exorbitant, many golf courses in the Southwest are turning to artificial turf instead of natural grass greens. A low-maintenance alternative to natural grass greens, artificial turf doesn’t require watering and maintains a green, flawless appearance year round. Furthermore, artificial turf is more ecologically-friendly than natural grass greens because it doesn’t affect air or groundwater quality. When synthetic turf was first invented, it did not fare well on golf courses because first-generation synthetic turf was far less durable and did not have built-in UV protection. Thanks to recent advancements in synthetic turf technology, there is now synthetic turf that looks and acts like natural turf without the high maintenance costs. Synthetic turf consists of drainage pipes, base material, synthetic turf, and infill. The following are the different types of artificial turf and infill used in golf courses in the Southwest. Non-Filled Non-filled artificial grass is used in many golf courses because it ensures that the ball retains a steady speed. Furthermore, non-filled artificial grass requires less maintenance than sand-filled turf. Lazy Grass Fringe Lazy grass fringe artificial greens are appropriate for chipping and pitching. Lazy grass is a soft, fibrillated grass with sand infill that is excellent for chipping. Lazy grass fringe greens feature a built-in rubber shock pad, which acts as a cushion and absorbs the impact of chipped balls. Sand Infill Artificial greens with sand infill can be customized to change the speed of the surface. Sand infill allows balls on the surface to retain a constant speed without sudden variations. The speed increases as you add more sand, and the deeper the infill is, the harder the turf. Kiln dry sand is used as infill. Rubber Underlay Shock Pad Artificial turf with a rubber underlay shock pad provides an ideal playing surface that’s realistic and heavy. Nylon Surface with Maximum Tufting Density Artificial nylon grass with maximum tufting density is appropriate for both recreational use and championship games. Nylon withstands heat and friction better than any other type of turf. You can put in any direction on nylon greens because their fibers have a multi-directional design. Artificial nylon grass with maximum tufting density is designed so that ball speed increases initially and then slows down slightly over a period of time before maintaining a consistent speed. Because the nylon fibers used are so soft, they prevent the ball from rolling too fast over time. Polyethylene Polyethylene is the number one choice in artificial grass because of its soft texture. Polyethylene is not used for putting greens, but it is excellent as a fringe grass that surrounds greens. Polypropylene Polypropylene is frequently used as a putting surface at Southwest golf courses because it is inexpensive. Owing to its one direction blade design, balls can only roll in one direction on polypropylene turf. If you put against the blade design of polypropylene, the ball will skip across the turf. However, polypropylene surfaces are ideal for chipping because they accept chip shots better at longer distances than any other type of artificial grass.
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