How to Articles
OK, So a I’ve had a lot of people ask me what is the best way to cut the hole in your putting turf.
If you don’t have a fixed underlayment in place the easiest way is to flip over the turf and cut from the bottom side. Just use a Sharpie marker and trace the outline of the putting cup, then just carefully cut on the center line you’ve just drawn. I prefer to use an angled carpet knife like the one I offer on my website made by Roberts. It conforms to your hand nicely and because of it’s angle shape allows for a clear line of site between your knife and the area you’re cutting. It comes with 3 cutting reversible cutting blades and I recommend reversing or changing the blade for each cup you are installing. A sharp blade makes a huge difference, especially if you have a heavyweight dense turf.
If you do have underlayment installed or layed down below the turf the first thing you want to do is insert your putting cup into the underlayment. You’ll want the top of the putting cup to be just above the top of the underlayment - typically about half the height of your turf. The turf I’m installing here is True Turf by Grass-Tex which has a pile height of 9/16” so I’ve inserted the putting cup and secured in place about 1/4” above the underlayment. The underlayment panels in this video are the Tour Links panels made by UltraBase Systems. They have a specially made floating cup design that makes it easy to get the cup at the proper height and location.
If you have a plywood base no matter the height, its best you plan ahead and order the proper height putting cup for your combined turf and underlayment. If your underlayment is 3” in height, and your turf is 1/2” tall, I’d recommend ordering the putting cup 3-1/4” in height. You don’t want your finished putting cup to be the same height as your turf and you also don’t want it to be the same height as your underlayment. In between the two is perfect.
To begin, lay the turf over the putting cup, making certain of the location of the hole. You can patch the hole back in place but it’s no fun. Measure twice and cut once as the saying goes. Push down on top of the turf and locate as best you can the center of the cup. Cut down and through the turf near the center and outward towards the inside edge of the putting cup. Repeat this several times all the way around the putting cup creating little pie shaped pieces of turf that you will be completely removing soon. Once you have cut from the center outwards several times (I typically like to cut about 8 pie shaped pieces) the next step is to continue your cut just a little further another 1/8”. Your first cut was to the inside of the putting cup - this next cut will be to the outside of the putting cup. Repeat that on each of the pie shaped pieces. Then pick up and hold tightly one of your pie shaped triangle pieces and carefully cut along the outer edge of the putting cup, using it as a guide. Cut in a sawing motion until you completely remove the piece. Repeat that for all of the pie shaped pieces until you’ve completed the entire hold cut-out.
Take a close look at your finished product and see if you need to trim anywhere. If your turf pile overhangs the putting cup it is ok to trim up with the knife or a pair of sharp scissors.
This is a very easy job to do if you take your time. Make sure you begin with a new blade and change if you feel the blade getting dull. Watch the video and call me if you have any issues whatsoever.