BACKYARD GREEN
You don’t have to put in real grass – and then spend the rest of your days keeping it healthy and alive – to have your own
Scott Imbach of Synlawn in Beaverton stands on a green his company recently installed at a Sherwood home.
Jaime Valdez / Times Newspapers
Your dream home. If you love sports, it might include a basketball court, a bowling alley and maybe recently you’ve added a putting green to the wish list.
The popularity of backyard putting greens has grown recently, and with the advancements of synthetic lawns, they have become more of a reality for those wanting to improve their swing and for homeowners seeking lawn alternatives.
“In golf, what wins tournaments is on the putting green,” said Sean Foushee, a home builder for Accent Residental Homes. Foushee not only has his own putting green but also installed a 7,000-square-foot grass putting green in a home featured in the Street of Dreams. “Any avid golfer . . . will tell you what matters is how good you are from 70 yards in.”
Having a space in your back yard to practice putting improves your game, and many golfers see these benefits.
“I think there are a lot of people who want putting greens,” said Foushee. “You will probably have more that are putting in synthetic greens because of the maintenance required.”
Or the lack thereof. Real greens require a significant amount of maintenance. Many professional golf courses need daily mowing, a lot of chemicals and fertilizers and a lot of consistent watering to maintain their healthy appearance. For a typical homeowner footing the bill, these costs add up.
Synthetic lawns may cost more initially – on average about $10 to $12 per square foot – but with less maintenance, they help make the dream more feasible.
“In the end, it may not be what a real grass green is, but it’s the next best thing,” said Simon Dubiel, a sales executive for Varsity Communications, the company hosting the Portland Golf Show taking place Feb. 8-10 at the Portland Expo Center. “It’s pretty legitimate, and it doesn’t involve much upkeep,”
Four synthetic lawn companies will appear at the Golf Show, including the show’s sponsor, Synlawn, an international company with a location in Beaverton.
Aside from putting greens, Synlawn also specializes in full synthetic lawns.
“Putting greens have been going on in the industry for quite a long time,” said Roslyn McFarland, co-owner of Synlawn’s Beaverton location, standing in her showroom where it looks as though nature has taken control. Display grass “grows” in the corners under model doghouses and jungle gyms. It’s not until you bend down and run your hand over the grass, that you realize it’s green nylon.
“Synlawn started out as a company called Putting Greens Direct. All they did was putting greens,” said McFarland. “A few years ago, they realized people were wanting not necessarily a putting green, but they wanted a solution for their lawn in general, and that’s when they branched out.”
Synthetic lawns have certainly improved since the days of basic Astro Turf. Synlawn offers a polypropylene model, which is the least durable; a poly-nylon hybrid, and a 100-percent nylon model, which is the most durable product. Consumers can choose from any of these products, depending on how much use their lawn will receive.
With kids and pets, synthetic lawns cut down on the muddy paws and feet running in and out of the house, a key benefit during the rainy season here in the Pacific Northwest.
“The kids or the pets can go out right after it stops raining and the most they’re going to get on them is whatever water droplets are left on the blades, but there’s not going to be any puddling or standing water,” said McFarland turning over a piece of synthetic sod to reveal small holes poked through the backing. “The products all have drainage holes and will drain up to 40 gallons per square foot per hour, which is more than it rains anywhere in the world.”
With the growing popularity of their products, synthetic lawn companies such as Synlawn understand the importance of thinking green. The backing on Synlawn’s products is made from 60 percent post-consumer recycled material and soybean oil, which meets sustainable building requirements, according to McFarland. They also don’t need chemicals, they help reduce lawn mower emissions, and they save water, which is part of the reason the developers of the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas installed 5 acres of Synlawn’s synthetic grass.
If you’re in the market for a synthetic putting green or lawn alternatives, the Portland Golf Show may be a good place to start.
“It’ll have anything and everything that’s golf-related in Oregon,” said Dubiel, adding that the first 1,000 people will get a free sleeve of Bridgestone golf balls and everyone will receive a free round of golf at the Camas Golf Course.
And, of course, you’ll get to run your hands across some synthetic turf.
“People don’t realize how many variables there are and the things you can do and how good the products look now,” said McFarland. “That’s the biggest thing that we’re trying to get across to people: you got to see it.”