BirdeBall Putting Mat

With CoVid 19 keeping us all in quarantine its a perfect opportunity to work on the parts of our game that could use a lot of help. For me that is usually putting. When my wife and I bought our first house this past summer I got myself a nice outdoor office/golf space. I decided this was the perfect opportunity to get a putting mat. I looked through my options and decide don a BirdieBall

Why The BirdeBall?

I dont take decisions like this lightly. I started by creating a list of what I wanted in a putting mat:

• It needed to roll out flat easily. I had another small mat that never flattened.
• Good build quality. Needed it to be somewhat durable. It was going outside in the garage after all
• A hole to put to. I dont like putting to not a golf hole
• It needed to roll like a real green.
• Wanted it to cost 150 or less

This led me to a final 3. I had it down to the BirdieBall, Puttout Mat, and the VariSpeed Putting System. Ultimately I chose the Birdieball. Everything I saw on forums gave it good reviews. The biggest benefit for me was it had a real cup to putt to.

Unboxing

When the big brown box showed up at my door there was a level of excitement that hasnt been matched much in my house since. I unboxed it and quickly went to the garage to lay it down and get some putts rolling. I ordered the 10 ft long green with 2 cups on one end. The box came with everything I needed to set it up plus some nice add ins.

• The Birdieball Mat
• 2 Cups
• Hole Plugs
• Cup reduction insert to make the hole smaller
• Rubber bumpers to keep the ball on the green
• Deepening Shim to make the cup a full inch deep

The Review

Freshly out of the box the putting mat unrolled perfectly. It laid flat almost instantly. The mat had precut hole and the cups fit easily. The bumpers went on with no issues at all. I was set up and ready to go in about 5 minutes. The first few putts rolled perfectly. It was everything I wanted. The putts rolled true. They felt like they rolled out like a real green. I was able to putt to an actual cup. It really was just about everything I wanted.

That being said there are a couple of things I would have changed. It really is just a piece of green foam. There are no markings. There are no training aids. There is nothing visual on it at all. The other problem is the fact it is a 1/2 in. thick. That led to my putter being too long and the lie angle was messed up.

To be fair all of these problems were easily fixable. I made myself a line to putt on. I marked it with a sharpie and a yard stick. Then I marked the line at 3,5, and 8 ft. To adjust for the stance issues i just went ahead and purchased the Birdieball stance mat. It fits right up next to the putting green and gets rid of the half inch issue.

Final Thoughts

I have used other putting mats and this one is by far my favorite. It rolls true and the ball actually rolls into a cup. I highly recommend this product. For around 125 bucks it cant be beat. The other options I found are great as well but I didnt want the carpet feel. If you are having any reservations drop them and have confidence you are buying a great product!