How and why I turned my living room into a short game studio

In the year of 2020, I made a comeback to the game of golf. With the pandemic raging across the world me and a lot of others started to play golf again. 

After a 13-year break, I was rusty on all parts of the game – like really rusty. I was a decent golfer (hcp 1,9) when I quit and I wanted to come back to the same level. I’m not there yet but grinding my short game will definitely make the journey shorter.

Working from home during the dark and cold winter in Sweden doesn’t make anyone happy. With all the golf courses closed and watching golf on tv - I got this great idea – Why don’t I create a short game studio in my living room? 

Since I don’t live alone – I'm married and I have 3 kids (none of them plays golf) - there were a few factors at play here. It needed to be easy to hide and couldn't disturb the home styling.

I started googling and found a lot of different types of mats but I had a lot of time to kill so I decided to manufacture my own. And yes, I could have just bought one but it sounded like a fun project!

Here are the basic things you need – only your imagination and space set the limits. I gathered the materials at my local construction store.

1. A roll of artificial turf (there are a lot to choose from) ask the store to cut the turf to your liking. I went for 1x3 meters.
2. A straight edge or a laser measuring tool.
3. A white marker for making lines
4. A round object (the size of a cup)
5. Putting gates and other accessories to place on your living room green

The process of making lines was actually a pain in the neck – hard to find a marker that sticks on the artificial turf. And you only get one chance of doing it right – so make a plan for how you want to draw the lines.

As the golf idiot I am - it didn’t stop with the putting mat. Was there a way to practice my wedge game in my living room? Of course! In the local golf store, I purchased a net for chipping, a piece of range mat and some soft practice balls. Whatever you do – never, I mean never use your ProV1 inside of your house. Unless you are in the market for a new tv.

Does look good? Debatable – but I had a lot of fun during this project!

That’s it – Now I can unpack and be putting and wedging within a couple of minutes!

Note: The above are general guidance and you can adjust the details to your own preferences.