Golf is no longer just an outdoor sport anymore. Now, you can play golf indoors in your home, office, or indoor centres.
Indoor golf games are bringing the sport closer without needing lots of outdoor space. In this blog, we will dive into indoor golf putting challenges, from creating your putting green to improving your skills with exciting challenges.
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Setting up the indoor golf
1) Space planning
Choose where to set it up, whether it is in your living room, a spare room, or even your bedroom. Setting up the indoor golf could include a practice area, a putting green, or even a mini golf course. The key is to have enough room to swing the putter.
2) Laying the putting green
Synthetic putting greens are used for indoor use. Install the foundation, artificial turf, cups, and flags for the desired professional touch.
3) Arrangement of Golf Accessories and Equipment
Setting up storage for golf clubs, balls, and training aids complete the home golfing experience.
4) Lighting and Ventilation
Ready the place with sufficient lighting and proper ventilation. This will create a pleasant ambience for playing.
5) Safety Measures
Implement a safety net to trap wayward balls and prevent potential damage.
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Indoor golf putting challenges
Once the set-up for the indoor golf is done, it is time to grab a few golf balls and set up some indoor golf putting challenges for yourself and your golfer buddies. Here are some of the indoor golf putting challenges one could implement.
1) The shrinking hole
This golf-putting challenge cultivates focus and accuracy in golfers.
Players begin by placing a hole or target, such as a cup, onto the putting green. The hole is reduced in size after each successful putt, thereby increasing the difficulty level. The aim for the player is to successfully aim and hit the target, allowing fewer attempts with an increasing difficulty level to advance in the putting game.
As the game progresses and the challenge intensifies, golfers learn to adjust their pace and direction, thereby brewing patience, resilience, and determination.
2) Carpet putting
This challenge involves rolling out a designated carpet, known as a putting mat, in any flat indoor space. A golf ball is then put towards paper cups, which act as the holes. Course obstacles, like books and coffee mugs, may be incorporated for added complexity.
3) Around the clock
In Around the Clock golf, every putt is time-specific and requires a specific placement. Therefore, the player has to put the ball into holes that correspond to the numbers on a clock’s face.
This requires strategy, calculation, and precision. The first player puts into the 1 o’clock hole, followed by the 2 o’clock hole, and so on until they reach the noon hole. The players continue this cycle until they miss a shot. When a putt is missed, it is the next player’s turn. The one who completes the cycle without missing is the winner.
4) Indoor Golf Poker
Assign point values to different holes on the putting mat. Try to complete a “poker hand” by selecting specific holes that add up to a winning hand (e.g., a straight or flush).
5) Closest to the hole
For this game, players stand the same distance from the hole/glass. After four or five practice shots, they are blindfolded. The player whose blindfolded putt comes to rest closest to the hole wins.
6) The clock face
The game involves using a golf putting mat that mimics a clock face. The mat is typically circular and divided into twelve segments; each segment resembles an hour on a clock, offering the golfer various angles and distances to practice their putting skills.
The goal is for the player to hit the ball to each “hour”, starting from 6, going clockwise or counterclockwise to sink the ball into the hole located at the centre of the mat.
7) Set back
This challenge involves players taking a series of shots from a designated spot, aiming to put the ball into a hole or target.
The challenge is to complete the game within the fewest shots possible.
If a player fails to make the putt within a specified number of attempts, they may experience a setback, such as moving farther from the target facing an additional obstacle or moving the ball a foot further from the hole. The goal is to complete the game with the lowest total number of shots, while setbacks add an element of challenge and strategy to the game.
8) Putting to King of hearts
Choose a King of Hearts playing card and place it a few feet away on the floor. Try to put the golf ball so it stops on the card. This is a tough challenge that hones your putting distance control quickly.
9) Croquet golf
Set up a series of wickets or hoops on the putting green. Instead of aiming directly for the hole, your objective is to put the ball through these wickets or hoops, similar to the game of croquet. Players take turns trying to navigate the ball through the wickets with the fewest strokes possible.
10) Ladders
Create two lines of markers, each further from the hole. Two golfers face-off, aiming to sink their putts. They start at the closest marker and move back after each successful putt. The goal is to climb the “ladder” by sinking shots before the opponent.
11) Gold digger
Scatter ball markers across the green. Tuck an agreed-upon amount of money under each marker.
Each golfer starts at an agreed-upon distance from the scattered markers and takes a putt. If your ball hits one of the markers, the money is yours. Retrieve your prize and set up for another round until all the markers are hit.
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Benefits of indoor golf putting challenges
- Improves focus and concentration
- Inculcates friendly competition
- Convenient and accessible
- Provide a fun and social enrolment
- Improves hand-eye coordination
- Relieves stress
Indoor golf putting games not only add a fun element to indoor spaces but also help improve putting skills. As the reach of golf continues to expand, indoor golf challenges are set to open up a world of possibilities and learning.
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