How to Design a Golf Course in Your Backyard

Think about how much time and space you have. It will be more work than you think to design the course, maintain it, and depending on how complex it is, you may not be able to tear it down if you don't want it anymore. You will need a fairly large backyard in order to do this.

• • Of course, it's just going to be one hole. It's not an entire nine or eighteen hole course.

Start with the equipment. Make sure you have a pitching wedge/sand wedge and a putter. These are the only clubs you will really need if you're just golfing in your backyard. Make sure to have multiple balls, since you may lose some. Also make sure you have a good grass mower that can cut the grass nice and short.

Decide what kind of ground you will have the course on. If you own a very large piece of land, and are willing to spend lots of time maintaining the course, maybe you could make a par four or five. But if you just have an average big backyard, it should be a par three, definitely. Make sure that on the land you are designing the course on, that it is rather flat and not too bumpy; that is, it doesn't have many hills or slopes.

• • If you have a fairly sized backyard, your course should be about 15 yards (13.7 m) long.

Mow the fairway. It would be neat to mow every other row, so it's striped like a real fairway. You should mow the fairway every 3-4 days. Depending on how big your backyard is, you should make the fairway about 8–10 feet (2.4–3.0 m). across.

• • Make sure the grass around the fairway is rather long (3-4 in.) so you have a rough. Also, always make sure the fairway is a little longer than the green.

Mow the green. To mow the green, set your mower blades to the lowest setting so the grass is extra short. Try to place the green on the flattest surface of your yard. You should mow the green every 2 days. Sort of try to line the green up with the fairway, but don't connect the fairway and green directly. Leave a few feet in between for the rough. The green should be, depending on the size of your course, roughly around 8 feet (2.4 m). x 8 feet (2.4 m).

• • Try to make the green about the same width as the fairway.

Create 2-3 sand traps/hazards. Buy 2-3 large sandbags at a hardware store. You shouldn't need any more than three sand traps throughout your course. Try to have at least one along the side of the fairway and at least one in front, behind, or alongside the green. The sand traps should be no bigger than 5 feet (1.5 m). x 5 feet (1.5 m). While sand traps are not necessarily, they make a good touch and reputation for a golf course.