Best Golf Mat
Having a good golf mat is essential for someone who is looking to practice at home, in a studio, anywhere with an outdoor space or even at the office! A good golf mat is one of the best golf accessories you can have if you're looking to get as much practice in to keep your game ticking over.
You might be looking for a golf mat to protect the lawn at home while you hit a few, you might be looking to have one to use to protect the fairways in winter or you might be looking for a golf mat to practice your putting stroke on. In this list, we have combined a number of different of the best golf mats to suit all abilities, budgets and practicalities. We have some affordable options to help you work away at your game as well as some mats that are more of an investment.
The difference between a hitting and putting mat is that the former is designed for full swings with clubs ranging from drivers to wedges. These mats are to help players work on their swings and practice their ball striking - our favorite being the Champkey Golf Mat. Whereas a putting mat is purely to help players work on their putting stroke and technique which might help players hole more putts on the green. We found this was the case with our top putting mat pick, the Perfect Practice Perfect Putting Mat. The clear difference between the two is why we have split this guide into two sections.
Whether you want to work on your swing or your putting stroke the best golf mat designs on the market are there to help you at home or out on the course. Additionally also take a look at our guides on the best golf net, best golf launch monitors or the best golf training aids.
Best Golf Mat
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Hitting Mats
Sizes: 3 sizes (8" x 17"; 13" x 17"; 1.5ft x 2.2ft)
+ As close as possible to interacting with real grass
+ Ideal, portable size
- Some might want a bigger hitting space
During testing we found the Champkey Golf Mat to be well made. The artificial grass isn’t too long or heavy so you get a realistic fairway-like feel as you strike the ball. It is also a good weight - heavy enough not to fly up off the ground as you hit the ball but not too onerous to carry and move around.
We thought it provided ample room for the club to interact with the mat through impact and would be great paired with one of the best golf nets.
Read our full Champkey Golf Mat Review
Size: 63.5cm x 40.64cm
+ Durable and well made
+ Three lengths
- Ideally needs to be paired with a proper net
SKLZ make high-quality products, (with the Grip Trainer being a particular favorite of ours, so much so it made our best golf training aids guide), and this mat is no exception. It is durable and feels well made whilst the three lengths of cut offer something a little different on each shot.
The tee turf, as you would expect with the name, holds tees nicely. The fairway cut simulates long and short iron shots from the middle of the fairway with a tight lie, whilst the 1st cut rough for practicing ball striking in deeper lies and improving recovery shots.
Size: 24" x 24"
+ Practice off three different lies
+ Compact and portable
- On the heavy side
This is a great option for a portable mat that offers you three different types of surface to hit off. The three turfs mimic the fairway, first cut and rough and give you the option to hone your skills of a number of surfaces, not just an easy fairway lie.
This is a great option for chipping if you want to protect your lawn but still practice your short game out of some dodgy lies, rather than just the bare lies often found on most golf mats.
Size: 25" x 16"
+ Foam base
+ Easy to transport
- Not the biggest
This has been designed to encourage you to work on your driving, chipping and fairway shots. There is 35mm rough grass which is ideal for chipping and iron shots (when you miss the fairway!), the same length to get a peg in the turf to practice your driving and the more compact 16mm turf to simulate your iron and wedge shots.
The beauty of this is that it’s perfect to transport around the place, has a foam padding base so you don’t feel like you’re going to do yourself an injury and has a non-slip backing material. It is simple and will give you hours of fun and functionality, helping you to improve your skills as a golfer.
Putting Mats
Size: 9'6" in length
+ High-quality materials
+ Golf ball comes right back to your feet
- Needs a large space to use effectively
Who better to advertise your product than the newly-crowned Masters champion Dustin Johnson? This features train track alignment lines, an auto-ball return and the hole is a reduced size to help narrow your focus. This can run at up to 14 on the Stimp meter – it features a unique crystal velvet material to produce a great pace – depending on the underlying surface and you can take it anywhere on your travels as it simply rolls up.
When a putt is holed, the ball rolls down the side track and right back to your feet, so no back pain. Also if you need to update your flat stick, then be sure to check out the best putters on the market too.
Read our full Perfect Practice Perfect Putting Mat review
Size: 2.4m x 50cm
+ One of the best putting mats on the market
+ Great for pace control
- Needs a fair amount of space
Complete with printed alignment guides, target points and distance markings, the mat replicates a medium-to-fast green. Improve your putting stroke and work on drills in the comfort of your own home. It runs at exactly 10 on the stimp meter, which gives you a consistent and relatively faced pace green to practice on and translates into more putts holed when you get out onto the course. Interestingly, we found this mat runs faster when placed on a hard floor rather than carpet so, if you have the room, you can alter the pace slightly.
Pair this with the PuttOut Pressure Trainer - a device that acts as a golf hole and fun drill - and you've got yourself an ideal home putting studio to work on the most important part of the game from the comfort of your own home.
Sizes: Two sizes (7.5 x 1.6 ft) & (11 x 2.2 ft)
+ Great roll and quality balls
+ Three options of ball and mat length
- A little on the pricey side
This putting mat comes with three revolutionary breaking balls that are weighted differently to replicate three severities of break. The green ball has a slight break, the red ball has a medium break and the blue ball has a heavy break. Inside the ball is a screw and, if the screw is on the right, the ball will break left to right and vice versa.
Previously, golfers have only been able to practice straight putts from the comfort of their own home, which you can of course do here using a normal ball, but the breaking balls add another dimension to your practice which should stand you in better stead when over a tricky six-footer on the course next time out.
Read our full Breaking Balls Putting Mat review
Size: 3m x 65cm
+ Plenty of options
+ Well put together
- No gradients
This will help to make putting fun again. You can work on your alignment, speed and distance control and it has dots located around the three-meter mat to get you hitting from different angles rather than hitting the same putt over and over again.
If you're looking for a golf ball to pair up with those alignment tools, pair this mat up with the TaylorMade TP5 Pix or the TaylorMade Tour Response Stripe.
It provides instant feedback on where your weakness might lie and it is built from a quality construction so it should last you forever. And it’s easy to roll up, too, so you can have it in the boot of the car for when you fancy rolling a few putts.
Size: 3m x 35cm
+ Tour validated design
+ Good for pace control
- Not as helpful with alignment
We have been fans of Wellputt mats for a while now because of the overall quality on offer. Endorsed by Jordan Spieth's coach Cameron McCormick, the Start Mat will improve distance control thanks to the three targets at different distances.
Additionally, the mat measures at three meters in length which is a very good length and it stimps at 10 as well. We like the fact the Wellputt Putting app is included because it comes with over 50 instructions on how to improve your putting game.
How we test golf gear
When it comes to testing golf mats, our comprehensive methodology revolves around, as you would expect, playing a lot of golf. We feel putting golf products to the test on the golf course, on the range and in practice is the best way to find out how usable and well-designed these golf accessories really are.
On that note, we feel it is particularly important to use all golf mats in different conditions, whether that is in your living room, on your patio, or even on grass. We look out for several features when we test golf mats, including the durability of the artificial grass, how similar the mat feels to real conditions and how convenient they are to use. The final point we should mention is no manufacturer can buy a good review. This is because our testing team tells it how it is and we seek to be as insightful and honest as possible.
What to consider when buying a golf mat
There are a number of different golf mats on the market, with each boasting an array of different features that you may want to look out for when you purchase your next golf mat. But which one is right for you? Well, there is a lot of choice out there but we recommend keeping in mind the below tips to make sure you make the most informed choice.
What do you want to practice?
First, if you’re looking to focus on a specific part of your game, then there will be a golf mat for that. Hitting mats like the ones above will help you work on full swings, chipping, pitching and more shots of that nature. Whereas if you want to work on your putting, there are loads of designs for that which will help in terms of alignment, pace control, stroke technique and so on.
Size
As you have seen, the best golf mats come in a variety of sizes. If you want models with a larger, or smaller footprint, there are designs out there for you. The thing to be aware of is how much space do you have to work with? This will then dictate which model to go for. Obviously, the above point on what you want to practice will also dictate the size of mat, because putting mats tend to be significantly larger than hitting mats.
Grass type
As we've seen above, some of the best hitting mats come with varying types and lengths of grass. That means you can practice all manner of shots and hone in on how you play from tougher lies or from the rough with your putting mat. On the other hand, you may also just want to use a mat with one type of grass to hone in on your wedge-play or long irons.
Convenience
Linking with the above point, how convenient do you want the mat to be, primarily in terms of how easy is it to store and put away. Some of the models above, like the PuttOUT Putting Mat roll up conveniently and easily in a bag, whilst hitting mats tend to be thicker and take up a bit more room.
Durability
The good thing about mats is they should last a long time because all you are doing on them is using them for their very purpose, practice. That being said there are still models out there which wear down too quickly which is why we have collated the models above because none of them should do that. Just be aware of cheap materials used on mats because they won't perform well in the long term.
FAQs
Which golf mat should I buy?
It depends on a) what you want to practise and b) how much space you have. If you're looking to focus on a specific part of your game, there will be a mat for that. We have a great guide on the best putting mats to guide you through even more options on the market.
If you're practising chipping, then one of the smaller mats will be ideal to use to protect the lawn. Maybe you want to check out our best golf nets guide to accompany the mat too.
Is a putting mat worth it?
Again, definitely. Putting is around 45 per cent of the game and plenty of us arrive on the 1st green feeling like we've never had a putter in our hands before. Go to any tour event and the putting green will be packed, go to your local club and we'll all be hitting three putts to the same hole and then straight to the 1st tee. This is a great way to nail down that putting stroke and get the fell of rolling the ball properly – and then seeing more putts drop!
Is a golf mat worth it?
Definitely. As we've all seen over the various lockdowns (and the surrounding videos) we can all find space to hit a few balls. You can practise all different parts of your game and you can really keep your game ticking over. You can take it anywhere, you don't have to ruin your lawn and it will last for years. The more durable the better is a good approach.
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