Is There A Limit To How Small A Golf Green Can Be?

One of the great things about golf is the variety of challenges that different courses around the world present. In tennis, a court in Australia has the same dimensions as a court in Brazil. Football pitches across the world are roughly the same size…

But each of the near 40,000 golf courses across the world is different. Different designs and layouts over different terrains with different turfs and grasses. Courses vary in length and width. Greens can be sprawling or tiny.

The smallest greens on planet golf are almost always found on par-3 holes. Generally, on the shortest par-3 holes. Perhaps the most famous of the lot is the “Postage Stamp” 8^th hole at Royal Troon (as pictured above.) It’s just 123 yards long but the target is extremely narrow protected by slopes and perilous bunkers, including the infamous “coffin.”

30 yards long and between 9 and 14 yards across, at some 2,600 square feet, it might not appear that minute on paper. But stand up on the tee, playing into the teeth of a 30mph gale, the target looks very small indeed.

There are smaller greens by area than the Postage Stamp. Depending on the length of the hole and the prevailing conditions, small targets might be a hole’s main protection.

But is there a limit to how small a green can be? Are there Rules to say a putting surface must be of a certain size?

The answer to that is no. There are guidelines but no actual Rule to say that a green must be a minimum size.

In this instance, common sense must prevail. A hole with a green with dimensions of one yard by one yard would be ridiculous. It would look crazy, it would be unplayable and nobody would enjoy it.

A green should be of a fair size to present a suitable challenge for the length of the hole. It should be wide and deep enough that there are reasonable pin positions available.

Again, there is no absolute Rule on how far a pin should be placed from the edge of the putting surface although, again, there are guidelines.

In the Committee Procedures section of the Rules of Golf, the following is advised in 5F(2):

“Setting holes where there is enough putting green surface between the hole and the front and sides of the putting green to accommodate the approach on that particular hole. For example, placing the hole immediately behind a bunker when a long approach is required by the majority of the field is usually not recommended.”

So, the rule of thumb is there should be space to realistically land a ball between the hole and the edge of the putting surface.

Greens should be large enough for that to be the case. If a green is too narrow or too shallow, it may not be feasible to have a pin position that allows the player to keep the ball on the surface and have a putt, even if they play the correct shot.

So, is there a limit to how small a golf green can be? Technically, no. But practically, if a green is too small for good shots to stay on the short stuff, then the hole could be unfair, even unplayable. Committees and greens teams should and will look to keep the test fair and reasonable. Small greens can present a fun test, but too small and the test becomes too severe.