BirdieBall Tour Grade Turf vs PrimePutt Putting Green: Which Should You Buy?

Alright, let’s talk turf.

If you’ve shopped for a putting green lately, you’ve almost certainly run into both of these. PrimePutt, the official turf mat of the Korn Ferry Tour. And the BirdieBall Tour Grade Turf green, which does a whole lot of the same stuff for a whole lot less money.

And I mean a lot less. We’re talking a few hundred dollars less.

So the question I want to help you answer today is, when both of these are legit tour-grade turf mats, is PrimePutt really worth roughly triple the price?

You can probably guess where I’m going here. Honestly, for most golfers, I think this is a pretty easy decision. And I really don’t see why you’d have to pay the extra money.

Then again, there are a few real reasons why some of you should still pay up for the PrimePutt, and I’ll walk you through every one of them.

I’ve spent time on both. I’ll tell you what each one does well, where each one comes up short, and exactly who should buy which. So if a turf putting green is anywhere on your list, keep watching.

Two Very Similar Products at Very Different Price Points

Let’s set the table for this comparison because it’s a little different than your typical head-to-head.

Both of these are woven synthetic turf. Both are made in the USA. Both are built to give you a real, tour-speed roll in your house or your backyard. Basically, they are targeting the exact same golfer.

Where they differ is in philosophy and price.

PrimePutt sells itself as the premium, tour-endorsed, buy-it-once package. It comes as part of their “Break 30 Challenge,” which pairs the mat with a 30-day coaching program, and it’s priced like a premium product.

BirdieBall’s Tour Grade Turf green is the value play that doesn’t feel like a value play. You get high-end turf, a stack of accessories, and basically as many size options as you’ll ever need. And all for a price that, honestly, will make you do a double-take.

So keep that in mind as we go. This isn’t cheap versus good. It’s good versus good, at very different prices.

The Roll Is Great on Both

I’ll start with the thing that matters most on a putting green. The roll.

And, really, if I’m being honest, they’re very similar. Both of these roll great.

PrimePutt’s nylon turf is excellent. It’s smooth, it’s true, and it rolls in that 9 to 11 stimp range that feels a lot like the greens most of us play. Pros putt on it and rave about it, so that should tell you something.

BirdieBall’s turf is right there with it. It runs a touch quicker in the 10 to 11 stimp range, it’s grain neutral, and the whole design is built around a heavy face weight and a tight weave. Basically, that means fewer little gaps in the surface for your ball to wander into, so it holds its line nicely as the putt slows down.

If you put me on the spot, I’d give BirdieBall the slight edge on pure roll, mostly because of that heavy face weight. But I want to be honest with you. It’s a very slight difference. If roll quality alone is what you’re deciding on, you’d be happy with either one. It’s basically a tie, and I respect PrimePutt’s turf a lot.

So if they’re this close on the thing that matters most, everything else becomes the tiebreaker. And that’s where the gap starts to open up.

The Price Difference Is Almost Hard to Believe

Alright, let’s talk more about the money. Because that’s really where this kind of blows my mind. And it’s probably the part you’re most interested in.

The BirdieBall Tour Grade Turf green starts at $180 at regular price, and they’ve been running it closer to $150 on sale. That’s for high-quality tour turf with a full set of accessories.

PrimePutt’s Break 30 Challenge lists at $550, though it’s often on sale for closer to $450.

I mean, seriously, read those numbers again. At regular price, the BirdieBall is right around a third of the cost of the PrimePutt. That’s crazy!

Now, in fairness, you are getting some nice stuff for that extra money on the PrimePutt side. That $550 includes their 30-day coaching program, built by a PGA instructor, with a benchmark test on day one and day 30 and a money-back guarantee tied to whether your putting number improves. That’s real value, and for some people it’s worth paying for. I’ll come back to it in a minute.

But if what you want is a premium turf putting green to practice on, and you’d rather not pay for a coaching program, the math here is brutal. You could buy the BirdieBall, add a putting mirror, a couple of training aids, hell, maybe even a lesson with an actual human, and still spend less than one PrimePutt.

For a lot of golfers, that’s the whole story right there. But it gets even better for BirdieBall.

BirdieBall Gives You Way More Setup Flexibility

Here’s something that doesn’t hit you until you actually try to fit one of these into your space.

PrimePutt comes in three sizes. A 3 x 9, a 3 x 12, and a 3 x 15. All three are 3 feet wide. That’s it. I mean, those are good sizes, but if 3 feet wide doesn’t work for your room or your plan, you’re kind of screwed.

BirdieBall is a totally different story. You pick your width and your length separately. Widths run from a skinny 1.5 feet all the way up to a full 7.5 feet. Lengths go from 8 feet up to 18. So you can see that you’ve got tons of size combinations to choose from.

That flexibility is a big deal. Maybe you’ve got a narrow hallway where having that 1.5 or 2 foot option would really help. Or if you want a backyard green you can read putts on from a few different angles, go 6 or 7.5 feet wide. You’re not shoehorning your space to fit the mat. You’re picking the mat that fits your space.

And you get options on the holes, too. Depending on the size you choose, you get up to four drop-in cups with extraction flags, so you’re not bending over to dig balls out, plus a high-back cup for grooving firmer putts, hole plugs to take a cup out of play when you want, and a hole reducer to shrink the target when you want a challenge.

PrimePutt gives you a clean, fixed setup. BirdieBall gives you a kit and lets you build the green you actually want.

BirdieBall Is the Better Backyard Green

Alright, if your plan is to take one of these things outside, I’m sorry, but it’s really not even that close of a fight. I’d just get the BirdieBall and be done with it.

Both of these can technically go outdoors. But BirdieBall’s Tour Grade Turf green was built for the outdoors from the jump. The entire point of this product is a durable, thick-backed turf that can handle whatever weather, pets, and heavy traffic, indoors or out. Pair that with the wider size options I just mentioned and you can build a legit backyard putting green, not just a mat you roll out on the patio for a few minutes.

I will say that artificial turf can be damaged by extreme reflected heat. Like the kind that bounces off certain windows or metal surfaces in direct sun. BirdieBall says as much right on their website. So be smart about where you set it up outside, or roll it up when it’s really baking out there. It’s definitely not a dealbreaker, but it’s something to be aware of.

But if your dream is a real backyard putting setup, this is the one built for that job. It rolls up and stores flat when you’re done, and it lays right back down flat every time.

You Can Build Breaks Into the BirdieBall

Here’s another spot where these two products go in opposite directions.

PrimePutt is flat, on purpose. Their reasoning is solid. Their whole argument is that you learn to read greens out on the course, and what you build at home is a repeatable stroke. A flat surface lets you drill your face angle and your speed. It’s a legitimate philosophy, and plenty of good coaches would back it.

But BirdieBall gives you the option to do more.

The turf green comes with a hole-deepening shim that pulls double duty. You can use it to deepen the cup for a satisfying drop-in feel, or you can slide it under the surface to create a break wherever you want one. And if you really want to lean into it, BirdieBall sells a full contour shim set separately that lets you build in uphill, downhill, and sidehill reads.

So with PrimePutt, flat is the entire product. With BirdieBall, flat is the starting point, and breaks are there whenever you feel like practicing them. Personally, I like having that choice, and I think a lot of other people will too.

Where PrimePutt Still Wins

There are some real reasons some of you should buy the PrimePutt. So if any of what I’m about to say describes you, don’t let me talk you out of it.

There’s the coaching program. The PrimePutt comes with that 30-day Break 30 plan built by a PGA instructor, plus the benchmark test and a money-back guarantee if your number doesn’t improve. If you’re the kind of golfer who needs a structured plan and a little accountability to actually practice, that program definitely has real value. And BirdieBall can’t match that. With BirdieBall, you’re on your own to build your own routine.

Then there’s the tour pedigree. Look, personally, I don’t read too much into a paid endorsement, but whatever. PrimePutt is the official mat of the Korn Ferry Tour and has real PGA Tour players putting on it and endorsing it. So if that stamp of approval means something to you, then go with the PrimePutt.

I’ve also got to say that the PrimePutt is a damn nice-looking product. The furniture-grade walnut backstop that catches your balls looks sharp in a nice room. It’s got distance markers built right into the turf. And the whole thing feels designed to sit out and be seen. BirdieBall’s green is more of a build-it-yourself kit. So if you want something that looks like a finished piece of furniture, PrimePutt wins out.

None of that changes my personal overall pick. But those are honest wins for PrimePutt, and for the right buyer, they may really matter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should You Buy the BirdieBall or the PrimePutt?

Here’s how I’d sort it out.

Buy the PrimePutt if you want that structured coaching program and the guarantee that comes with it. Or if the tour endorsement really matters to you. Or if you want the most polished, premium-looking setup you can put in a room and you don’t mind paying up for it. It’s definitely a quality product. I’m not trying to say it’s not.

But for most golfers, I just think the BirdieBall Tour Grade Turf green is the better choice. And it’s really not that close. You get turf that rolls right there with PrimePutt’s. You get more size options than anybody else is offering, including more width flexibility. You get a green that’s actually built to stay outside. You get breaks when you want them. And you get all of it for roughly a third of the price.

When two products roll this similarly and one of them costs three times as much, I mean, come on. Is there really a lot to talk about here? Yes, PrimePutt has the coaching program and the name and the classier look. If those are the things you want, you do you. But me? I’m saving the cash and enjoying the BirdieBall Tour Grade Turf. I feel very good about that.

How about you? Do you have a take or opinion about either of these products? Any others that I should consider? Let me know in the comments.

As always, thanks for watching. Please remember to like and subscribe. Your support means a lot to me, and I thank you. Until next time, I’ll see you out on the course.

About the author

Paul Liberatore

Paul Liberatore is the founder of Golfers Authority and a former four-year golf gear contributor to Sports Illustrated. He tests golf equipment hands-on to help golfers make better buying decisions.

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