Golf greens can come in all shapes and sizes, from the likes of the titchy one on Royal Troon’s 8th hole, The Postage Stamp, to some sprawling monsters.
But first some context: a recent study by the USGA found that the average size of a green in the United States is about 5,500 square feet, or an eighth of an acre. The average green size on the PGA Tour is 6,600 sq ft.
The European Club in Brittas Bay, Wicklow, Ireland was designed, and is owned, by Pat Ruddy. He wanted to have a par-4 hole which measured over 500 yards.
He knew that the official distances of golf holes are measured to the middle of a green. So if he built a very deep green, a back pin position on it could allow a hole officially measured as 460 yards to be played over 500 yards.
So that is what he did.
The putting surface on the 12th hole is believed to be the longest green in the world, at 127 yards. Its width is 18 yards at its narrowest and 33 yards at its widest, and it covers 29,147 sq ft.
In terms of putting greens, the one at Te Arai Links in New Zealand measures over 190 yards by 50 yards and is known as The Playground, and where 12 to 18 holes are laid out.
It claims, at a little over two acres, to be the world’s largest putting green. It thereby just eclipses the Himalayas at St Andrews, which is more formerly known as the St Andrews Ladies' Putting Club.
Guinness World Records still name Spring Lake Golf and Tennis Resort as having the largest golf green in the world with the 9th hole of the Osprey Course, Sebring, Florida, USA. It measures 42,070 sq ft (3,908 sq m), or just under an acre.
However this golf resort has been bought and re-named as the Sebring International Golf Resort. That green still exists. But under a redesign of the golf offering at the resort, it is now a double green and serves as the 2nd and 8th on the Green Course.
Royal Troon’s The Postage Stamp, by the way, is 30 yards deep and 14 yards wide at its widest, and 9 at its narrowest, and covers 2,635 square feet. So you could fit almost sixteen versions of the Postage Stamp’s green into that one at Sebring.
