Hockley

This is the largest of our residential greens: a contoured putting surface with several cups and flags, set into planted beds and rock borders, with enough run in it to practise lag putting rather than just tap-ins. A separate area of the same property is a shaded courtyard between the house and mature trees.

Contour is what separates a green from a flat patch of short turf. The base is shaped before the surface goes down — subtle falls and rises built into the aggregate, then compacted — so the ball breaks. The fringe is a longer pile seamed around the putting surface, and each cup is cut in and set flush to the turf.