Zen Golf challenge: We attempt to hole the greatest putts ever made

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The Zen putting green stage on show at St Andrews

Matt Cooper
August 25, 2024

Ever wanted to test yourself with the greatest putts ever made?

Two years ago at the 150th Open in St Andrews, the Zen Golf Green Stage allowed you
to do just that at the Zen Famous Putts Challenge.

And it is back at this week’s AIG Women’s Open with five of the greatest putts made in women’s golf.

The challenge is a terrific way to highlight the amazing possibilities of this still relatively new technology that is transforming the putting skills of golfers around the
world.

You might have seen the Green Stage on Sky Sports coverage of the Open. In layman’s terms it is a moving floor, but in technical language it is adaptive terrain technology which instantly transforms a flat carpeted surface into a true-to-life immersive indoor golf experience, recreating just about any outdoor putting green you can think of.

Gradients of every kind – uphill, downhill, right to left, left to right, double breakers,
triple breakers, you name it – can appear in front of your eyes and beneath your
feet.

The world’s leading professionals and coaches are already fans, as is TV, and it is
increasingly open to golfers of all abilities.

Earlier this year there was a Zen Famous Putts Challenge at the Staysure Seniors PGA
Championship hosted by Colin Montgomerie at Trump International Golf Links and there will be another (for the third year running) at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which is back in St Andrews in October 2024.

“After these highly successful trials, the Zen Green Stage is now set to become part of the spectator experience at more Tour events in the future,” said Zen founder Nick Middleton.

“And it is not just about recreating history: while competitors are out there hitting putts in the tournament, you can be in the tented village hitting the same putts on the same day.”

The Green Stage moves to create the exact contours of each putt via instant touchscreen control. This functionality is also set to revolutionise putting lessons, with golf instructors able to preset putting drills and challenges during coaching and custom-fitting sessions.

Middleton continued: “It is a lot of fun, and unique to the Zen, to have this level of= reality. By recreating these iconic putts we have not only provided a way to celebrate some of the historic moments in the women’s game, but we have also created a world-class adjustable green for golfers to refine their putting skills – and to experience what their golfing heroes felt when faced with these exact putts.”

Golf365 took on the challenge. Here’s how we did and what we learned from the experience.

Putt 1

Lorena Ochoa’s 20-foot putt on the 17th hole on the Old Course when she won the 2007 Women’s British Open.

Our effort at this downhill double breaker went close but missed the hole and hit the back wall which counted as a three-putt in the challenge. It felt harsh because it briefly looked like going in!

Putt 2

Annika Sorenstam’s 8-foot birdie putt to win the play-off in the 2006 US Women’s Open. A downhill left-to-righter. Fearful of the three-putt rule our effort was weak and fearful. No win for us. Two putt.

Putt 3

Inbee Park’s 14-foot putt to win the 2013 US Women’s Open and with it win three straight majors. Another downhill effort but right to left. Feeling the earth move, so to speak, we felt knew what to do but the putt slipped by on the high side. Two putt. 0-for-3.

Putt 4

Suzann Pettersen’s 7-foor double breaker to win the 2019 Solheim Cup. An explosive memory but boy did we suffer a letdown. Pettersen stood tall. Pettersen hit a good pace. Pettersen won the Solheim Cup and retired from professional golf within minutes. Our effort pulled up short. Pathetic. Two putt. 0-for-4.

Putt 5

Juli Inkster’s 15-foot putt to keep hold of the lead late into her win in the 2022 US Women’s Open. Downhill, it starts right to left, then sneaks left to right. We nailed it. Finally! 1-for-5.

What did we learn?

Put simply, we’re not going to change history.

But here’s the thing. Feeling the ground move helped us appreciate Aimpoint, the method that is apparently used by about half of the professional golf world.

You really felt a sense of which way your feet were point. A neat change in perspective for the uninitiated.

The second big revelation was just how little change in slope had a profound affect on the borrow. You really don’t need a big borrow to prompt big swings. Worth remembering.

And the third big learning curve was the importance of knowing if the putt was uphill or downhill.

That weak 7-foot putt? It was all down to that subtle change. It was the only uphill putt and I was completely flummoxed by it.

If you can’t make it to the weekend of this year’s AIG Women’s Open or the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Zen Green Stages may well be at a golf tournament near you soon.