Sean, As an avid golfer, also sometimes golf course landscaper when called upon and having owned property in four different golf course communities .....and at the moment living across from an artificial putting green which allowed me to closely watch its installation several years ago....here are a few thoughts.

The putting green holds up well to weather/wildlife. That is not the problem. As you talk with various pros make an attempt to play on one of their putting green products. This is what you are watching for. During installation there will be lots of rolling/smoothing etc. to prepare a proper base for the artificial grass. And, rolling again as it is installed.

Now comes the problem, punching the putting holes through the artificial grass. As each hole is punched the pressure raises the soil below and leaves a slight raised area around the hole which is difficult to restore/press down. To the dedicated golfer this is a frustrating situation. Rather than putting 'to the hole' you find yourself putting to correct a poor installation. Hard to explain. Discuss it with installers as you meet with them. This is why you should 'try out' putting greens they have installed. It is an expensive toy!

Is the area so raised that you couldn't just hammer it down with a piece of wood after the unfreezing/thawing each year?

I have no experience with putting greens; however, a neighbor installed a very expensive artificial turf about 15 years ago. Except for leaves not blowing away by themselves, it looks amazing. I'm not sure what happened in the past few years, but the installation started to look lumpy. They had someone pull parts of it back to fix it, but it still looks uneven. They probably should have taken it all off and started over to smooth out the profile of the soil underneath. After all this time the soil underneath looked like rubble, so I'm not sure why that would be except maybe heavy rains over the years washing out the fine parts of the soil and leaving only the rocks.

Nandina, are you the same nandina from decades ago?

Thanks - did it last 15 years before it started looking lumpy? I believe that is the approximate useful life of the artificial greens. Or did it start looking like that sooner? Are they still getting use out of it?

Yes it did and I failed to emphasize that it looked (surprisingly) beautiful for all that time.

Are they getting use out of it? Their garden is a visual showplace and not a "useful" garden. It is not for playing on at all. The property is on a slope which they enhanced by creating a rolling hill look for the artificial turf. If I can get a picture without looking creepy, I'll post it here.

Sean, sorry. I do not know the answer to your question. Mainly I just wanted to alert you to this common installation problem if you decide to press on with the project. It should be discussed with your chosen installer before signing a contract.

And, a 'hello' to dchall in San Antonio. Yup, one and the same. I am still working on organic projects.