A golf simulator setup is a big investment, and every component plays a role in how well it works. While it’s easy to focus on the flashy parts—like your launch monitor or projector—there’s one piece that is equally critical but often overlooked: the hitting mat.
This humble piece of turf is more than just a surface to hit from. It can determine how accurate your data is, how realistic your practice feels, and how long you can play without risking injury.
Not all golf mats are created equal, and the differences between them can be dramatic. Size, price, material, and performance are all factors you need to consider carefully.
A good mat should provide accurate feedback, feel as close to real grass as possible, and protect your body from the repetitive impact of practicing.
The wrong mat, on the other hand, can give you misleading data, wear out too quickly, and even cause joint pain.
In this post, you’ll see the name Fiberbuilt come up a lot. And for good reason. They’ve set the industry standard for golf mats.
But as the premium option, Fiberbuilt’s products are a bit spendy for some people. If you’re working on a tighter budget, don’t worry. There are still excellent alternatives available.
As always, finding the right fit for you depends on your specific situation. As you’re reading through this list of recommendations, keep these questions in mind:
- Are you looking for an indoor-only golf mat, or do you need something that can also be used outside?
- How committed are you to your golf practice setup? Do you want to pay more for something that’s going to last you for years, or are you OK with a stop-gap solution that might save you money but wear out a little faster?
- Are you a “picker” or a “digger”? Depending on whether you have a shallow or steep angle of attack may dictate how important a forgiving surface will be for your health. If you dig into the turf, too hard of a mat may lead to injury.
What Is a Golf Hitting Mat?
Just in case you’re brand new to golf…
A golf hitting mat is a specifically designed surface that allows golfers to hit golf shots away from the actual golf course.
You’ve probably seen them at most driving ranges. They’re typically used when the ground is too wet or has gone dormant in the off season. The golf course will require golfers to hit off of the mats to allow the natural grass hitting areas to recover.
Mats are often very unpopular. Many golfers hate them. Some refuse to use them, choosing to just skip range sessions if they are limited to hitting off of mats.
That bad name that mats have gotten has mostly to do with the really poor-quality variety. Golf courses are running a business. Many of them cheap out when it comes to outfitting their ranges with hitting mats.
That leads to a lot of bad experiences where golfers are hitting off of surfaces so hard that they feel like concrete.
Or the opposite. Surfaces that are so squishy that it’s like hitting out of a swamp.
In either case, the common complaint is that mats don’t feel anything like the real grass out on the course.
But good golf hitting mats actually do replicate natural turf. At least to an extent. You’re never going to get divots hitting off of a mat, of course. But there are mats that really do accurately mimic the club-turf interactions you’d encounter out on the real golf course.
The trick is to know which golf mats are worth owning. That’s especially true for more and more golfers now that so many people are building their own indoor golf simulator spaces.
If you’re planning an indoor golf setup, a hitting mat isn’t just some annoyance at the driving range during the offseason. It’s a very important part of achieving the kind of setup you can use all day and night, just as you’ve envisioned in your golf simulator dreams!
So, let’s make sure you get it right. There are so many choices available, but I’ve narrowed it down to what I think are the options that are actually worth owning.
Here are the 8 best golf mats of 2025. No matter the size of your space or the amount in your budget, there’s an option for you on this list.
Best Golf Hitting Mat for Most People: Fiberbuilt Performance Turf Series
If it says Fiberbuilt, it’s worth owning.
This company, far more than any other, is obsessive about getting their golf mats right. They go to incredible lengths to ensure that the synthetic turf behaves just like real grass.
That means that the club-turf interaction mimics what you’d get out on the course. Which means that if you’re using an accurate golf launch monitor and a Fiberbuilt mat, you can actually trust the data.
With cheaper golf hitting mats, the mat will either be too hard or too soft. In either instance, the ball will contact the clubface either too low or too high on the clubface, which results in data that isn’t reflective of what you’d see when hitting off of real grass.
On top of all that, Fiberbuilt’s mats are built to last. Each mat has a layer of rubber tiles in a tray under the mat. That provides stability and shock absorption. Most golf mats have a foam layer underneath, attached to the mat with glue. Fiberbuilt’s solution is much better for injury prevention and durability.
The Performance Turf Series is Fiberbuilt’s entry-level turf. Which, of course, means it’s the most affordable. You can do better than the Performance Turf, and we’ll get into that below. But for the highest number of users, this mat is going to be just right. It’s far better than cheaper options, and yet it’s not quite the bank-breaker of the highest-end choices.
The Performance Turf is engineered to replicate the feel and behavior of a bentgrass fairway.
Another bonus with the Performance Turf Series is that you can use real tees with this type of mat! There are very few golf mats for which it’s an option to use the same golf tees that you’d use outdoors.
We continue to be impressed by Fiberbuilt mats, and when it comes to a premium hitting or practice surface - this is where we most often tell people to go.
Best Indoor-Only Golf Mat: Sigpro Softy
Overall build quality and engineering might not be up to the level of a Fiberbuilt mat, but there is a lot to like about the Sigpro Softy. It’s a popular option for good reason.
One thing I like is that it’s very customizable. There are multiple size options, and you can even purchase strip extensions to help with things like keeping a radar golf launch monitor on the same height level as your hitting surface.
This is a durable mat that’s going to allow for thousands of shots. And it includes a replaceable hitting strip, so that you can always cycle through strips when one wears out without having to replace the whole mat.
For indoor users, this is a solid alternative to “Best Golf Hitting Mat for Most People.” I think the nod still goes to the Fiberbuilt Performance Turf, but the Sigpro Softy does have some advantages.
Best Golf Mat with Multiple Hitting Surfaces: Fiberbuilt Grass Series
One of the coolest things about Fiberbuilt mats is that they make them to mimic different types of grass. So not only are you getting the beyond-a-doubt highest-quality mat, but you can tailor your experience to what matches your most typical outdoor rounds.
The Fiberbuilt Grass Series mats are meant to replicate a zoysia grass fairway. If you’ve played on zoysia, you know that the ball tends to sit up a bit higher, and that’s exactly what you get with the Grass Series mats.
Another huge advantage of the Grass Series is that these are Fiberbuilt’s most durable mats. They guarantee them for up to 300,000 shots from the same divot area. That’s insane! That alone is reason enough to buy with confidence. With cheaper mats, you’re not going to anything even remotely close to that kind of durability.
And if you still need more reason, the Fiberbuilt Grass Series is also designed as the company’s most injury-preventive hitting surface. So, yeah, your body might actually be able to hold up for those 300,000-plus golf shots.
Fiberbuilt offers their Grass Series as a 1-foot-wide hitting strip in multiple configurations. You can get a mat that has a strip in the center of the mat, allowing for both right-handed and left-handed use. Or you can choose an option with a strip on either side of the mat, or one that has a Grass Series strip on both sides of the mat. Each Grass Series hitting strip includes six tee holes spaced across the mat.
For these Fiberbuilt mats that include the Grass Series strips, the rest of the mat is made up of Fiberbuilt’s Performance Turf, meaning you get the added benefit of having two hitting surface options within one mat.
Best Golf Mat to Simulate Intermediate Rough: The Country Club First Cut Golf Mat by Real Feel Golf Mats
One thing about golf mats is that almost all of them are designed to mimic fairway conditions. In fact, with most of them, the artificial turf height is so low it’s like hitting off of a putting green.
But if your game is anything like mine, you play plenty of your golf shots from the rough. So why not get some practice in from a surface that better replicates those conditions?
The Country Club First Cut Golf Mat won’t give you the feel of the gnarly deep stuff, but its turf pile is higher than normal, meant to mimic first-cut or intermediate rough conditions.
If you really want to get serious about your indoor golf practice, maybe you add this mat to your mix so that you can get in some reps from varying turf conditions.
Available as a 5’ x 5’ mat or 1’ x 3’, 1’ x 4’, and 1’ x 5’ hitting strips.
"The only golf mat designed to simulate first cut rough."
Best Hitting and Putting Mat Combination: Fiberbuilt Combo Golf Hitting & Putting Mat System
If you’re planning a sim studio and you’ve got a golf launch monitor that can track putting, here’s an all-in-one, best-of-both-worlds option.
Not only do you get a Fiberbuilt golf mat (ya ain’t gonna do better than that), but you also get a putting mat that includes two cups. And they aren’t cheap plastic cups either. These are real metal cups that give you that auditory feedback when you sink one, just like on the real course.
You can get a Fiberbuilt combo mat in multiple configurations. But the one I like best includes two Fiberbuilt Grass Series strips with the rest of the surface made up of Fiberbuilt Performance Turf.
So, with this mat you get two distinctly different hitting surfaces and a putting surface. That’s a win-win-win. And it’s the perfect option for a lot of home golf simulator setups.
Most Premium Golf Hitting Mat: Fiberbuilt Player Preferred Series
It’s not cheap, but Fiberbuilt’s Player Preferred Series is the absolute best. If you’re super serious about achieving the utmost accuracy with your golf hitting mat, this is undoubtedly your best choice.
This is the highest-end offering from a company that’s obsessed with golf hitting mat accuracy and quality. This is the mat they recommend to the pros. It’s the one that, as confirmed by Foresight GCQuad testing, best replicates club and natural turf interaction.
While the other Fiberbuilt hitting surfaces (Grass Series and Performance Turf) are awesome, they still do cause a bit of mat effect, meaning that the ball contacts the clubface just a smidge lower or higher than on comparable outdoor natural grass surfaces.
The Player Preferred Series isn’t quite as durable as the other Fiberbuilt mats, but it is the pinnacle of their engineering efforts. They liken it to a performance tire that’s all about the highest possible performance but with the tradeoff of a little less durability.
Again, if you want the ultimate accuracy for your golf simulator studio, this is the mat you need to buy.
Want the best of the best for your indoor golf simulator? It doesn't get much better than the Fiberbuilt Player Preferred.
Best Budget Golf Hitting Mat: DURA-PRO Golf Mat
If you’re looking for an inexpensive golf mat that is still worth owning, I’d consider the DURA-PRO.
The quality here is not up to Fiberbuilt standards, but it is much higher than the cheap mats you definitely want to avoid.
Additionally, the DURA-PRO will hold up to repeated use both indoors and outdoors.
With a heavy foam backing, this mat is also very stable. One annoyance with cheap mats is that they often slide all over the place as you ramp up your swing speed. That’s a non-issue with this mat.
You can definitely do better than the DURA-PRO. But, more importantly, you can do much, much worse. For a price starting at $89, this is a solid option for a budget-conscious golfer. And it comes with a ball tray and three rubber golf tees.
Most Portable Golf Hitting Mat: PGM DJD005
This mat really isn’t what you’re looking for if you’re trying to build a dream indoor golf simulator studio.
But for a quick backyard session when you just want to get some reps in without spending a lot of money? Yeah, it’ll get the job done.
Its small size makes it simple to transport and to store.
And you get the bonus of having two different-length synthetic grass surfaces. So, if you want to hit off of a fairway or practice tee shots, you’ve got that option. And if you want to work on shots out of the rough, this will help you with that as well.
While this isn’t anywhere close to the highest quality mat on this list, it does have a rubber base that makes it stable. And, for only $51.33, it’s not a bad way to get something on the cheap.
How To Choose the Right Golf Hitting Mat
Finding the right golf mat fit for you really comes down to your expectations for accuracy and how often you plan to use it.
Let’s say you’re not planning to pull out your golf hitting mat only occasionally. Maybe you live in a fairly temperate climate and only plan to use it to get in a few swings once in a while when the weather just won’t cooperate.
In that case, you probably don’t want to spring for a mat that’s going to cost hundreds or even more than a thousand dollars. You might not even plan to use your mat with a golf launch monitor. Maybe you just want to take a few cuts, hitting into a net.
If that’s you, I’d look at something like the DURA-PRO or the PGM. In both cases, you can get out the door for less than $100 and still have a mat that will give you some semblance of realism. Of the two, the DURA-PRO is the nicer option. But the PGM has the advantages of portability and multiple synthetic grass lengths.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you’re dead set on owning the best, maybe for your ultimate golf simulator studio, just buy the Fiberbuilt Player Preferred Series with absolute confidence. No other mat is going to mimic real-grass club/turf interaction like that one.
And then there are a host of options in the middle. Personally, if I was building an indoor golf simulator studio and I wanted close to the best, I’d choose from one of the other Fiberbuilt options or the SigPro Softy. You’re not going to go wrong with either choice.
One word of advice: If you’re going to use your golf hitting mat often, don’t cheap out. If you try to spend as little as possible, you’re just begging for injury, not to mention an unrealistic experience.
Do you have a golf hitting mat that you swear by? Let us and the other readers know in the comments.
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