The Advisor Golf Digest Dear Golf Digest: As a summer project, I'm thinking of building a practice putting green in my backyard. What are my chances of ever getting it to roll like you see on TV? R.D., Roanoke, Va. Unless you're the Tiger Woods of backyard gardening, you'll never duplicate the kind of Stimpmeter readings you see on tournament-quality greens. You think the greenkeeper at your local course is just some sunbaked yahoo riding around all day on a Toro? Chances are he (or she) is a college graduate with a shelf full of agronomy textbooks and a test tube or two sprouting experimental grass cultivars. For instance, here's just a partial rundown of what Mark Gross, a superintendent at Doral Golf Resort & Spa, goes through to get the tifdwarf Ber-muda greens of the Blue Monster rolling pure for the pros: First he verticuts the greens, then topdresses and brushes them to work the topdressing in and to get the blades to stand straight up. He then double-cuts every morning and rolls each green at night. And that's leaving out the watering, fertilizing, aerating and pesticide spraying he does at other times of the year, not to mention the special prayers he says to keep critters and vandals away. Save yourself time and money over the long run: Use a company that installs artificial putting greens. The latest turfs are first-rate for backyard putting and require little or no maintenance.