Rawhide V2 mat review.

A conventional mid-tier simulator mat, an even 15 mm of pile over 15 mm of rubber.

The mat

Rawhide V2. Approximately 15 mm of grass over roughly 15 mm of rubber. A mid-tier simulator mat.

What we have and have not measured. The construction figures below are the manufacturer's published specifications. The anchoring behaviour is reasoned from that construction, not from a production test: our tee is still in development and we have not run one across a controlled set of mats. When we have measured results we will publish them with the date and the method. We would rather tell you what we know than imply a test programme we have not run.

What the construction implies

An even split between pile and rubber puts the Rawhide V2 in the middle of the range in every respect. Nothing about the construction is unusual, which for a practice surface is mostly a compliment: it behaves predictably and there is no single dimension that dominates how it plays.

Why the rubber layer is the number that matters

Every hitting mat is two materials doing two jobs. The synthetic pile on top sets how the club interacts with the surface at the moment of contact. The rubber beneath sets what happens to a strike that arrives early. Pile height gets quoted in marketing copy because it is visible. The rubber is what actually decides whether the mat behaves anything like turf.

A dense rubber layer resists the sole of the club. Turf does not: it breaks, takes a divot, and tells you honestly that you were fat. On rubber the sole skids or bounces forward into the back of the ball, and the shot leaves at a respectable speed. That is the central problem with mat practice, and it is worse on thin, dense mats than on thick, forgiving ones.

What this means for a surface-sit tee

A tee that sits on top of a mat rather than through it needs two things from the surface: a flat enough pile to seat a wide foot without rocking, and enough compliant rubber for soft anchor spikes to grip and then release without leaving permanent holes. 15 mm of rubber under 15 mm of pile is the figure to weigh when you are judging whether any surface-mounted tee, ours or anyone else's, will stay put through a driver swing.

Protecting the mat

Mats fail in one spot, not all over, because golfers hit from the same place every time. Whatever tee system you use, move your stance around the mat rather than wearing a crater into one patch. Steel-spiked anchors cut synthetic fibres and the holes never close. That is a permanent change to the surface you paid it for.

Is the Rawhide V2 a good mid-range golf mat?

Its construction is conventional, roughly 15 mm of pile over 15 mm of rubber, which puts it in the middle of the market on both feel and durability.

Does mat thickness affect ball flight?

Indirectly. Mat construction changes what happens on an early strike, and an early strike that bounces rather than digs will produce different launch and spin than the same swing would on turf.

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