11/7/2012 9:11 AM
When it comes to painting cups for professional events, the lighter the better. Professional players do not like or want the cups painted as they claim it makes the edges harder and they make fewer putts??? When players putt badly, sometimes they do not pay much attention to the cup edges and when retrieving their ball, will knock a chunk of paint off. In windy conditions like you can have in Thailand, caddies will hit the edge of the cup with the flag stick and knock a chunk of paint off. The ONLY reason cups are painted are for the television audiences, so they can see where the player is putting to. It is probably not the paint that was the problem but rather the accumulated thatch/matt associated with the newer warm season turf varieties and the newer sand based greens you were working with; both may dry out quickly at the surface and the paint is easier to get chipped off. Hair spray, White Rain in a pump bottle, is a good trick to apply prior to painting as it sticks things together. You can also use a high sugar soda such as Mountain Dew, pouring some on the freshly cut cup and the sugar also keeps things stuck together prior to painting.