Reading the Green

steve.burkie

Hi Guys,

Just wondering does anybody know of any books that educate people in how to read greens, what needs to be taken into consideration, obviously sloop is a major factor;) but grain and the like....

stockdam

Possibly Peltz's Putting Bible........although I don't like it as I think it doesn't need a large book to talk about putting.

Reading greens is not easy........it takes experience and a "knack".

The only thing that I can say is to get the pace of your long putts correct and for short putts a good technique is probably more important (also monitor to see if you miss putts on the high side or low side). Sometimes when you are in doubt and see no break then you should not aim outside of the hole.

Mister Sifter

Grain surely isn't that big a concern on Irish greens? I don't think i ever allow for it.

stockdam

Mister Sifter wrote: »

Grain surely isn't that big a concern on Irish greens? I don't think i ever allow for it.

That's what I think too.......it's different for thick bladed grass in say USA.

GreeBo

stockdam wrote: »

That's what I think too.......it's different for thick bladed grass in say USA.

Depends on the course, any of them that sow a bent grass will have a grain thats noticeable. There are lots of Irish courses with creeping bent grass (CBG) in/on them.

/edit
Regarding the reading of greens. I think most people have a problem that relates back to an inconsistent stroke. They then wrongly believe that they didnt hit "that one" hard enough, or maybe too hard. The reality is that the ball is coming off random parts of the putter causing varying ball distance for the same length of stroke. The has obvious implications for break.

kagni

How about this free putting e-book --- http://puttingzone.com/puttmanual.html

Mister Sifter

Best piece of advice i ever got about reading a putt was to get down behind the ball and imagine you were going to roll the ball to the hole with your hand. Great for visualisation.

The_Architect

GreeBo wrote: »

Depends on the course, any of them that sow a bent grass will have a grain thats noticeable. There are lots of Irish courses with creeping bent grass (CBG) in/on them.

If you'll excuse the correction, this is the wrong way round.

Bent grasses have been frequently used in Ireland for reconstructed USGA greens. These are fine leaved and therefore grain is less important. Links courses with high fescue / bent content would be the same.

Older traditional parkland courses with push-up greens will likely have a high poa annua content on their greens. Grain is more important in these cases.

Bermuda grass (not found in Ireland on golf courses) has worse grain than all of the above.

stockdam

I've yet to find a course in Ireland where I've had to allow for the grain......shinny in one direction and dark in the other.

WHIP IT!

GreeBo wrote: »

Regarding the reading of greens. I think most people have a problem that relates back to an inconsistent stroke. They then wrongly believe that they didnt hit "that one" hard enough, or maybe too hard. The reality is that the ball is coming off random parts of the putter causing varying ball distance for the same length of stroke. The has obvious implications for break.

Couldnt agree with this more. How often have you had to listen to a playing partner race a putt 12 feet by and then utter in disbelief "God, that was quick wasn't it, the last one was much slower!"

And you just want to say: "No, you tit - it's downhill and ye whacked it!"

elbows666

I consider myself a reasonably good reader of greens and these are my main thoughts on reading greens.

- walk the putt to get a feel for distance and observe as you are walking.

- Always look at a putt side-on preferably from the lowest point of the slope and look up the slope. This will give you an idea of where the slopes are coming from. i.e. Mainly flat, slightly uphill etc.

- Watch what your playing partners putts do as even if they are not on the same line it will give you an idea of where the slopes are around the hole relative to your putt.

- Finally Always try to visualise holing the putt even for long putts (can be difficult).