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Reading Golf Greens Doesn't Start on the Putting Surface

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You Start Reading Golf Greens About 100 Yards Out

Reading a golf green begins well before you get to the putting surface. From a distance you need to get a general lay of the land. This is much easier if you're walking. When you're riding in a cart, you don't have as much time to make the needed observations.

Pay attention to the contour of the terrain. As a rule of thumb, greens are usually built to slant from back to front. But surrounding hills or mountains will definitely make greens slope in a certain direction.

Look for lakes, ponds, and water hazards. Greens are built with drainage in mind. They will usually drain towards nearby water.

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Contents at a Glance

Reading Golf Greens - Slope
Reading Golf Greens - Grain
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Reading Golf Greens - Speed
Reading Golf Greens
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Now we need to consider the slope, the slant or tilt of the green.

We have reached the putting surface. Is the green bowl-shaped, humped, terraced or relatively flat? Where is the low point of the green? If we poured water on the green, which way would it run off?

Walk from your ball to the hole. Sometimes you can feel the slope with your feet better than you can see it. Determine whether you are going uphill, downhill, or sidehill.

You should now have a pretty good understanding of the slope of the green. Based on that understanding, you can begin to determine the break of your putt.

To become a really good putter, you need to get skillful at reading golf greens. And you might want to check out Putting Fundamentals and also Short Game Tips and Drills.

Reading Golf Greens - Grain

Now we need to consider the grain, the direction in which the grass tends to grow.

Standing behind your ball and looking toward the hole, if the grass appears light and shiny, then the grain is with you. A putt with the grain will be faster and will break less. If the grass appears dark and dull, then the grain is against you. A putt against the grain will be slower and will break more.

On some bent grass greens, the grain will have little effect. On some Bermuda greens, the grain will be a very significant factor. Remember, when reading a green, grain will have an influence on both speed and break.

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Reading Golf Greens - Speed

Besides slope and grain, another factor that influences speed is the manner in which the greens are mowed and maintained.

During tournaments, it is customary to increase the speed of the greens. This can be done in a couple of ways. The putting surfaces can be double cut, cut first in one direction and then cut again perpendicular to the first mow. The greens can also be rolled. Machine rolled greens have greater surface firmness, smoothness, and speed.

The weather can also dictate how greens are prepared. When it is very hot and humid, the greens superintendent may choose to leave the grass a bit longer, which slows down the putting surfaces. When there is a lot of rain, mowing may be deferred, which again leads to slower greens.

Reading golf greens successfully plays a very big part in putting and in the general effectiveness of your short game.