Golf Putting Tips

Reading the Putting Greens

Here are a few golf putting tips for reading the greens. Reading the greens is a skill that takes a long time to master, and only with experience does a golfer become an expert at determining the exact slope and break on a particular hole. However, there are some general rules that can help anyone figure out where a putt is likely to go once it leaves the club face.

Read the Green while Approaching It

It all starts before you even get to the green in the first place. As you approach from the fairway, take a moment to analyze what you can see from long range. That view offers a sense of how the green slopes and whether it has undulations that may be harder to spot once you are standing on the actual putting surface.

As a general rule, greens will slope in the direction of the fairway. It’s an old architect’s trick that allows them to drain easier. That means that in general, if your approach shot lands above the hole, you’ll be putting downhill, whereas if you wind up below the hole you’ll have an uphill putt remaining. The exception are holes where there are mountains or water nearby; the ball will tend to roll towards the water and away from the mountains.

Determine the Speed of the Green

The speed of the green will be different depending on what time of day you tee off. A dew soaked first hole will offer a slower green in the morning, which means you’ll need to put a little extra into your putting stroke, but that same green may be akin to putting on ice when noon rolls around and it dries out. Another note is the darker the grass is on a particular stretch of green, the slower the putt will be because it means you are putting against the grain. The shinier the grass, the faster the putt.

Watch your Playing Partners' Putt

One final golf putting tip – and most importantly – if you are not putting first on a particular hole, watch your playing partners' or opponents’ putts carefully. Even if you bend down and analyze every piece of grass between you and the golf ball, it won’t be as valuable as the hard data you’ll get from watching the path of your opponent’s golf ball on the way to the hole.

For most putts, you are most concerned about how the ball will move in the last three feet before the cup, when the golf ball will be travelling the slowest. Chart the path that you think the ball will take from there, and line up your putt so it reaches that spot with a little extra speed to spare. That should help get the golf ball in the hole.