Putting on bad greens... what to do?

[bogeyhitter25]

It looks like your gonna have to hole out every time from the fairway. No biggie.

[senorchipotle]

lof'nl....

[Dub]

Played with some buddies at a nearby course not too long ago...course layout is great an the turf condidtions from the tees and fairways were very nice.

The greens were retched.....slow and bumpy w/ the occasional bare spots. The pins hadn't been moved in a long time so there were trampled down depressed "doughnuts" around every cup.

Sad part is we paid full price to play. To a man, we were peeved about it. At one point I started putting with my SW...just to keep from adjusting to the conditions. I actually did much better...use the SW....putt it in the belly of the ball....get it close, rake it in and move on.

Played my home course the next day with one of the guys and we were relieved to find that all was well in the world.


Nice greens will spoil you. I sometimes overlook how much work it takes the course greenskeepers to ensure great putting conditions. It's sort of like professionalism in society....you take it for granted when you are surrounded by it....but notice immediately when it's absent.

[Peter_b]

On 8/18/2009 at 11:41 AM, imtomtomim said:

These past 2 weeks, my ball striking has been brilliant but I have not been able to put a putt in the hole, every time just burning the edge or lipping out. Slow greens are tough. There are more subtle differences, you gotta read grain into it too, and still, every inch will react differently to the roll.
 

Same lip outs and rim burners on soaky, wet greens. Sure the stampede from the flights before doesn’t help.  Now besides the bumpy roll of the ball do you guys over- or underread the greens? Also what to do against the cone that is around the hole on soft greens from previous flights on soft greens, invisible but there, that just pushes the ball away from the hole.

[Moxley]

I always thought that the cone was deliberate? maybe to stop water pooling in the hole

[Patch]

Alot of times that cone around the pin is caused by the guy who cut the hole in the first place. They didn't use, or have the tamper to finish the job off correctly. 

As for slow greens, I use to go with a heavier putter when I encountered them. This allowed me to putt through the problem(s). When I returned a normal speed green, I would go back to my normal, lighter putter. 

These days, I use a very heavy putter all the time. I found it easier to adjust to faster greens with the heavier putter, than to a slower green with a lighter putter. 

Edited August 29, 2018 by Patch

[Piz]

I used to play a 9 hole course that had weeds growing on the greens.  This was shortly before the place closed.  I just putted with something other than a putter...usually my 5 wood.