Lumpy Donuts?

[dsc123]

I had really been working on my putting.  I went out earlier this year and had my best round.  Played again the next day and I was awful.  Same thing next weekend.  Then a few weeks of poor putting.

Yesterday, I played an early round and putted very well.  Followed it up with 9 in the afternoon and couldn't get anything to drop.  After a morning that included three or four 1-putts from 12+ feet, I kept missing 4 footers, an inch or two high of the hole.  Right when i thought it would break...it would skirt straight past the hole.

Then I realized that all my good putting rounds came away from my home course.  For some reason i just can't putt on the course i play 60-70% of the time.

Towards the end of my 9-hole round, i noticed what Dave Pelz described as the lumpy donut.  You could see a slight hill, about 4 inches wide, around the hole.  Everyone walks up to the hold to get their ball out, but is careful not to step to close, so you end up with a depressed area and then an upslope to the hole.

Then I realized that I almost always play my home course later in the afternoon, and the my good putting rounds were all earlier in the day.  We've had a ton of rain around here over the past month, making the greens soft, and more prone to the lumpy donut effect.  All of these courses are municipals.

So on the one hand, I'm happy to know (think) that i probably have improved my putting, but that i'm a victim of the lumpy donut.  On the other hand, I feel like if i want to shoot a good score (which i do very very badly), I'm going to have to pay more money for it.

has anyone else been victimized by the lumpy donut?  Maybe I just need to hit it firmer and straighter, but i think that's going to end up with a lot of 3 putts.

[iacas]

I haven't seen a "lumpy donut" actually have any effect lately. It's there, but the ball has to be going really slowly (i.e. barely even reaching the hole) for it to matter.

Blaming poor putting performance on lumpy donuts is a stretch...

You should do some AimPoint training. Map your local greens. Make everything.

[Leftygolfer]

I really don't judge (or try not too) on what I make.  If I'm hitting them on the line I want with the right speed I'm happy. Sure I like seeing them go in but I've hit many great putts that just didn't go in.  The irregularities in greens makes it a somewhat game of chance.  Of course the more good putts you hit the more you make,  but some days they just don't go in.  I can think of a couple of perfect putts on tour that didn't go in.  The one I think of is Sergio's putt to win the open on the 72nd hole.  I thought he hit a perfect putt and it should have went in.  I'd guess if he hit that same putt 10 times it would have went in 7 out of 10 times.  It just didn't take the break.

[dsc123]

I dont know, playing at 4pm on a sunday at a heavily used municipal course, the day after a downpour, on the very same day that i had putted very well on another course....i think there may be more to the lumpy donut that you're allowing.  but maybe user error is more has something to do with it too.

There is actually an Aim Point seminar this saturday at my local driving range/practice facility.  Unfortunately, I think it would be difficult to convince my fiancee that $200 is better spent on me attending a 2 hour green reading clinic on her birthday than being put towards the flowers at our wedding.  I'm trying to convince her that she should encourage to me to quit my job and focus on golf full time so i can go pro and she can become a lady of leisure.  The negotiations are not going well.  Any advice on that?

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by dsc123

There is actually an Aim Point seminar this saturday at my local driving range/practice facility.  Unfortunately, I think it would be difficult to convince my fiancee that $200 is better spent on me attending a 2 hour green reading clinic on her birthday than being put towards the flowers at our wedding.  I'm trying to convince her that she should encourage to me to quit my job and focus on golf full time so i can go pro and she can become a lady of leisure.  The negotiations are not going well.  Any advice on that?

Get down to a plus-handicap first, then reopen negotiations.

[RayG]

I've heard it described as a "Fuzzy Donut" as well. I HAVE noticed it more at muni types of courses that may not cut their greens as close as some more upscale courses might. The area outside the 4-6" area gets compressed as the day goes on leaving the untouched grass standing up a bit more. And generally more in the spring when the grass is really starting to get itself going for the year.