How many strokes do you lose playing aerated greens?

[Seniorhacker]

I would agree with an earlier post that chipping around the green is affected by aerated greens. I find that the short putts are the ones I have trouble with on aerated, sandy greens. The scorecard usually doesn't show much of a difference though.

[chilepepper]

I may lose 4 strokes or so, guesstimate as i don't really track it. What gets me about aerated greens are the courses that do half at green at a time . Just get it over with and we can have decent whole greens quicker. For a pro or low capper it probably helps but for the average golfer, the bulk of the paying players, it makes no difference. It makes the crews job more efficient too! Oh........super......dont skimp on the sand. It helps our putting if there are no holes and it helps true the surface. Raise the mower high a tad but.......your going to need to grind and true those reels and bed knives anyway

[colin007]

Oh........super......dont skimp on the sand. It helps our putting if there are no holes and it helps true the surface. Raise the mower high a tad but.......your going to need to grind and true those reels and bed knives anyway

we dont get any sand at most of my courses....

[Grndslmhttr3]

I doubt I lose many at all since I'm a terrible putter to begin with. Actually, the last time I played aerated greens I putted slightly better than usual.

[Lihu]

Try putting this. . .

[dsc123]

Try putting this. . .

Been there.  That's the worst.

[Strandly]

Yeah I played on a course like that once (keyword once) last summer and it was ridiculous.  That's as bad or worse than aerated greens.

[MS256]

Try putting this. . .

Isn't that a temp green with the regular green in the background? Sometimes it's necessary for one reason or another. We've had to do it a few times and we usually put in a bigger hole so people at least have a better chance of 2 putting (and mow that area a little better than that appears).

[Lihu]

Isn't that a temp green with the regular green in the background?

Yeah, they were taking them down as fast as we played the first hole, but then we got ahead of them and played normally after the 6th.

Basically, it brought down my putting for the round to 21 putts, while making several chip ins! One of them was for a real birdie on a real green, though. Fun day, though.

[inthehole]

I voted slightly higher.    I miss probably the same amount over 4 ft that I would miss anyways ... but I do typically miss a few shorter ones that I do think is a result of the aeration marks & I wouldn't miss otherwise

[RandallT]

Hey I sank two birdie putts today, one of them about 30 feet (the last 15 feet shown above and it tracked right into the heart of the cup).  No complaints from me today!

[GHIN0011458]

So let me just say that I am either the worst putter on the planet or aeration is really tough on 3-4 foot putts. I shot 75 today on a Par 70. I hit 13 GIR and had 37 Putts. Yes, 37. I 3 putted a par 5 from 18 feet for eagle.

Now the greens were aerated(big holes) and did have a ton of sand on them to the point it was visible from fairly far away. I try to die my shorter putts into the hole too. I was only outside of the 20 yard mark twice. One I hit a fat 6 iron(only bad shot really of the day) on a par 3 and another one where my Drive ended behind some trees and I had to punch out to advance my ball. I know practicing putting hasn't been a huge importance factor but when you are that bad at it, it is hard to not make it your main focus when practicing.

I was also only able to convert one birdie on the day. I had multiple opportunities from 10-15 feet but I couldn't get it in the hole. So do you think Aeration can lead to higher scores?

[14ledo81]

To answer your question, absolutely. Why do you try to die your shorter putts in the hole? And do you routinely miss short?

[GHIN0011458]

To answer your question, absolutely.

Why do you try to die your shorter putts in the hole? And do you routinely miss short?

Capture speed. I routinely suck at putting. I feel like I am a pretty good ball striker and averae around 11 GIR but I RARELY ever have 30 putts or less.

[David in FL]

Here's a recent thread on the same subject. [CONTENTEMBED=/t/77195/how-many-strokes-do-you-lose-playing-aerated-greens layout=block][/CONTENTEMBED] For me, little to no difference.

[GHIN0011458]

Here's a recent thread on the same subject.

For me, little to no difference.

Awesome. Thanks for the link. Please delete this thread if possible. I can do my research on that one.

[dbuck]

I shoot a little higher, probably on the first few holes getting a feel for the speed. My course normally has pretty fast greens, and aerating can make them faster or slower depending on when they do it.

[WUTiger]

Aerated greens recover depending on the surrounding weather. Our course aerated the greens the week before the club championship in October. The weather was cold for the next few days, so the greens were didn't bounce back that well. A couple of the greens still had residual plug strips, and you had to brush away the leftovers before you could putt.

I had 38 putts - two one-putts and four three-putts. Several of the putts got redirected when they clipped a plug hole. (Playing partners had this problem too).

My longest one-putt was 6 feet. Eight of my second putts were under one foot.

Another problem: On any full approach shots 5i and shorter that hit the green, the sand from aeration would scrape up the cover of the ball.