How consistent are the green speeds on your home course?

[bones75]

Can shade/wind/sun exposure really make a substantial difference in green speeds, assuming the greenskeeper is caring for all the greens in an equal fashion?  It feels like this one green on a course I play regularly is consistently about 30% slower than some others, but I'm still not sure if it's all in my head.

[aasimzkhan]

1 hour ago, bones75 said:

Can shade/wind/sun exposure really make a substantial difference in green speeds, assuming the greenskeeper is caring for all the greens in an equal fashion?  It feels like this one green on a course I play regularly is consistently about 30% slower than some others, but I'm still not sure if it's all in my head.

I would think that if a portion of a green is consistently under shade, it would be slower than the rest of the green. Also, of course, the time of the day will also play a role - morning dew will stop the ball much faster. And the same goes for freshly mowed turf as well.

Here at my course in Lahore, Pakistan, the green speed is awfully slow - maybe an inconsistent six at best. 

[mailman]

We have some very fast greens and also some very slow greens. But it really doesn't matter as I am skilled enough to make all our greens look impossible :)

Regards

Mailman

[saevel25]

6 hours ago, bones75 said:

Can shade/wind/sun exposure really make a substantial difference in green speeds, assuming the greenskeeper is caring for all the greens in an equal fashion?  It feels like this one green on a course I play regularly is consistently about 30% slower than some others, but I'm still not sure if it's all in my head.

It is hard to tell. You would need to find a stretch of green that had the exact same slope % as the other green. Then you would need to accurately roll the ball at the same speed and measure out the distance rolled.

Two greens can look similar, but have different slopes to the point that you might over or under hit your putt.

Its hard to say if what your experiencing is due to the greens keeper or not.

[No Mulligans]

I play early morning, most of the greens have been mowed a few have not.  Add in the morning dew and I think the unmowed greens are about an 8 and the mowed greens (0.11" per the greenskeeper) are at about a 10.

Edited September 14, 2017 by No Mulligans

[Midpack]

The greens where I play most often are pretty uniformly slow, like most municipal courses I assume. However, there are several greens with noticeably more dramatic slopes (mostly from back to front, one even has a false front where anything there will roll off the green) than other muni courses I've played on. There's definitely a difference related to "shade/wind/sun exposure" and of course after/during rain events things slow up considerably - but all these conditions are reasonably evident so we can factor them in for distance and breaks.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Midpack

[Lihu]

This time of year? Not very consistent at all. I put about 30% more effort.

In the early mornings, it's even worse. I find myself using a lag putting stroke for 20 foot putts.

The nice courses like Angeles, Tierra Rejada, Coyote Hills are pretty consistent. At least we have enough water to maintain them at this point. I anticipate a wetter than usual season as well. We'll see, and cross fingers about the rain.

[mcanadiens]

One redeeming feature of good ole Kittyhawk GC is that the greens are relatively consistent. Very slow mind you, which makes taking the putter on the road a bit of a challenge. Obviously, when it has been raining the greens get substantially slower, but it's a pretty predictable thing. Other than that, its just a question of how many ball marks you'll find on a given day.
 

[Lihu]

21 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

One redeeming feature of good ole Kittyhawk GC is that the greens are relatively consistent. Very slow mind you, which makes taking the putter on the road a bit of a challenge. Obviously, when it has been raining the greens get substantially slower, but it's a pretty predictable thing. Other than that, its just a question of how many ball marks you'll find on a given day.

According to one of my playing partners who asked one of the groundskeepers, slow greens are easier to maintain and don't need someone to water the surface by hand every morning and mow a couple to a few times per week.

Either that or because you need so much putter head speed that a variation of 10% is imperceptible anyway. . .

[Buckeyebowman]

One of the things that gripes me is when the speed of the practice green is radically different from those on the course. What's the point of putting practice?