We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Practice putting greens at courses - are they all worthless or just most?

PiratePenguin

PiratePenguin

2024 Goat Cup Team Brennan
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Messages
8,276
Reaction score
5,455
Location
St Augustine, FL
Handicap
18.4
I can't remember the last time I played a course around here that had a practice putting green that was at all similar in slope to any of the actual greens out on the course. Most seem to be 90-100% flat and have little to none of the features you'll actually experience during a round. How are you supposed to get used to a course's green conditions if the practice green is little more than bumperless putt-putt?

I can't be the only one who would like to see more slope to practice greens to get a better feel for speed and break...
 
My home course has two practice greens one at the clubhouse and one at the ninth tee. Both are just like the greens on the course as far as condition, grass type, slope etc.
 
yea i find most dont roll as well as the actual greens - speeds a little off. But when im warming up im just working on my lag distance and stroke, reading greens and adding break is for the round.
 
I've seen that at places, but the course I play most has very tricky greens and the practice green matches well. To the naked eye theres very little break at all, but there plenty of break and many times double break. Ive gotten much better at reading the greens because of it.
 
I have to agree with penglynns, the pratice green at my home course is not what I will find on course. I'll take a few strokes to work on form and then take my chance at the 1st green.
 
thedue said:
I've seen that at places, but the course I play most has very tricky greens and the practice green matches well. To the naked eye theres very little break at all, but there plenty of break and many times double break. Ive gotten much better at reading the greens because of it.
Click to expand...

So can you now read if the putt is going to break uphill like it did on us in Omaha?
 
Dirt_Guy said:
So can you now read if the putt is going to break uphill like it did on us in Omaha?
Click to expand...

No kidding. Those were some crazy greens DG, we scratched our heads a lot that day.
 
Where I practice a lot has two putting greens, both of which are cut and mow'd similar to what's on the course. One of them is flat with subtle breaks and the other features larger contours and undulations. Great practice facility.
 
TC said:
Where I practice a lot has two putting greens, both of which are cut and mow'd similar to what's on the course. One of them is flat with subtle breaks and the other features larger contours and undulations. Great practice facility.
Click to expand...

Must be nice. I haven't found anything around here (accessible to the public) that is more than very minor breaks, mostly flat. My "home" course has a nice chipping green with slopes, but not the putting green - it has some break and a small ridge in the middle running at an angle, but most of it is pretty flat aside from that ridge.
 
The couple places I play the most are cut to similar speed and slopes as the real greens. I find that it is the speed that I am most interested in figuring out before I play.
 
I've seen that, and agree it's completely pointless. My practise greens are alike though.
 
I know the Biltmore's practice green is the same speed and there's quite a bit of undulation in it. BCC's doesn't have a ton of undulation, but there are definitely some breaks in it, and it's always the same speed as the course too. I usually just hit a bunch of 30-50 footers at the fringe, then try to hit one 50ft/40ft/30ft/20ft/10ft, after I'm comfortable with the speed I hit a bunch of 6 footers. I'm not really concerned with the break before my round. I'm more concerned with getting the pace down and seeing putts go in.
 
My home course's practice green is very similar in slope and speed. In fact, I love it when guests ask if the practice green is similar to the greens on the course, and when I respond "yes" the guests look like they want to head for the parking lot because they know they are in for a long day!
 
I've got to have one of the worst practice greens around. The course I play at has a practice green that has a slope so severe, that no matter where you put from, the ball ends up at the bottom of the green. It's like they just decided to throw a green on the side of a hill.
 
Our course's super is a great guy and does his very best to imitate course conditions on the practice green. Yet I have run into course's with pretty much worthless practice greens which just defeats the whole point of the thing entirely.
 
I normally just use the practice greens to warm up my speed and get confidence in 3-5ft putts.
 
We have 3 greens Two are good with speed and slopes. The third is a short game area with bunkers and wedges from 60 yards in. Great area but this green is shaggy so you don't get roll out. Really only practice where the ball lands.
 
I actually have trouble finding a 5 foot stretch that is completly flat. Yeah the practice green doesn't slope or have the same speed as the course's green.
But a little flat area to check your stroke would be nice as well.
 
The one at Sarasota National seemed close to the course greens to me. And it was one of the largest putting greens I've ever used, if not the biggest.
 
The practice green at the place I play that while the upkeep is the same as the greens, I find that it plays nothing like the actual green surfaces do. The practice green is pretty much flat, with a few minor dips here and there. Also because it sits in the sun while 50% of the greens sit in the shade most of the day the speed is completely different than on the course.
 
Penglynns said:
I can't remember the last time I played a course around here that had a practice putting green that was at all similar in slope to any of the actual greens out on the course. Most seem to be 90-100% flat and have little to none of the features you'll actually experience during a round. How are you supposed to get used to a course's green conditions if the practice green is little more than bumperless putt-putt?

I can't be the only one who would like to see more slope to practice greens to get a better feel for speed and break...
Click to expand...

As long as the speed is right what else do you need? If I go to practice, I'm mostly working on my stroke, and if I'm warming up before a round, I just want to fine tune the speed, and get comfortable with my alignment. I don't need big slopes for that - I don't even want big slopes. In fact, I play a couple of courses here where the practice putting green is so sloped that you can't really get a good practice or warm up session on it.

The one thing I will say is that most of the courses I play have good putting greens in that the speed is dead on to what you find on the course.
 
The practice green at the local Muni is surprisingly nice. Gives me a good idea how fast or slow they will play that day.
 
I don't mind the moderately sloped practice greens. Before a round I'm just trying to get the feel for the 3-5 footers and try to lag to some different distances. I have seen a few that were better suited for a miniature golf course though, not much help imo.
 
Most places in my area have putting greens with similar speeds. As for slopes, generally there's usually a couple holes put in bigger slopes while the rest are more closer to flat.

Pretty much only work on speed and hitting 5 footers before a round tho.
 
My normal course doesn't even have a practice green, so I would feel lucky if I had one for a normal warmup before a round. They don't have a range either, so, maybe I'm asking too much to begin with. But, there is a complex around here that I like to play a few times a year and their practice green is as neat and pristine as the greens on the course. The best practice green I've ever been on tho was the one at The International outside of Boston. It was massive and rolled perfect. If I wanted to practice downhill sliders, I could, or if I just wanted to practice 3 to 5 footers, no problem there either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top