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Varying Green Speeds From Course to Course

Canadan

Canadan

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Generally I don't do much travel golf, but over the last week I've played on a couple different courses, all with different green speeds. Back home at my course tonight (faster than the other two) my stroke felt a bit jumpy and I was really struggling not being aggressive with putts.

Do you guys deal with this? Do you find easier ways to cope with the variations beyond just getting there earlier and spending time on the practice green? I think this is quickly becoming one of my biggest pet peeves in golf.
 
i barely ever play the same course and i usually putt fine as long as i hit the putting green for 5-10 minutes.... today i was running late and hit 3 putts and went off to the first hole and i drained more putts over 10' than i ever have before in a round. even if it was a scramble.
 
All of the courses I play are completely different. Quite often the practice green is not a good indication of what the actual greens are going to be like. It takes me a few holes to get the speed down which is very frustrating.
 
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Smithfaced said:
All of the courses I play are completely different. Quite often the practice green is not a good indication of what the actual greens are going to be like. It takes me a few holes to get the speed down which is very frustrating.
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I think you're right... In fact the course I played this week had a putting green that looked like it hadn't been cut in days.. Just fuuuuurrry!!!

So frustrating... I hear over and over and over again that if you're going to prepare for a round or practice, spend equal time on the practice green, but what good is that if every green is so different?!
 
I like to feel out the greens a little bit on the putting green before hand. If not, I typically ask if I can do 2 or 3 quick putts to gauge speed on the first green. I don't notice a ton of difference in my area, but I do know that some of the private courses around here keep their stimp near 11,
whereas publics are 9-10. Subtle but noticeable differences over longer putts.
 
Canadan said:
I think you're right... In fact the course I played this week had a putting green that looked like it hadn't been cut in days.. Just fuuuuurrry!!!

So frustrating... I hear over and over and over again that if you're going to prepare for a round or practice, spend equal time on the practice green, but what good is that if every green is so different?!
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Yeah, I honestly think that only top notch courses spend a good amount of time maintaining their practice greens. It does you no good at all to get your speed down on a green that is waaaaaaay slower than the ones on the course.
 
I like to measure speed by how far the ball goes compared to how far the putter head goes back. Like, if I keep the head inside my right foot going back, will the ball roll 3'? 6'? 8'? In adjust accordingly.
 
Canadan said:
I think you're right... In fact the course I played this week had a putting green that looked like it hadn't been cut in days.. Just fuuuuurrry!!!

So frustrating... I hear over and over and over again that if you're going to prepare for a round or practice, spend equal time on the practice green, but what good is that if every green is so different?!
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If it's a poorly maintained course, there's nothing you can do when some are faster than others. You just get to quickly adapt or make the best of it.

Other than that, best thing to do is spend a few minutes rolling putts and get as adjusted as you can.
 
I play mostly at a Muni financed by the Army's MWR program...needless to say, chancy at best.

Not only do we get different green speeds, occasionally get entirely different grass from one green to the next. The par 3's are seeded with bent grass, the rest with bermuda. Also, since it's the deserts of SE Arizona, greens will play vastly differently over the course of the round, especially if the play is slow. The first hole will play slow when you tee off at 730 am, but be like putting on a sidewalk by the closing holes.

Part of the fun of a muni, I guess.
 
I struggle with this like you wouldnt believe, and it aggravates me to no end. I play 6 or 7 courses regularly and no two roll alike.
 
The thing I struggle with the most is extra-fuzzy, slow greens. I have a terrible time getting the breaks even close when the greens are extra slow. I played at such a course a few days ago, and had (5) 3-putts and a 4-putt. I haven't had a 4-putt since I started counting putts several months ago, and the most 3-putts I'd had in a round to that point was (4), which I did twice in the same period. To address the OP's question, I haven't found a way to deal with this particular issue. In general though, I just take a few minutes on the practice green to get a feel for the speed, and I'm good.

One thing that helps me in general with differing speed greens is probably counter to what most folks say is the 'right way.' Contrary to common wisdom, when I'm struggling a bit with speed, I don't worry at all about leaving it short. In my personal experience, if I leave a couple putts way short, then try to compensate by "making sure I don't leave it short" I end up a) going too far past and b) still not learning anything about the pace of the green. Instead, I just have a little patience, and if I leave it short because the green is slower than I thought/am used to, I try to increment up to 'just enough' to get there. If I'm still short next time, but not by as much, I learned something at least, and in general will be pretty close next time. I find that this gets me dialed much more quickly than leaving one 5' short, then drilling one 5' past.
 
I have played on at least 25 different courses in the last year. I struggle the most when I play courses with super fast greens. I grew up on a course in a small town in Saskatchewan that had super slow greens so I think that think I adjust better to slow than fast. The only thing I can suggest is roll some putts on the practice green to get some idea and make sure you totally concentrate over the putt, nothing worse then thinking about the line too much and blasting a putt by the hole from a brain cramp.
 
SaskeyInWash said:
I have played on at least 25 different courses in the last year. I struggle the most when I play courses with super fast greens. I grew up on a course in a small town in Saskatchewan that had super slow greens so I think that think I adjust better to slow than fast. The only thing I can suggest is roll some putts on the practice green to get some idea and make sure you totally concentrate over the putt, nothing worse then thinking about the line too much and blasting a putt by the hole from a brain cramp.
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Which town, Saskey?
 
Smithfaced said:
All of the courses I play are completely different. Quite often the practice green is not a good indication of what the actual greens are going to be like. It takes me a few holes to get the speed down which is very frustrating.
Click to expand...

This is what I notice a lot too from course to course... the practice greens & course greens are usually very different.
 
Dan I think pre round putts is key but I know that not always possible. Second I would check the length of your stroke. I am fortunate enough to play a course with fast greens so my stroke is shorter than it would be if the greens are slow. What this allows is an increase in acceleration through the hit on slower green and a smoother hit on fast green. The length of the stroke doesn't get outside a certain point.
 
The two courses I generally play are at complete opposite of the spectrum. One course you have to be aggressive, if not you'll be short or burning edges all day. The other course on the other hand, if you're above the hole, you might as well just use a toothpick to putt with because if you don't hit the hole, it's 10 feet by.

My biggest pet peeve with this is when the practice green is not like the actual greens. Played a course about 3 weeks ago, first time playing so went earlier and putted for a good 20 min. Practice green was at a good pace, could be aggressive without being punished. Got out on the course, not even close. They had just mowed all of the greens and the actual greens had way more slope than the practice one. I understand not mowing, but try and have a practice green that somewhat mimics the slope of the actual greens.
 
I get frustrated when the speed varies from green to green within the same round. Think you have it figured out after a few holes and then it changes on you, then changes again.
 
The practice green green gives me a pretty good indication of whats in store for the round that's in font of me. I find that when I play slower greens for a few rounds then get on some that are faster the key is staying confident with the lines I'm seeing. The stroke length is easier to manage with the SPI method, it all comes down to the shoulders. I like the faster greens.
 
This is a great topic and some great responses so far. I struggle with speed sometimes and completely agree with your frustrations about the practice green being different than the greens on the course. The other day I couldn't adjust to how slow the greens were. I simply could not get myself to hit the ball hard enough to get it to the hole. I literally left almost every putt short. Very very frustrating.
 
I have 3 different courses I play most of the time and pretty much know going in what the speed is going to be like for each. My favorite one is just a 9 hole, but they keep it really nice and the greens fast. The other two about mid speed. I seldom have speed trouble on these, but guess I'm just so used to the greens.
 
Greens are such a touchy part of the golf course. Probably the hardest part to maintain so it is always my biggest struggle as well. I try and spend some time on the practice green if I can and it looks like it is somewhat maintained. In that case I can get a general idea of how the course will be for the rest of the day. If its super furry on the practice green, I just concentrate on my line and my stroke to make sure its smooth and going where I want it. When I get on the course it will usually take a few holes to get the true speed down. It sucks but thats really all you can do.

My biggest pet peeve is when a course doesnt maintain a consistency throughout the course. I hate it when one hole is super slow and then the next one you play is much faster. That just gets frustrating and a good way for me to not go back to that golf course.
 
Canadan said:
Generally I don't do much travel golf, but over the last week I've played on a couple different courses, all with different green speeds. Back home at my course tonight (faster than the other two) my stroke felt a bit jumpy and I was really struggling not being aggressive with putts.

Do you guys deal with this? Do you find easier ways to cope with the variations beyond just getting there earlier and spending time on the practice green? I think this is quickly becoming one of my biggest pet peeves in golf.
Click to expand...

I play a lot of different courses, and yes it can be amazing differences...for instance, Monday tournament, the greens were rolling at 13.5, and round last night was rolling at 9.5.... Home course rolls between 9-10....

for me, I have had to switch to a putter with more feel, as I could not really get the touch....

but there is no exchanging getting there early and playing the lags and the touches....
 
tpluff said:
I like to feel out the greens a little bit on the putting green before hand. If not, I typically ask if I can do 2 or 3 quick putts to gauge speed on the first green. I don't notice a ton of difference in my area, but I do know that some of the private courses around here keep their stimp near 11,
whereas publics are 9-10. Subtle but noticeable differences over longer putts.
Click to expand...

This is great suggestion... I try to do this as much as possible, especially if it is a practice round before a tournament, or first time on course, hitting to different spots on that green...
 
I grew up with super fast greens at a course in western Wisconsin so I always prefer fast greens. I played a mountain course in Truckee, CA over the holiday and struggled with the slow greens - left all but two putts short. Very hard to find any fast greens in California but my home club that I joined 4 years ago has decently fast greens. Now most of my away rounds are at resort courses in Minnesota, which have world class, very fast greens. The bummer is when I come home after playing 10 rounds on our annual Minnesota golf/family vacation, is it makes the greens at my home club seem crappy. All of you golfers that live in the midwest/east coast, enjoy your uniform, fast, true, bent grass greens!
 
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