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Slow Greens!

Gunner

Gunner

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Middleburg Hts, OH
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Slow greens confounded me today. In shot an 86 with 42 putts! I just could not make myself hit the ball hard enough. I should have known better not to play where I did today, but it was cheap and easy playing with a couple co-workers who are once or twice a yr golfers. I was fantastic tee to green and my chipping yips only crept in on one hole. Have you played on tragically slow greens, and how did you get the ball rolling?
 
I hear ya. I played a course in Sunday and just couldn't get pace down, especially since I played very quick greens the day before. It almost felt like the greens and hole moved after I putted.

So I don't know how to adjust. I probably should have spent some time on the putting green before the round.
 
What do you consider slow? What type of grass? What have the Temps been there lately? Around here this time of year the bentgrass greens are slow but gorgeous and the bermuda greens are hard as a rock and fast. During the winter the bent is still nice and green but we can speed then up without worrying about burning them up and the bermuda greens are dormant and cut longer to protect the roots and give golfers something to putt on besides dirt.
 
Home course has notoriously slow greens. They have a lot of tournaments & outings and tend to get pretty chewed up every weekend. Honestly judging distance can be harder on slow, inconsistent greens than consistent, fast greens.

Went on vacation a few weeks ago and the greens were consistent but slow on Sunday and thru about 7 holes on Monday. Then we caught up to the mower who had started on 8 and wham they were fast and true. They recently mowed greens took some getting used to for sure.
 
Slow greens can be both, a savior and a downfall. Most golfers love nice, fast, true rolling greens (myself included.) My home course, unfortunately, has quite slow greens but I have found that if you know how to manage them you can hammer the ball on a somewhat-believable line and have a good result. It's all about how you can pace the ball, obviously. I do prefer to have a nice and quick green that rolls more break than less.
 
AG47 said:
What do you consider slow? What type of grass? What have the Temps been there lately? Around here this time of year the bentgrass greens are slow but gorgeous and the bermuda greens are hard as a rock and fast. During the winter the bent is still nice and green but we can speed then up without worrying about burning them up and the bermuda greens are dormant and cut longer to protect the roots and give golfers something to putt on besides dirt.
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These are bentgrass, quite soft from rain, and probably in need of a mow as they always are at this less than stellar course. I had the practice green pretty well sorted, but once on the course it was another story. The greens have a lot of undulations and some turtlebacks that were impossible for me to read. How much do you read the grain of the grass into a putt. How much would grass with or against the break effect your line?
 
Well at least they weren't aerated too!

When I play super slow greens, I just aim and hope for the best. I hate slow greens.
 
Gunner said:
These are bentgrass, quite soft from rain, and probably in need of a mow as they always are at this less than stellar course. I had the practice green pretty well sorted, but once on the course it was another story. The greens have a lot of undulations and some turtlebacks that were impossible for me to read. How much do you read the grain of the grass into a putt. How much would grass with or against the break effect your line?
Click to expand...
I looked up the weather there for the past month and with only a hand full of days that even hit 80 degrees, there is no reason for them to have the bent greens rolling slow.

As for reading the break, it varies from course to course. The type of grass, age of the greens, height of cut and cutting patterns all play into how the greens grain. I can tell you that the ball will break less than it appears on down hill putts and more on uphill putts.
 
Slow greens are the death of me too. I can never seem to hit the ball hard enough to get it to the hole. Good thing is I usually only encounter them when I am in NY visiting family and playing some tracks that are just better than a patch of grass on a farm.
 
Forgot how much I hated slow greens until I played a course yesterday that were easily rolling 11. So nice and true.
 
My regular course has pretty slow greens normally from over watering the course. I struggle more on fast greens and will blow a few putts by the hole not thinking. I have played some really rough greens that the ball bounces a lot too. My short game is pretty poor so I just accept it when I make a bad putt.
 
See maybe it's due to the fact that I'm a below average putter, but I like slow greens. The more aggressive I can be the better. If I worry about speed that's when I start putting like I want to miss
 
I must be the odd man out. Aesthetically, sure. Nothing beats a putt trundling along a manicured fast green.

I can't putt for beans on them. Anything short I stab, pull, push, you name it.
Give me a slower green and I can put what (to me) is a nice, firm, confident stroke on it and not have to worry about being 10' past if I miss. I also tend to be more online when I can make a fuller stroke.

I'm not saying drop a pin on the fairway, but I don't need holes where you start the ball rolling and watch it wander off the green.
 
I have been known to use my chipping wedge on really slow greens if I am more than 10' away. I can take the same length stroke as a putt on faster greens and get more juice behind it.
 
My home course sometimes has this problem.... I tend to do alright though. I'm lucky enough to adapt to slow greens pretty well. I think the big thing is just knowing that hitting it hard will give you a chance to make it, and if not, you've got a short slow putt coming back that you can pretty much ram into the hole.
 
I dont mind slow greens, i do mind shaggy greens. A 3 foot putt that wont go straight because of the grass, not cool. If you putt a ball, and it leaves a trail of rolled over grass behind it, its too shaggy.

But, thats my course this week i guess.

~Rock
 
I just want consistent greens. If the greens are slow, I hope I am a good enough golfer to adapt. I'm not but that is for a different thread. Fast greens are also a little more costly to keep up, I would assume. There might be other factors at play as to why the greens are slower than usual.
 
I also hate slow greens and much prefer faster (not Augusta but fast). I played a slow green round earlier in the summer and it totally got in my head for the day. Putting is my strength (the only decent part of my game really!), but that day I started leaving 'em short, then adjusted and blew some long, and after that was a basketcase standing over putts rest of the day!
 
What do you normally do when it rains? Slow greens are a part of golf. You need to adapt.
 
i do not like slow greens, i just want to put a good stroke on a putt and not worry about how hard i have to hit the putt. when i do encounter slow greens, i use the old firm and through the break method and pound it!
 
My homecourse is a young course, it's greens are slow and uneven. (But it's cheap, it's close and I can't afford to drive further and pay more). Stimp 6-7 :X

On longer puts it feels like I'm really hammering the ball, don't like it. When I do play another course the greens are always faster and more even, my putting is much much better there..
 
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