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Can ANYONE Be a Good Putter with a Greens Book?

SeeMore Golf
SlightDraw said:
That's pretty smart. I work in Geomatics and I'm working with LIDAR/Contour data daily! Nice use! Gotta try it for myself.
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If you use ESRI ArcGIS Desktop, I can send you the model I use.
 
Using a greens book would make me a better approach player more than a better putter. Knowing where the green slopes, where my miss can be and still be a good putt left distance wise would allow more of a target golf mode instead of just "go for the pin". It would give me the confidence to shoot at the best place on the green to end up with the ball close to the hole, and that target is not always the flag.

Once I get on, I still need to make a good putt. More poorly read but better executed putts go in than perfectly read and poorly executed putts.
 
Helps with the read, but you gotta make the right stroke
 
There's having the information, there's knowing what to do with it, then there's executing on it.

Has to be a learning curve in correlating what the book tells you to what you've been seeing or feeling (with feet, etc). Can't just take a book and do that.

Even once that's done, still have to choose from the line and speed combinations that will work and then execute. Book doesn't help with either of those.
 
I have a greens book for my home course that is pretty crude but was the result of placing a digital level on various parts of the green to find the more subtle breaks. When I use it, which is rare these days, I have fewer entirely miss read putts but it doesn't help me make any more. I might just be a hair closer with the misses.

For the pros, I bet they make a few more with them but I doubt it is a crazy number.
 
The simple answer is yes. A green book will make you a better putter. The question is how much better will it make you?
 
Would a greens book make me a better putter? No. My biggest issue in putting is getting the speed right. Yesterday, I left 4 putts right at the lip, 1-2 more revolutions would have been perfect. (And there were a couple that zipped past, through the break.) If they put one together every day, with speed and grain indicators, maybe it would help, but I still have to hit it at the correct speed.
 
Speed control is the most crucial element in good putting I think.

But considering your scenario, let's say every golfer knows exactly how any putt will break given a speed that puts the ball 12" past the cup. How well would the average golfer putt? Not much better than they do now I'd say.

1st of all, good consistent speed control is not easy to achieve. It takes skill, feel and a whole lot of practice. Secondly, how many amateur golfers can consistently putt the ball on their intended line? For example, on a 6' dead straight putt, would the average golfer be able to make 30 in a row? 50? Probably not.

Even if every golfer had the advantage of the Hawkeye graphic showing the true break of their putt, I would bet that performance would only improve slightly for the average golfer.
 
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