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How Good Are You At Reading Greens?

JB said:
Different kinds of grass, different slopes and of course different speeds. Can you read greens?
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Not as goo as I would like to be. I found out by working last year with a PGA Pro, that many of my misses, came from poor reads.
 
I am very skilled at reading Bermuda greens as that's what I am used to playing. I pick up subtle breaks and grain in the greens very well on bermuda but I haven 't had enough experience on other surfaces to know if I can transfer that skill to those greens.

I would love to give it a try.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
I am very skilled at reading Bermuda greens as that's what I am used to playing. I pick up subtle breaks and grain in the greens very well on bermuda but I haven 't had enough experience on other surfaces to know if I can transfer that skill to those greens.

I would love to give it a try.
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That's the understatement of the year!
 
I still struggle with this especially on grasses I'm not familiar with but it's something im working on and thing I have gotten better at it
 
For the most part I can almost always read the direction correctly. I have used some of the aimpoint express using the feet to feel the break which I think helps a ton. After that then it gets a little more tricky matching the speed to the read ect. The putts that look straight are the hard ones, especially when I am too far away to just jam it in and take out all the break. Been a long time since I putted on Bermuda for more than a round on vacation so I would probably struggle with the grain.
 
Dave Alvarado said:
I'm pretty good and I think my lag putting shows that. I'm better at long reads that I am at short ones which is super annoying--hitting all the way across the green reading multiple breaks correctly and getting it within 5 feet, then missing the 5-footer.
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If you're left with 5 footers, did you really read it well? Isn't reading greens a combination of the break and speed needed to hit those breaks so you have short tap ins?
 
I would say I'm pretty good at reading greens.
 
I have gained much experience over the year reading the greens

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Scale of 1-10 maybe 4. I'm terrible at this. Over read the break 75% of the time. Pace is generally good. It's easier to just hit it to tap in range. HATE PUTTING!!!
 
Mward said:
I'd say I do ok at reading greens. It's something I should practice just a bit more though on some of those reads where it could go either way.

I can spend the time on a practice green taking the extra time to see those nuances so I can pick up on them with little delay when on the course.
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Do you still do aim point?

Tadashi70 said:
I can reads greens very well. Playing on the grainy greens of Florida makes it paramount if you want to score well
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Any chance we can get a Panda tip on reading grainy greens?

I am very good at reading greens. Specifically bent grass. The last month not so much.


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I'm still very much a beginner. Even when I hit the the ball well, I don't have a lot of distance and I often don't hit the ball straight.

The one part of my game that my pro consistently compliments is my putting. I apparently read greens than most who have been golfing the length of time that I have.
 
Nope. I'm a 3-putting machine. I play almost exclusively bent grass, so Bermuda is a nightmare with me. I am bad at judging speed, though after the first couple of holes, I get better at judging at how they'll change pace through the day.

But I suck at reading any kind of subtle movement. I tend to overestimate the dominating terrain feature (oceans and mountains). Just bad. It's something I'm working on.
 
I missed 2 inside 3' par putts, but made a 40 footer for my first eagle in Florida. So, I have the ability, there is just a lot of "operator error ".
 
I'm very good at reading greens as long as they are not bent grass. I had a wasted youth on a golf course that often involved putting for 2 or 3 hours a day on a very large practice green during the summer months. My junior membership at the club when I first took up the game at age 13 didn't allow me to play on ladies day, men's day, or Saturday and Sunday mornings. That meant 20+ hours a week of short game practice that looking back, was the best thing that ever happened to me other than meeting my wife.
 
I'm decent at reading the slope off greens. However I struggle with how different grasses will effect the break itself. Especially Bermuda. Have a tough time judging how it typically breaks less than the Bent I play on the most. And don't even talk about grain in Bermuda. Only have a sight clue after a grain lesson from Mward on the course one day. Was even worse at reading grain.
 
I feel I can read greens pretty well. I may know "where" to hit it but hitting it there is another story. That's why I am good in scrambles. Some people say "I didn't see that break, how do you see it going that way?"
Unfortunately, I only get to play on Bent or Poa Annua greens ... so when I hit some Bermuda or Zoysia greens, I get a little frustrated not remembering the way the grass grows or the time of day, grain, etc.
It's all in a fun day on the course though ... reading greens is an art that takes a lifetime to master.
 
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I've always been good at reading greens. If I have doubts, I'll walk the line and address it in different spots with my putter hovering above the grass. It's pretty effective. On Bermuda, or in mountainous areas, grain and high ground must also be taken into account. That said, I make a fairly quick decision and commit.
 
I suck. I often second guess my initial read and it leads to a hesitant stroke. I have days where I can see the line well and pour em in but most days I burn edges.
 
Six4three5 said:
I suck. I often second guess my initial read and it leads to a hesitant stroke. I have days where I can see the line well and pour em in but most days I burn edges.
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You can't suck too bad with a 3.0 GHIN! LOL :banana:
 
golfinnut said:
You can't suck too bad with a 3.0 GHIN! LOL :banana:
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Haha thanks! Although I think green reading holds me back from getting lower. I feel if I could read greens better I'd make more birdies instead of 2 putt pars.
 
Six4three5 said:
Haha thanks! Although I think green reading holds me back from getting lower. I feel if I could read greens better I'd make more birdies instead of 2 putt pars.
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You and me both!

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I am quite bad, sloped greens are not my favourite...
 
I would say that I am okay at reading greens. I have my days where I seem to read everything correct and days when I just don't anything correctly. I can't say that I have noticed if I putt better one type of grass or not either.
 
As far as knowing the types of grass, I'm not there yet in my golf journey. As far as seeing the grades I can do that, I operate heavy equipment and have done a lot of finish dirt work and it's really helped out with being able to see what ground is doing where the ball will roll. If I could just execute the shots I could go a lot lower, I'll get there eventually.
 
OITW said:
Do you still do aim point?
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I do. Depends on the round though if I actually use the book or what not. Competitive round, for sure. Just a goof around round, probably not out of indifference.
 
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