I joined a new club this year, and the greens are very undulating and usually have a stimpmeter reading between 12 to 13.5 feet. In the past, I played courses that had flatter greens and were much slower (around 8-10 feet. I've found that my touch and green reading ability is bad and am averaging close to 39 putts per round with only 6-8 GIRs. At my previous course (which had a hgher slope rating), I averaged around 29-30 putts per round. It is easy for me to have downhill putts go off of the green, or go 6-12 feet past the hole. Many look as if they will stop right at the hole, but just roll and roll. My pro tells me I stroke the ball on line very well. My fear of running way by also has effected uphill putts. I leave many short. Frankly, the greens and my weak putting are now in my head.

Can you guys help me?

Why are you so upset with learning how to adjust? Are you telling us that you are unable to adjust to the different greens? Or are you just sharing your pain because you must go through a trial and error learning process to adapt?

My suggestion is try to play rounds of solo golf possibly late in the evening when the course may be empty ... using only a 150 yard iron (6 - 7 - 8 iron), your putter and a pocketful of balls. Walk the course carrying the two clubs, and on your approach shot drop several more balls to get more balls on the green. Putt them all out to learn the greens at your new course. (Be prepared to lose several balls as the price of practice.)

If you are unable to play solo golf in this manner, then you will have to practice as you play, which is slow and frustrating. Regardless of what Geoff may suggest, you will still be faced with a trial and error learning process on the new greens. Suck it up and just go through the learning curve, if you have a decent putting stroke.

You look pretty silly with that one.

Dear Lee,

I can certainly sympathize with you! Changing to fast, highly sloped greens is a challenge and a half.

There are five factors that underlie your touch: ball, putter, tempo, green speed, and targeting. When you use one tempo and the usual ball and putter, and are used to these factors, that leaves green speed and targeting. Since targeting is an objective reality that the golfer either complies with or not, that leaves "green speed" in the sense of whether you appreciate wht it is.

So, if you "appreciate" green speed, then touch is instinctive so long as you have a stable tempo.

There are, unfortunately, more than one sort of "green speed" to appreciate. There is the "green speed" that is usual for the course. There is the green speed "de jour" based on agronomy, weather, maintenance schedule etc. (Hopefully, this will not be all that different from the usual on a day to day basis.) There is the green speed of the practice green versus the green speeds(s) of each of the greens on the course. And finally there is "level" green speed, "uphill" green speed, and "downhill" green speed.

So you are facing two separate issues -- 1. getting used to faster usual green speed; and 2. getting used to alternating among "level", "uphill" and 'downhill" green speeds.

Performing the "core putt" exercise on the warmup green before the round will help calibrate your usual tempo, ball, and putter to the green speed "de jour", at least on "level" surface on the practice green. Assuming the greens on the course are not that much different, let's focus on adjusting to "uphill" and "downhill" slopes.

Although the green speed strictly speaking is not different going uphill or downhill, it is common for golfers to "think of" uphill putts as slower and downhill putts as faster. This is not without real consequence in the way the instincts work. The instincts will use either a default "appreciation" of green speed, or a consciously adjusted appreciation. The main point is that if you use the "default" appreciation gained from the "core putt" exercise when putting uphill or downhill, this speed is really a "level" surface calibration. That "core speed appreciation" is "too slow" (an underestimation) for the slick downhiller speed, and "too fast" (an overestimation) for uphill putts.

There are two approaches to gaining a more accurate appreciation of uphill and downhill "speeds". One, perform "core putts" on the practice green over "uphill" and "downhill" slope that approximates what you'll face on the course. Two, on the course facing a specific uphill or downhill slope, simply "remind yourself" that your basic core appreciation of green speed is slightly inappropriate for this specific slope, and in the case of a downhill putt, tell yourself the putt is somewhat faster and your intent is to roll the ball ONLY as far as the hole and not farther, and in the case of an uphill putt, tell yourself the putt is somewhat slower and your intent is to roll the ball ALL THE WAY as far as the hole and not short. The brain and instincts then get the "prompt" that you are switching from a default appreciation to something more appropriate for the given slope. The "intuition" then takes its cue from this prompt to fine-tune exactly what the difference in speed really is that the instincts should base the stroke upon. This is a very precise, non-conscious process in the intuition that integrates lots of information and historical experience, and it is not at all necessary to worry about whether this process is accurate or whether there is anything else you should be wroorying about. Once you simply prompt yourself about the different "speed," you're back to the usual touch: just target and pull the trigger instinctively with the usual tempo and no worries about the size or speed of the stroke or the "hit" required to get the ball there, and no worry about being short or long. Just stick to the tempo with the adjusted sense of green speed and the above intent (all the way to the hole but no farther).

Both uphill and downhill putts each have another wrinkle. Uphill putts are sometimes short because the setup is usually tilted uphill as well, and this raises the sense of the lead shoulder higher in the air than usual. Starting the lead shoulder from a higher position has an effect on the sense of when the stroke is completed: the usual stroke starts with the lead shoulder level with the other shoulder, the lead shoulder dips lower and back, the lead shoulder returns to level, and then the lead shoulder goes HIGHER and back than level. When the golfer is tilted uphill, he starts with the lead shoulder higher than usual, the lead shoulder moves down and back, the lead shoulder returns to LEVEL, the lead shoulder then returns to HIGHER than usual where it originally started, and then the golfer quits the stroke without going HIGHER tha the shoulder started at address. This "quitting" makes the putt short. So, when setup on an uphill tilt, remember to finish the upstroke HIGHER than the shoulder starts at address. This feels a bit like chasing the putt uphill. Don't worry about this dynamic sending the ball too far past the hole: that is not the uphill problem -- the problem is getting the ball ALL THE WAY uphill, so this dynamic never hurts by sending the ball too far.

Downhill putts really come in two varieties: stoppable at the hole and not stoppable. And "stoppable" putts also come in two varieties: where the length and speed seems to allow the usual tempo with its standard sizes of strokes, and those too slick or too short or both such that the usual tempo and stroke sizes raises a gut alarm that this will cause a roll that won't stop at the hole. So there are three situations: not stoppable, stoppable with the usual tempo and stroke, and stoppable with something more tightly controlled than the usual flowing tempo and stroke.

Not stoppable downhillers:

Sometimes the combination of slope and green speed means that the surface will not hold a ball, and putting down such a slope is a hopeless enterprise. The only thing the golfer can do is try to get nthe ball feeding onto the same fall-line that delivers the ball into the cup with the least downhill speed possible, and hope the ball does not gain so much speed by the time it reaches the hole that it hops the hole and continues way past. So the plan is to go sideways across the slope sufficiently that the ball's downhill path merges with the fall-line thru the cup with the least starting downhill speed possible. Every once in a while, this sideways starting line actually starts uphill and then pauses right on the fall line and heads back down the hill. If there is any curving of the path due to contour undulations betwen the start of the downhill rolling and the hole, you will have to read this path in advance and play this break or series of breaks downhill.

Stoppable with the usual tempo: the prompting of the new appreciation of the downhill speed is all you need, and then get back to the usual instinctive targeting and pull the trigger. The adjusted sense of speed downhill works its way into the instinctive process to adjust the size of the stroke, but it is still instinctive.

Stoppable only with a more controlled stroke: If the gut warns you that the usual tempo would roll the ball too far past the hole even with the adjusted appreciation of the faster downhill speed, you should by all means heed this warning! The adjustment of sense of green speed ALONE is not sufficient in this case, and your intuition is yelling and hollering just this to you with the gut. Of the five factors, the ball and putter cannot be adjusted, and the adjustment of the sense of speed hasn't done the trick, so now adjust the TEMPO itself. If the usual tempo is a free-flowing back and thru swining of the putter to a "one ... two" count with stable total time, then now switch to a very mechanical, lockstep stroke intending to make the size of the backstroke (start to top of backstroke) match the size of the forward stroke (impact to follow-thru), and also make the stroke with an even velocity of the moving of the putter rather than an accelerating/decelerating "swinging" stroke. I term this the "even-even" tempo and stroke. The idea is to plan on moving the putter slowly and at only one steady velocity the whole time back and thru, but without worrying about how big or small the size of the stroke needs to be. Because you are planning in advance on using this sort of stroke, the brain's instinctive processes adjust and THEN handle the size of the stroke with this new tempo instinctively again, setting the size of the stroke back and thru. In this case, the count is "even" moving slowly from the start to the top of the backstroke, a "..." while the reciprocating motion from top of backstroke to impact with ball is underway, and then "even" again as the putter moves the same distance thru imapct to the end of the follow-thru as the size of the backstroke. Combined with the adjusted sense of downhill faster speed and the intent to roll the ball ONLY as far as the hole and no farther, the golfer visualizes this stroke rolling the ball only to the hole where it creeps to a stop downhill, and then the golfer just counts "even ... even".

The third factor that might be adjusted is the "targeting." Going uphill, you can imagine a target behind the real hole. Going downhill, you can imagine a target short of the hole. More specifically, this secondary target is really converting a putt up or down slope into an imaginary putt across level surface. Determining HOW MUCH short or long of the real hole is the trick. I have created two ways to get this HOW MUCH figured out.

Stimpmeter Unit. Uphill and downhill is really about elevation change of ball from start to finish, not green speed imagined to be different. A stimpmeter is a ramp that elevates all balls to 10.5 inches higher than the surface and then the ramp lets this elevation height express itself into a uniform velocity of all the balls off the bottom of the ramp. So, whatever the "stimp" reading of a green (say, stimp 10), this means that 10.5 inches of elevation translates to 10 feet of level distance. The stimp converts elevation to level roll distance. And THIS IN TURN means that for every 10.5 inches of elevation change for a putt across a stimp-10 green, the golfer needs to locate the secondary targeting hole 10 feet short or long of the real hole. So, an uphill putt on a stimp-10 green that has 21 inches of elevation change from ball to hole, the secondary targeting hole should be 20 feet beyond the hole. Going downhill, the targeting hole would be 20 feet short.

Slope times Stimp. A second approach I have created is to assess slope percentage and multiply this times the stimp reading to obtain a PERCENT of the total feet from ball to hole to add or subtract. For example, facing a 50-foot uphill putt over a stimp-10 green with a slope of 3 percent (a 3' rise over 100', or a 1.5' rise over 50'), the product is 3*10 = 30%. So the secondary targeting hole is 30% of the total real putt length beyond the real hole: to wit, 3% of 50' is 15', so the secondary hole is located 65' from the ball and the putt is treated AS IF it is a 65' putt across UNSLOPED surface.

In all of this, don't get double-crossed. If you adjust the uphill-downhill green spedd appreciation, then your putt is just the real putt uphill or downhill to the hole. But if you adjust the targeting, you convert the putt from the real putt to the real target uphill or downhill to an imaginary level putt to the secondary targeting hole WITH THE USUAL level core putt sense of green speed. A double-cross occurs if you putt uphill to a secondary target past the hole ALSO with a sense that the green speed uphill is "slower" than usual. This will blow the ball way too far. Similarly, going downhill, if you putt to a secondary target short of the hole ALSO with a sense that the downhill speed is faster, the double-cross will leave your putt way short. So if you adjust the targeting to a secondary target hsort or long of the real hole, treat the putt AS IF it were across level surface at the usual core-putt appreciation of green speed.

Finally, there is a trick I teach to get a sense of elevation change. If you want to know exactly how much the green at the hole is above the ball, you can set your putter at the ball with the shaft vertical and the sole on the ground and then try to position your eyeballs at the same height of the hole while looking across the shaft, keeping the gaze of the eyeball level to what should be a flat unsloped surface. (The inner ear sense of level head in space is used to do this, combined with your sense of gravity and what is straight up to the top of the sky.) However high up the shaft your gaze aims level to the hole, that is the elevation change. If you look about as high as the start of the grip material on a conventional putter, this is about 24-25", so that is "2 stimps" at least plus a wee bit. Gauging downhill change, just go to the hole and do the same with the putter looking uphill to the ball. If you want to gauge "slope percent", you can use the putter on the fringe of the green looking at the highest opposite fringe across the green. If the highest opposite fringe appears at the top fo the putter handle (i.e., 35" or about 3'), then you have to estimate how far the "run" to the far fringe is. The simple case is when the far fringe is exactly 100 feet away. Then the slope percentage is just 3% (3'/100'). To avoid the math, try to look exactly 100 feet from the lowest fringe point straight uphill. This general appraisal of slope sometimes doesn't really match the real slope between ball and hole, so sometimes the math is really needed.

Personally, I like the intuitive prompting about green speed uphill or downhill and making sure I intend to roll the ball all the way to the hole but not short or long, combined with the "gut check" for stoppable slick downhillers and the "chase the putt uphill" to make sure I don't quit on the stroke.

Let me know if this helps.

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
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Wow- that is a lot of very good information! I will digest it and use it. I already have measured my "core putt". On an "average" day it goes about 21 feet. It went about 14-15 feet on my old course's practice green.

You already helped me already today, as well! I read your article on reading greens (behind crouching the same distance from the ball as the ball is from the hole), behind the hole crouching and walking on the low side. I realized I had developed a bad habit; I was taking a quick look from behind the ball standing straight up, picking a line, taking a look and feeling the line from address, then pulling the trigger. This works fine on slower, flatter greens, not on these slick hilly greens. I used your strategy and sunk two 8-10' downhillers in 9 holes.

I think the intimidation factor has hindered my putting. I've seen a number of very good putters putt of the greens, and saw a plus 1 putt into a water hazard!
As you state in your answer, there are a number of unstoppable putts.

Just last week, I had a 2 foot downhill putt lip out going very slowly on the low side. It went 12 feet past!

The greens superintendent varies the speed a lot. On some days, we will be as slow as 8-8.5 feet, the next day he will double cut and double roll- voila 13.5ish! It is a factor in hurting my touch. In all honesty, I see a number of people handle these drastic changes well, after a few holes. So far, I don't.

Nice Response .... Lee .... Posted Jul 16, 2007 3:13 PM

You look pretty silly with that one.
..................

Fair enough, considering Geoff's detailed reply. Have you considered using a "heavy" putter on those fast (fescue?) greens? The extra inertia will resist your "core" hammering of the ball and possibly compensate for your problems.

No. I did try one at one time on other greens. It seemed to lessen my feel. I'm not yipping, just bewildered. Most Downhill putts are unstoppable. If you've ever had a two foot putt lip out and go 12 feet, if you've ever made a GREAT putt that stopped next to the hole from 20 feet, then started moving and ran into the rough, then saw a pro hit one a foot past that, if you've ever seen a decent putt roll by the cup, roll 25 feet and into a water hazard, you would understand. Remember watching the US Open at Oakmont? It's that tough.

I know I've gone to PGA events a number of times and watched them. I thought they were on fast greens and great putters. This is different. As an example, Muirfield Village the home of Nicklaus Memorial Tournament is slower and less undulating. You cannot let the ball get above the cup, but on the fast days (probably 3-4 days/week) the greens are also hard and well struck pitching wedges off of urethane balls (ProV1, Cally HX Tour, TM TP etc.) will run over the green if hit from fairway. On slow days, I remember the fast days and leave uphill putts way short. I believe you would have to play it to understand.