Close, but no Cigar!
Have you ever hit a drive that split the fairway, straight as an arrow and just a bit longer than your usual effort? Then you follow it up with a nice, crisp iron that heads straight for the middle of the green and settles in about 8 feet from the cup, and you enjoy the walk to the green as visions of birdies flutter before your eyes.
You mark your ball carefully, clean the grass and dew off, fix your ball mark and move to the side of the green to wait while your buddy, who came up 30 yards short of the green, is trying to get his wedge to clear the front bunker. You see his ball come flying up, take a skip and a hop, and roll off the back edge of the green. You hear him mutter to himself as he crosses the green and you think to yourself, I got him. I finally got him!
You watch as your buddy clips his next shot and gets it onto the green where it rolls by the hole and stops about 10 feet past the cup. More waiting, more muttering, and more watching your buddy as he walks to his ball. He looks at the hole from behind his ball, lines up his putter, steadies himself and putts. The ball rolls smoothly up the incline and drops in the front of the cup. “Bogey” he mutters, as he fishes his ball out of the hole.
You casually stroll over and replace your ball, gingerly removing your mark. You look at the hole and notice it is downhill from where you stand. You need to hit this just right. You set your putter in place while eyeing the hole. Back and through and the putt begins to roll. It breaks downhill halfway to the hole and starts picking up speed. You cringe as it rolls another 6 feet past the hole.
You approach your putt, the birdie has come and gone, but a par still wins the hole. You put your putter behind the ball and start your swing. “Gentle this time, easy does it you tell your self”. The balls rolls straight at the cup and begins to slow down as it tries to get up the hill and into the cup. It stops about 2 inches from the cup. You tap in your bogey as your partner chuckles, “Thought you had me pardner”.
How many times has this happened to you? There is a “science” to putting, and with enough practice and preparation, you can all but eliminate 3-putts from your golf game. The key to becoming a better putter is setting a routine for each putt.
Every Stroke Counts
In a “good” round of golf, you use the putter twice as much as your driver, or any of your irons. In a “bad” round of golf, it could be 3 times or more. So why does everyone go to the range and pound ball after ball with their driver? If you want to lower your score on a consistent basis, the easiest way to do this is to become a great putter. Now you’re probably thinking “Easier said than done”. But actually, there are many ways to become a good putter, or at least a better putter. There are numerous blogs, columns, and videos, even “YouTube” videos that address that very issue.
Reading the green
The first step to making any putt is determining which way the ball is going to roll between the ball and the hole. As you get closer to the green, take a look around the entire area.
The first step is to find the highest point of the green, along with the overall high spot of the course itself. Look around and become aware of the surrounding lay-o-the-land. Generally speaking, putts will roll from high point to low point. Now there may be some variation to that, a little hump in the green or a little plateau near the hole, but those are exceptions to the rule.
Next, take a few seconds to look around the edge of the green. Is there a creek nearby, or maybe even a drainage ditch? Whichever the water runs when it rains, is going to be the direction your putt will roll as well.
While playing with others in your group, if you are not the first to putt, pay close attention to what their balls do as they approach the hole. Try to watch for subtle breaks which you may have missed. Watch to see how much speed the ball gains or loses as it gets close to the hole. Don’t pass the time waiting by staring into your phone screen. Focus on the putt and get every little helping tip you can, no matter where it comes from.
When it’s your turn to putt, it’s time to put all these pieces together and start the stroke saving.
For a demonstration of these points, I like to watch and follow “Mr Short Game” on YouTube. He has easy to follow videos that address these very problems. Here’s one below:
Mr Short Game Green Reading tips
Practice Putting with Purpose
Before your round, take a few minutes on the practice putting green. Use the time to get acclimated to the speed of the green. Each course is different and it usually takes a few handfuls of putts to get in tune with the speed of the greens for that particular course.
I see a lot of players just drop balls and start whacking them, and when 1 finally drops, they scoop up their 3 or 4 balls and head to the tee.
Personally, I never use more than 2 balls on the practice green, and I never just stand in one spot hitting them to the same hole. I start with a long putt to try to get a feel for the overall speed. I hit the first to the farthest hole, and then the next to the next farthest. I always go “clean-up” the remaining putts and try to avoid any 3 putts. That gives a good mix of long and short putts and gets you in the “need this for par” mentality. Then I reverse direction and work my way back to the starting point. Speed should be the focus when on the practice green, as the greens never have as much break or the same breaks as the holes on the course. I do try to find a left to right breaking putt, and a right to left breaking putt, as long as a slight uphill, and a slight downhill putt. As many variations as I can find, gives just a small bit of what you will encounter once out on the course.
Lastly, I will hit 3 or 4 shorter putts (4-6 feet) to different holes just to get that feeling before I tee off. It’s also good to actually hear the ball hit the bottom of the cup a few times before you stand over a putt on the first hole wondering if you can make it.
Putting can be the Difference
As I stated earlier, becoming a better putter is the easiest way to lower your scores in golf. It also is one of the easiest ways to build your confidence in your game, and that confidence will transfer to all other parts of your game as well.
Whether you are just starting out, or you have been golfing long enough to put you in the “Senior Golfer” range, being a good putter will never go out of style.
If you are interested in becoming better than you currently are (and who isn’t?), there are many books, videos, and programs designed to enhance your putting, as well as help those who are struggling find a complete overhaul and erase all those bad habits.
I personally believe in the program from “Consistent Golf”. The link below will take you to their site and then it is up to you if you want to become the better golfer that sinks putt after putt while your buddies jaws hit the ground in disbelief.
