Golf Tips

Let's talk about reading break and factoring in the effects of grain on putting.

How do you read greens?

1- Look at the contours of the green as you walk onto it. Survey the ground, the contours, the humps, and figure out where water would fall if it was raining. Finding the low spots indicates the direction gravity likely will take the ball.

2- As you approach your ball lying on the green, look at the area between your ball and the hole. Fix any ball marks, remove any loose impediments, analyze the grain and gauge distance.

3- If you are not first to hit, go behind the hole and look at the putt. Check the grain around the hole and look for any sneaky contours you might not see otherwise.

4- Finally, look at the line from behind the ball. If you are in doubt as to the read, go with what you see directly behind the ball. However, ultimately, go with your first impression! If you first thought "one cup left", then looked around and said "maybe its left edge", go with your first instinct, it is usually correct!

What is grain?

Grain is the direction the grass grows, and it influences the roll of the ball, especially when it begins to lose speed around the hole. You can't touch the grass, but you can look at how the blades lay. That, along with the slope, influences the direction the ball will usually fall.

Putts directly into the grain are much slower, and the grass usually will look darker. Putts down-grain will be much quicker, and the grass looks brighter.

You have to factor grain into the equation when you putt because all Bermuda grass courses have grain. Greens cut especially fast minimize the effect of grain, but most average speed greens will be significantly influenced by grain. Learning to read grain takes some practice, and skill, but over time, a golfer can learn to anticipate what the grain will do to the roll of the ball.

So, be efficient in surveying the green. Don't waste time, just look around as you walk onto the green, check different perspectives when others are putting, and when it is your turn, pick a committed aim line, trust your stroke, and tell yourself "I putt solid."