How to adapt to different greens and make more putts

We all know how important putting is right?

Making more putts is the key to shooting lower scores, but many golfers approach putting the wrong way. It’s easy to think, “if I work on my putting stroke, I will make more putts.” Unfortunately, having the perfect putting stroke doesn’t necessarily mean being a great putter.

As a professional golfer, I have made a lot of mistakes when it came to putting. I competed in many different countries but struggled to putt well consistently. It was also easy for me to lose the feel in putting if I played on different courses all the time. I would then lose confidence and go into a putting slump.

All the top players are able to adapt to their environment sooner than everyone else and that’s why they are great putters.

I asked my boyfriend who is a retired tour pro with an incredible consistent short game for some advice and this is what we came with. Here are our tips on how you can adapt to different putting greens quickly and make more putts.

Don’t skip putting warmup

I admit, when I have a casual round or a round lesson with customers, I would spend most of my warmup on the driving range and if I have time, I will putt for a couple of minutes, just going through the motions and putting to the hole. What I should’ve been doing is have a putting routine that will help me understand what kind of greens I’ll be facing on the course.

Here are some tips on how you can get better putting feel before playing on the course.

1. Identify the grass-type

Does the green have grain? Bermuda, Korai, and some Bentgrass greens located in the mountains (greens around Mt. Fuji tend to move away from the mountain), have grainy greens. Regular Bentgrass greens don’t have grain.

The best way to find out what kind of greens you’re playing on is either ask at the course or sometimes you can tell from the putting green.

You’re probably wondering how you can tell if there is grain or not. When you look at the green closely, if you see a shine or a light-green color, that means it’s down-grain. If you see a darker-green color, that means you will be putting into the grain.

2. Pace off long putts

This is a good way to know how far you have to the hole and how hard you should hit the putt. Just judging with your eyes can lead to inconsistent distance control (either too short or too long), especially on greens you don’t know very well.

What I like to do first is start from five paces away (about 15 ft) and putt a couple until I am satisfied with my feel for that distance. You don’t even need to putt to a hole, you’re only focused on getting the right speed.

Putt from five paces to however long you think you will have on the course. I normally putt up to 12 paces (36 ft).

Also keep in mind that if you have an uphill or downhill putt, add more or less to the number of paces.

3. Focus on starting the ball on your intended line

When reading a breaking putt, it’s important to get the right line and speed in order to make the putt. Oftentimes, we have the right speed but read the break wrong, or we read the putt well but our speed was off.

The best way to improve your ability to control line and speed is to first understand what kind of putter you are. Are you the kind who likes to barely get the ball to the hole at just the right speed or do you feel more comfortable putting more aggressively? I will explain more in a later blog post but for now, practice shorter putts, around 4-6 feet from left-to-right and right-to-left. Really focus on starting the ball on your intended line at the right speed.

Make sure that you take your time on each putt and do your pre-shot routine. That way, you’ll feel more prepared and confident when you have a similar putt on the course.

When you feel good about those breaking putts, next try some downhill and uphill putts from the same distance.

On the course

Now that you finished your putting warmup and feel good about it, the next step is to go on the course and become more observant on the greens.

1. Identify the low points

All courses are designed to make sure that there are no standing water on the greens because otherwise it would kill the grass. By identifying the low points around the greens or on the greens, you can guestimate where the slope is moving.

If there is a lake around the green, chances are the grain or the slope is moving toward that lake or even toward a drainage area.

Imagine yourself pouring water on the green and see where the water flows. This will help you become better at reading greens and grain.

2. Watch your playing partners

This may seem obvious but I tend to learn a lot when I observe other people’s putts especially when it’s on a similar line. Not only should you be paying attention to which way the ball breaks, but you should also be watching out for how the ball is rolling (how fast or slow the ball is moving).

3. Keep in mind the time of day

Some grass-types like Poa Annua get bumpier later in the day so it’s important to make sure that you are firmer with the putts. In general, greens will change speed throughout the day. Greens normally will play slower early in the morning or late in the afternoon and slightly faster in the late morning or early afternoon if they are rolled.

You can always ask the head pro, assistant pro, or a house caddie if you are not sure.

Trust and commit

At the end of the day, the most important thing is to believe that you can make the putt and commit to it. People who approach putting analytically will struggle. You will need to be intuitive and be able to visualize your putts.

That being said, don’t feel like you have to make a lot of putts. There are days where the putts just don’t drop. If you felt that you put a good stroke, that’s about all you can do.

As long as you practice putting with a purpose and understand the greens better, you will be able to become more adaptable and putt well on any course.

Let me know your thoughts and if this helped you!