What makes greens fast

After the first putt, I repeat the process with a second ball. If my rhythm is consistent and I take the putter head back to the same point, even with my right toe, the two golf balls should be very close to each other.

Here is where I find out the green speeds — I pace off how far the balls rolled. When the greens are slow, I will only pace off 9 — 10 steps. Normally I pace off 13 — 18 steps, but I have been on greens where I have paced off 27 steps Chicago Golf Club for those who are wondering. The amount of paces I take allows me to get my mindset for the day. The slower the greens are, the less that breaking putts will break.

To continue my warmup routine, the next thing I do is pace off that same amount of steps from a hole. I then take the putter back to my right toe again and hit some more putts to confirm the speed. Again, if my rhythm is consistent, my putts should stop right at the hole. Next, I hit some putts from a distance that is farther than the steps I originally counted. For these putts, I want to make sure that I take the putter head back further than my right toe.

There is a notion that only greens that are quick are good, and therefore, by definition, all slower greens are bad. However, only an uninformed person would use green speed as the sole criterion to judge putting quality.

Ideal greens to putt on are those that are smooth and roll consistently, irrespective of their speed. The question is how fast is fast enough?

There are two conflicting issues when it comes to answering this question. Green speed as a measurement on the Stimpmeter is linked to factors such as design contours, turfgrass variety, volume of play, maintenance budget, environmental conditions, sustainable mowing heights and so on.

Green speed as a measurement of enjoyment of the game is linked to the expertise of the golfers playing the course. Greens are the most costly component in maintenance on a cost per square foot basis.

If they are over-stressed by removing too much leaf they become prone to disease unless they are intensely maintained. Many greens are built with undulations to make them more interesting. Faster speeds make it impossible to use some hole locations and therefore less interesting to play. Most courses are managing an annual meadow-grass Poa annua dominated sward with a component of browntop bent in drier greens. Last on the list but often the first to be considered are mowing and rolling.

Regular mowing is required to maintain green speed. Most clubs will already be achieving over 9ft for summer competitions, which is plenty fast enough, especially if you have undulating or sloping greens. Higher speeds become very challenging and even unenjoyable for the average player. Bear in mind that every foot on the Stimpmeter adds 15mins to a round of golf so significantly slowing the speed of play.

Furthermore, managing greens for exceptionally high speeds requires significantly higher inputs in terms of manpower and material costs such as fertiliser, water, fungicide, growth regulator, etc.