You could play the perfect shot on every hole up until reaching the green and if your game falls apart at this point, you will struggle to make par. Putting is arguably the most important part of golf and if you reach every green on the course under regulation but fail to read them properly, making a birdie or par will become very difficult.
Sometimes, you will land the ball on the green right next to the hole and leave yourself a simple tap-in. However, much of the time your ball will be further away from the hole and you will be left with a tricky putt.
Reading the green is one of the most important aspects of putting and if you do not have a flat run to the hole, you must look at the surface and decide how the ball is going to behave once it has left the face of your putter.
Reading greens is not an easy skill to acquire but one of the biggest mistakes many beginner golfers make is to concentrate on the line of the putt, without taking any breaks into consideration.
As you approach the green, start looking any potential breaks between your ball and the hole. Some slopes will become obvious when you reach the putting surface and you will immediately notice a significant break.
Look for the high points of the green and the direction of the breaks coming from them. Having an overall picture of the green and its contours will help when you step up to your ball and begin planning your putt.
Subtle breaks are not always easy to see and you can use the other balls on the green to help with this task. What height are these balls in comparison to yours? If there are other golf balls higher or lower than yours, this suggests a potential break on the putt.
If you are playing alone or the last to putt, place the flat stick down on the opposite side of the hole and check to see if it is higher, lower or dropping at an angle from one side to the other. Always use the items you have at your disposal to look for any breaks in the green.
Look for any drainage around the green as the greenkeeper will position this to collect water as it runs off the green. This means the green is breaking towards the drainage area and will give you some insight as to the potential break of the putt.
Finally, don’t forget to watch your playing partners as they make their putts. Study how their ball reacts as it rolls across the green and use this information to judge your own putt.
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