One of the most challenging skills in golf is reading a green properly. There seems to be a plethora of ideas on what method or technique to use in order to judge the slope of any green. I have tried many different methods to read greens with mixed results. Fortunately for me, years of experience on reading greens has resulted in a process that works for my game. I consider myself a fairly decent putter, but as every golfer knows, there is always room for improvement. So, how do we read a green properly?

Depending on who you talk too, the way to read a green will vary. Take a look at what Rory McIlroy has to say:

Rory’s visualization of who the putt will break is the method I use. It is born out of experience and reading thousands of greens. If we take our time and look at the slope of the greens, it becomes apparent of how the ball will break. From there it becomes an analysis of how much the ball will break. We take into account water, mountains, wind and dryness of the green. These and a few other factors determine how much a putt will break. After some investigation, there is one factor often overlooked when reading the green. It is the grain of the grass!

Knowing how the grain affects our putt is often overlooked. Personally, I often do not consider this factor because I know the greens at my home course. When I travel to a new track, the grain of the grass is something I need to add to my considerations of putting. If nothing else, it allows for a closer lag putt so can avoid the dreaded 3 putt. Knowing how the grain affects our putts is important if we want to lower our golf scores.

Here is one more tip I think is worth understanding. It is fairly self explanatory.

The short answer on how to read a green properly does boil down to what you see. A statement of “Putt What You See” was offered by our wise and experienced player Jack. He presented this statement in 2019 when we played together at Pine Grove in a four person scramble. After much discussion on particular putt, Jack interjected with this putting advice to help move our chatter along. Basically, Jack indicated that we were approaching our collective putting thoughts the wrong way. Each player has a unique putting style where they read putts to fit their stroke. This epiphany lead to a new way approaching our group think on putting, which resulted in more sunk putts.

Putting is a unique thing. Being able to read the green properly is rooted in experience and growing your golf knowledge. There are many fundamental tenets to reading a green and your journey of understanding these to fit your game is one challenge I recommend everyone tackle.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!