3 steps to help you read greens

3 steps to help you read greens better

Keep alert to improve your green reading and hole more putts!

Fault: Missed putts, caused by a failure to identify the break

Fix: Boost your awareness of the green’s slopes through paying attention to terrain and your playing partners’ putts

When I play in Pro-Ams, I’m often aware of the number of chances club golfers miss to gain an accurate reading of the putt they’re about to face.

Good green reading is an essential part of any holed putt, yet it’s one the amateur regularly fails to pay enough attention to. Some equate careful green-reading with slow play, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

This three-step process will give you a much better chance of holing out.

1. The big picture – It is easier to assess a slope from distance than when you’re stood on top of it. So as you walk up to the green, assess its overall terrain and pinpoint where the low points are.

1. Right angles – You need to build an accurate mental picture of what the ball will do. Survey your putt from behind the hole and to the side of it, before crouching down behind the ball to look at it.

3. Eye on the ball – Don’t switch off when your partners are putting. They’ll give you a clear picture of how fast the green is, and how the ball breaks around the cup.