Nancy Quarcelino School of Golf - Blog

Right now many golf courses in the Middle Tennessee area are struggling to keep their greens alive.  With all the rain we had in May, the 90 degree plus weather for over 25 days in a row in July, and the high humidity, we are now seeing major damage to most greens on every golf course. Some have even closed in order to re-seed and give the greens time to recover. 

The greens that are not struggling are the facilities that changed over to Champions Bermuda grass. Also the courses that have raised the height of their mowers allowing the grass to grow taller has made the greens not as susceptible to burning.

So what does that mean for golfers?  It means the greens you putt on are either very slow because of the mower height or you are putting on a temporary green in the middle of the fairway.  But when you go to golf courses that the greens are fast your putting stroke is in consistent.

What should you do?

Well, one thing you can do is use a different putter on faster greens and use another type putter for slower greens.  I suggest you use a lighter weight putter for fast greens and a heavier putter on slower greens.  The change of weight with your putter will allow you to keep your same stroke while producing a different distance.

Another way to make this change from slow to fast greens is to add “lead” tape on your putter.  This type of tape is heavier and you can usually put it on the back of your putter.  One inch of “lead” tape is equal to one additional swing weight which will change the putter weight and give you a better feel for your stroke on a slower putting surface. 

One last way to change the weight of your putter is to balance the putter with a weight that is put in at the grip end of the putter.  This weight can be changed from lighter to heavier when playing on different green surfaces.

So when you go play in Florida on Bermuda greens, you may want to take a different putter or weight your putter before you go.  Sometimes it actually can be the greens fault when you miss a putt!

I wouldn’t be surprised to see more golf courses in our area make the change over to Champions Bermuda after all the difficulty we have seen this summer. Will our summers continue to get hotter and more humid or are we just going through a cycle? No one really has the answer. I’m just glad that I’m not the one having to make the decision as to whether or not make that change!

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Here are some simple tips which may help you with your putting.
 
If you wear sun glasses when you play, the tint of the lens may affect how you read the green. The best tint to read the greens and see the slope is cinnamon, light brown, gold or orange.  Stay away from polarized lenses.

Calibrate the speed of the greens before you play by practicing 20’, 30’, and 40’ uphill and downhill putts. 

If the greens are faster than you are used to practice only the downhill putts.  If the greens are slower than you are used to practice only the uphill putts. 

If you tend to push your putts to the right, play your ball position up in your stance.
If you tend to pull your putts to the left, play your ball position back in your stance.

Practice putting for at least 15 minutes before play.  This is time well spent to get used to the speed of the greens.

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There are a lot of things that blow me away and so does this statistic:  Tiger Woods in his last tournament made 98% of his putts from 10 feet and in.  That is huge.  We teach based upon statistics and know the average tour player makes only 47% of their putts from 6 feet.We worked our juniors hard this past week on getting their percentage up from 6 feet and in.  They were amazed at their low percentage from 6 feet.  The best was 80% which was great.  The average was 40%.

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