Tip From the Archives

Grain Check

Problem

Without any extra effort or aggression, the ball is rolling faster for some of your putts than they are for other putts on the same green.

Cure

This could be due to the amount of water in certain areas on the putting green. However, anytime you are having a particularly hard time playing on the green, check to see the grain of the grass. This is because the grain of the grass can either reduce or enhance the effects of the break.

Therapy

Your putts will roll faster when you are putting down grain and slower if you are putting against the grain. When the grain is growing across your line, you can expect the ball to tend to favor the same direction of the grain. One trick to notice the grain faster is to look to see the direction the blades of the grass are growing by looking for the roots or sunburn marks that are brown.

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11 votes

 
Bill | 3 years ago, mid-January

Another trick is that if looking down grain, the grass will appear lighter in color or even slightly shiny. Looking back up grain will show a contrasting darker color. You can test this by feel when running your fingers lightly back and forth across the green. Shinier = faster in looking at how a putt breaks also.



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