First Green Tips

On the practice green, check the grain by lightly dragging your putter across the grass. If the grass stands up, you’ve scraped your putter against the grain; if it stays down, you’re with the grain. When you’re playing, the Rules of Golf don’t permit you to test the green in this manner, but you can test the collar or apron of the green without penalty. Just make sure it’s the same kind of grass as the putting surface before you factor the information into your read.

In addition to grain direction, learn how the greens drain. A well-designed putting surface has drainage patterns that draw water off to the sides and away from the center of the green. In general, you can expect swales to channel the water away from the bunkers and toward ponds and lakes. Therefore, if you have a putt with a bunker directly behind, the putt probably breaks away from the bunker. Changes in grass color surrounding the green as well as damage from past accumulations of water also are clues to how the drainage flows. The ability to read the drainage patterns is a key to good putting.