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Re: need help on tournament speed greens

• raycin1019 377 Posts

  Thu, Dec 12 2013 11:27 AM

  I went to a tournament today for the first time and ran up against
  Tournament speed greens.  I am used to the very fast greens and it was a disaster.  Everything I hit was way long.

  I read some of the posts on here about tournament speed greens but have not been able to find a really good tutorial.  Is there one?

  Is there a simple formula to at least get me within 3-4 feet of the cup.  If so, I will go to the practice mode to work out a more definitive approach, I would just like something to get in the ballpark?

• DaddysKat 3,554 Posts

  Thu, Dec 12 2013 11:48 AM

  The putting calculator that's included with my notes spreadsheet is pretty much right on, although there are several other formulas that can help.  Use the search feature ▬▬►

• fitzroy1965 337 Posts

  Thu, Dec 12 2013 12:02 PM

  Start by reducing power on all putts about 15% or so, prolly a little more on putts over 20 ft. Other than that you just have to practice on them to fine tune it and add a hair more break to all putts.  gl

• raycin1019 377 Posts

  Thu, Dec 12 2013 12:43 PM

  thanks for the input

• gr8flbob 592 Posts

  Thu, Dec 12 2013 5:25 PM

  My formula: take 30% off displayed distance, then add or subtract 1 ft for each inch of rise or fall in elev. Do not adjust for elevation before the green speed correction - speed is a function of friction from green vs length of putt

  Finally add 1.5 - 2 ft (distance and elevation numbers are  rounded off, and can be+/- half and inch, and putts over 10 ft are also rounded off to nearest whole ft and can be +/- half a foot).

  If putt is downhill, ease off that final 'safety factor' to 1 foot -- if it's really steep, drop the safety factor entirely. 

  In general:

  SLOW add 10%

  STANDARD = ZERO CORRECTION

  FAST -10%

  VERY FAST - 20%

  TOURN - 30%

  CHAMP - 40%

  Lastly, the faster the green speed is, the more break will occur for any given slope.