Say you have a 4.0 ft putt that shows 0 slope (flat) on Tournament Speed greens. You hit it with 3.5ft of power and it comes up just short! Costs you a birdie!
The next short putt you decide to give it more power but it lips out on you! Another birdie gone! Damnit!
Next short putt has a sharp break and now you're almost afraid to hit it. You think, I'll hit it harder and take the break out. No, I'll hit it easier and die it in the side of the cup. Short putts on really fast greens can get into your head! You decide to split the difference, miss the ding, and the putt slides by the low side of the cup. You break your mouse.
Sound familiar??
Confidence on short putts is everything. The key is not to miss that first short putt in a round. That means don't miss any.
There's a short putt on the 2nd at Kiawah, to the right of the flag where its a straight putt, that I've come up short on a couple of times. Its 4 to 5 ft and it says 0 slope.
It lies, its really up .44 inches, nearly half an inch, and only because the slope indicator does whole inches and not tenths of an inch. And .5 inches is .5 ft of power on your putter.
Here's a look at that putt on #2 at Kiawah in the panels below. Click on the image for a bigger view.
Panel 1: From the ball to 3.2 ft from the ball the little green triangle is pointing down and slope says 0 in.
Panel 2: I move the aimer just 1 pixel towards the hole and the green triangle flips, it now points up, but still says the slope is 0 inches. This is where the "hidden upslope" begins.
Panel 3: At the hole, says 4 ft and 0 slope. Green triangle is pointing up.
Panel 4: I keep dragging the aimer past the hole, at 5.1 ft I finally get told there's a 1 inch upslope!
Panel 5: I keep dragging the aimer and at 7.2 ft I get told its now a 2 inch upslope!
Below is a side view of the putt that illustrates what's going on with the slope.
That little rise of .44 inches, starting 10 inches in front of the cup, when the ball is rolling its slowest, is a killer.
So, to make more short putts drag the aimer past the pin and look for an upslope. Take these hidden upslopes into consideration when you're facing a short putt on really fast greens and stop leaving them short!
P.S. This also works to find hidden downslopes, which can cause the ball to roll too fast and cause lip outs or long comeback putts.