Forums

Putting on Championship Greens

• fatdan 3,379 Posts

  Fri, Jun 3 2016 8:16 PM

  Nicole161106:

  Wow, 3 pages so far of mathematical nonsense from most who should know better.

  Has the OP stated which hole he is talking about? Which course?

  No, he just asked "how we would calculate the putt" with the given info, AND he got some very good answers

  Is a long, 4ft uphill putt always the same?  eg. what if the last 10 or 20 ft is actually downhill, what was the wind direction? how does that affect all these Euclid calculations?

  Very simple, use those calc's to get to the crest of the hill, then how much more power to roll down to the hole!

  Whole thread meaningless till these questions are answered.

  Not to most who read it, so far just you.

  To give a bit of context, when Bandon came here, there is a hole where I seemed to almost always go left, for whatever reason, the resultant putt was very uphill, ok?

  Only thing was I was hitting it miles past each time, why?

  Because once the brow of the hill had been crested it was then rapidly downhill, which throws all these calculations away till we know which hole in particular the OP is talking about.

  Again, Very simple, use those calc's to get to the crest of the hill, then how much more power to roll down to the hole!

  Sounds like a tough putt, why on earth would you continue to hit the tee shot there?
  

   

   

• SoCalJim23 430 Posts

  Fri, Jan 5 2018 2:25 PM

  Just my 2 cents worth.

  Think we ALL over-analyze these putts.  But, I'm STILL trying to get a handle on putting on "Championship Speed Greens".

  I calculate.....2.9 ft. for every 10 ft. of distance...on "Championship Speed" greens.  Gets me close.  But, I don't have the BEST clubs or balls.....and, I do think that makes "some" difference.

  On down hill putts on "Championship Speed Greens".....I normally DOUBLE the calculation....so, instead of hitting a putt 40 ft., I'll hit it 20 feet on my meter.....usually works on most holes.  Dropped a 53 Ft. downhill Eagle putt yesterday....so, I know that calc. works pretty well.

  Still.......I have learned a long time ago....the PUTTING GRID lies.  Well, it does.  So, you really MUST learn every GREEN.....to know where those little humps and valleys are...that the Putting Grid just doesn't reveal.

  Also......I rarely move the "putting target".....have always putted "by feel".  Though, I do calculate for the various "green speeds".

  I'm still AMAZED to see other Champion Players scoring 15 to 20 strokes UNDER PAR on any course.  I personally have NEVER enjoyed having to "calculate" putts....but, you pretty much have to.

   

• DaveStrock 919 Posts

  Fri, Jan 5 2018 11:30 PM

  SoCalJim23,,,,Your two cents isn't even close bud,,2.9ft of power on champ greens will only move the ball aprox 4ft,,,the real calculation to use is 7ft for ever 10 or use .7 as a multiplier to get your proper distance to putt after adjusting for any elevation in the putt,,example you have a 20 ft put and it has 3inch elevation,add the 3 to the 20 and you have a 23ft putt now on champ greens take that 23ft and multiply by .7 which equals 16.1 ft round that up to 17ft of power (that's 17% on your100 scale or 34% on your 50 scale) and it will travel that 23 ft perfectly,,,,,to make it simple,on all champ greens putts,adjust your elevation and simply multiply your number by point seven ( .7 ) and that will keep you near or in the hole,you will need to tweak the distance back a tad for putts over 35ft also on down hill putts use the same formula but then take 1ft of power off for every 3inches down on putts over 10ft...oh and it makes no difference which putter or ball you use on the green they all travel the same distance..

• BPeterson8256 2,913 Posts

  Sat, Jan 6 2018 5:44 PM

  DaveStrock:

  ...oh and it makes no difference which putter or ball you use on the green they all travel the same distance..

  That was not my experience.

  I have only used two putters, but they were completely different on how far they traveled. I have always putted by percentage of power, based on how fast the green is rolling. Below is an example of my notes for my current putter. There is more to it than just that, especially on faster greens. The list is specific for every ".1" difference. My point is that all these numbers are drastically different than my previous putter. The capital "M" that is still part of my notes, indicates my current putter. As I played different speed greens, I had to completely change the percentage of power from what they were for my old putter. I did not save my old notes, but the numbers were not even close to the same. 

  11 Greens: 81% M

  11.5 Greens: 79% M

  12 Greens: 76% M

  13 Greens: 68/76% M

   

• lonniescott711 4,206 Posts

  Sat, Jan 6 2018 7:57 PM

  Putters make a difference thats due to foregiveness , precision and balance . But the type of ball being used doesnt . All balls roll the same there is no difference in ball roll . The only ball attributes are distance and spin . But when putting all balls are the same .

• drmoose 3,542 Posts

  Sun, Jan 7 2018 6:05 AM

  @ DaveStrock

  I use a very similar equation, with the only difference being that I add 1.5' to the distance from the hole before multiplying by .7 . This eliminates most of those .2 short putts.

  10' to hole 3"up = 13 +1.5 =14.5 x.7= 10.15

  I forget who told me a properly executed putt should end up 1.5 ft past the cup, if the cup were not there, but , it seems to work pretty well.

  Doc :)

• Robert1893 7,722 Posts

  Sun, Jan 7 2018 6:58 AM

  And others suggest that a putt should slip into the hole like a mouse. 

  In other words, there are different approaches to putting. People have to find what works best for them. 

• TopShelf2010 10,931 Posts

  Sun, Jan 7 2018 8:03 AM

  .

• Robert1893 7,722 Posts

  Sun, Jan 7 2018 11:02 AM

  TopShelf2010:

  PS: I am obviously still searching for what works LOL

  
  
  You and me, both.
  
  I still alternate between "I can't believe that putt didn't drop" and "Wow! I made a putt!" :-) 

• SoCalJim23 430 Posts

  Sun, Jan 7 2018 1:36 PM

  Dave........Not sure I really understand your "formula" for putting on "Championship Speed Greens".

  Everything I've read.....is, you have to reduce the power of a putt for "Championship Speed Green Putts" by approx. 30%.  So, I've been using 10 ft. divided by 10 = 1 x 2.9 = 7.1 ft. to the hole.

  Of course, that's on a FLAT surface green.....not many of those type putts here on WGT.

  On downhill putts.....I used the same 2.9 figure, but multiply it by 2.  Subtract that distance gets me very close to holes on DOWNHILL putts.  Using this formula, sank a 53 ft. putt the other day at Pebble Beach.

  I struggle more with the "breaks" on Championship Speed Greens that I do with distance to the holes.

  Well....I have MUCH still to learn about this "green speed".

  I STILL have no idea how any player can hit a "53" on Merion.....Black Tees, Championship Speed Greens.  Amazing.  I think if you putt on "Championship Greens" ONLY for about 1-2 yrs.....a Champion player could get pretty good.