YankeeJim:How would you know? Until they're your default speed and you're forced to play them every ranked round you will never know.
Before I outline how I would know, let me again emphasize that I'm just offering my opinion. And that opinion is really as valid as anyone else's because I would guess that few of us really know how closely championship greens approximate real life conditions on the PGA tour. About the only people who would know are those who have played under tournament conditions.
In any case, my opinion is based on a number of factors. First, I have played some tournaments with championship greens. While the number is not a lot, I have played enough to get a good feel for how fast they are.
Second, the speed of the greens is a known quantity. Their speed has been stated multiple times in discussion fora. Simply with that knowledge, one could form an informed opinion, even if the knowledge is not perfect. Indeed, most opinions are formed with imperfect knowledge.
Third, I know how fast the greens are that I putt on. It's not that difficult to extrapolate from that to knowing how fast championship greens are. It's a simple process of taking what is known to inform what is not known. Basic empiricism.
And fourth, I've been on here over a year, and this is the first time that I've seen the argument suggested that championship greens do not get the game close enough to real life.
Now, obviously, the last point is an argument from silence. But it seems to me, given how vocal this online community is about the shortcomings of the game, that the issue would have bee raised before now and people would have demanded changes. Now, maybe they've done that previously, and I missed it.
Nevertheless, my point remains: I can have enough understanding or knowledge of how fast championship greens in order to make an informed opinion on them, even if I do not play them on a daily basis.
YankeeJim: Witness your last comment-players complaining that greens are too fast are not looking at reality.
I'm sorry. I don't understand what you mean by that comment. But I get it. We disagree. And that's fine.
Hit 'em straight and seldom!