Golf: Putting

One of my favorite subjects is putting. It is by far the most important part of the game. There are many people out there that think other aspects are more important. One that gets a lot of play is greens in regulation. I am sorry, it just won’t fly. I do not care how many greens you hit; if you don’t sink those putts, it is all for naught. I think the reason for this is that everyone wants to make shot-making the most important part of the game. It sells golf clubs, lessons, and just seems that it should be. Putting is so simple to do. There are almost no fundamentals, really. Your method is meaningless as long as you can get the ball into the hole. Many people will argue that putting is not golf. Like a lot of things in golf, there is really nothing to compare to in other sports. It would be like a basketball player having to throw a strike in bowling rather than shoot a free throw when he is fouled. I am going to touch on bowling again later. Watch any tournament down the stretch. See who holes the most putts. That will be your champion. I think this is what holds people back on their putting. They do not give it its just due. It doesn’t keep them from working on their putting. It is more of a mental thing. Subconsciously, they are more concerned and happier when they are hitting great iron shots and getting the ball on the green. They chalk up a missed putt to just one of those things. It is that unconscious lack of respect for putting that inadvertently undermines everyone’s game.

My putting had its usual ups and downs and right now it is in an up position. About 3 weeks ago I started spot putting. It is just a fact it is easier to aim at something that is 3 to 10 feet away than something that is over 15 feet away and beyond. Those spots on the bowling alley are not there just for show. I find a spot on the green or some color change on the green that is close to the line I want to go on. I line up to that. I get a picture in my mind of what speed I want the ball to go when it is going over the mark. On short putts I still try to find a mark. I have done this in the past and then got away from it. One of the big things now in golf balls is the alignment tool. I do not use it. I find that it is difficult to line it up exactly where I want it. Mentally I feel that it makes putting seem to be too exact. I will use it on short putts sometimes, especially when there is no spot between the ball and the hole. Now that leaving the flagstick in has been around for a while, there seems to be a shift toward taking the pin out. For myself, I am pretty ambivalent about it. I think the real problem here is that all flagsticks are not created equal. If during a round I see the ball being rejected by the stick a couple of times, I may start to take it out. In my mind, I think it is a crap shoot. There is no question in my mind that on certain putts the flagstick has kept balls out of the hole. It has also let other putts go into the hole that would have lipped out or gone right over the hole. I don’t know how long I will be using spot putting. Will it make it to my season-ending blog? Technique is irrelevant when it comes to putting. The key to putting is to get the ball moving at the right speed for the line that you have chosen.

The final key to putting is green reading. You can have the stroke of Ben Crenshaw and Brad Faxon combined, but if you can’t tell how much the putt is going to break and in what direction, then you are doomed. There are many green reading tips out there and cookbook methods. I think most of them are pretty worthless. My best advice is to use the laws of correction. On the very first hole, notice what you did on your first putt of the day. Whatever way you missed it, correct it immediately on the next hole. If you missed it short, on the next hole, make sure you are pass the hole. If it was low, play more break on the next putt. Instead of bemoaning the missed putt, just calmly observe why you missed it and correct it immediately. This is the only way you are going to get your putting on track. Recently, I had a day where my speed was perfect from the first hole. I did not change a thing and wound up making 5 birdies, of which 3 were putts of over 15 feet. I have no idea why my speed was so good that day. I made 5 bogeys that day, and all were related to ball striking and short game issues. If you make early corrections when putting, you will get a feel for the greens much quicker. However you do it, you must find a way to get the ball into the hole. The better you are at the most important aspect of golf, the lower you will score. It is a very simple equation.