Fast Greens

Orikoru

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If you're on fast greens, address the ball off the toe of the putter, at least an inch away from the sweet spot.
I've heard this before but I'm not sure it'd work with Evnroll. Their face tech is designed so the ball comes off quicker off the toe or heel for more forgiveness on mishits.
 
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We can get up to 12–13ish I think, and it does get a little bit scary and slows the field down.

I do like the greens to be quick though, the downhill putts at Hindhead are notoriously scary and being above the hole is not a place to be, but at a certain speed, it’s actually nice because you know the ball will reach the hole. It’s when they’re slow enough that you’re suddenly having to “hit” the ball that it gets a bit more tricky.

When they’re at their fastest, uphill putts are the worst - you don’t want to risk being 3-4ft past, so you end up leaving it in the jaws all day long.
 

rulefan

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I've played at some very nice courses but I've never been somewhere that states the stimp. I've therefore no idea what, 9, 10, 11 etc actually feels like. I know what slow, medium, fast, silly fast feels like but is my silly fast really that fast 🤷‍♂️
 

Lord Tyrion

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Sorry, I know what a stimpmeter is, know how it works. I've just never been at a course that announces the reading for the day. I therefore have nothing to go off when someone says that they've played a course running at 10. It's meaningless unless you have experienced a green and been told the rating.
 

sunshine

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Sorry, I know what a stimpmeter is, know how it works. I've just never been at a course that announces the reading for the day. I therefore have nothing to go off when someone says that they've played a course running at 10. It's meaningless unless you have experienced a green and been told the rating.
Useful for green keepers to measure speed on their course. Not massively useful to compare courses as the slopes have a big impact
 

srixon 1

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Sorry, I know what a stimpmeter is, know how it works. I've just never been at a course that announces the reading for the day. I therefore have nothing to go off when someone says that they've played a course running at 10. It's meaningless unless you have experienced a green and been told the rating.
The green keepers write the speed of ours on a board next to the 1st tee. Ours were 9 yesterday.
 

howbow88

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Quickest I've ever played was at The Classic Club in Desert Springs, California. They were mental. Monte Rei was also super quick.

I putted brilliantly at both. I absolutely cannot stand slow greens - you have to hit the ball, not putt the ball. On fast greens you just guide the ball in.

*Yes, quicker greens are more punishing if you overhit a putt, but you get used to it.
 

jim8flog

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I love fast greens a lot more than I hate slow greens.

In the main I would say ours are reasonably fast when normal prep has been done but not as fast as say somewhere like Burnham and Berrow.

What I hate is when they speed up the greens for an Open or a club championship the day of the comp ar at best the day before the comp so you never get to practice/play on the very fast greens beforehand.

My other dislike is when the practice green is nothing like the greens on the course, whichever way round it is.
 

howbow88

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My other dislike is when the practice green is nothing like the greens on the course, whichever way round it is.
YES!!!! There is nothing more frustrating than spending 20 minutes on a practice green, getting used to the speed, and then you go out on to the course and within a couple of holes it is clear that the speed is completely different.
 

nickjdavis

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YES!!!! There is nothing more frustrating than spending 20 minutes on a practice green, getting used to the speed, and then you go out on to the course and within a couple of holes it is clear that the speed is completely different.

I played Royal Norwich a couple of months ago in their Senior Open....hit half a dozen balls on the practice green which was unbelievably treacle like. Decided that the greens on the course could no way be THAT slow (they weren't the previous year!!) , so decided I was wasting my time practising.

That was a mistake....the proper greens were every bit as slow as the practice green!!
 
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I know quite a few greenkeepers at various courses and every one of them has told me that they treat the practice green exactly the same as the greens on the course. So when people complain that the greens on the course are nothing like the practice green it is just an excuse for putting poorly.
 

rulefan

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I know quite a few greenkeepers at various courses and every one of them has told me that they treat the practice green exactly the same as the greens on the course. So when people complain that the greens on the course are nothing like the practice green it is just an excuse for putting poorly.
I'm sure they do but the problem is that often that some greens will have been built using a completely different form of construction. The practice green may be an older 'clay bowl' whilst many or even all on the course are to the modern USGA spec. Even if they are treated in the same way, they may still play differently in different weather conditions.
 
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