Fast or slow greens

[Fish]

Do you prefer fast or slow greens and why?

We have all heard the expression 'they were slow but true', but is that suffice and ideal?

Do you know what stimp reading really suits you and your putter and putting style?

For me I love fast greens, the reading of them is more exact which is a challenge I love to tackle, getting the speed right of them doubles that challenge.

Yes they need to be true, but I find the faster greens to be naturally true anyway, slow greens can be a lottery, but more-so, I think slower greens yield better scores as players attack the hole far more with no fear of going 10ft past.

What's your take on the speed of greens and if you knew the ideal stimp for your putting game and could see a board at the start of the round, taking into account there will be slight variables during the day, would you change or consider changing and having 2 putters to suit slow or faster greens?

Would knowing the stimp help or assist you in anyway before starting your round?

 

[Ross61]

I much prefer fast greens, but not too fast, a stimp of 12 is a bit too much and can get farcical on steep sloping greens. Players that can putt well lose their advantage on slow greens.
knowing the stimp could help, but would only help for the first couple of greens after that any decent putter should be able to adapt naturally.

 

[jusme]

Fast greens all day. I'm a better putter on fast greens as I feel I can stroke the put. On slower greens where you need to 'hit it' I can loose my tempo and structure as such

 

[Hosel Fade]

Not too bothered about speed, more fussed about smoothness, consistency & firmness to make angles off the tee more relevant. So long as theyre at 8 or higher and they cut the pins in playable locations I'm happy

 

[Oddsocks]

I'll adjust , it's the skill of the game. What's next, measuring the bounce on fairways or the depth of sand in the bunkers?

What I have noticed is that fast greens generally slow pace of play. This time of year ours run around 11.5/12.00, but this year they have slowed them slightly to 10.00/10.50

 

[Fish]

This time of year ours run around 11.5/12.00, but this year they have slowed them slightly to 10.00/10.50

How do you know this?

 

[garyinderry]

Prefer a decent pace but slow greens are easier to put on. Much less break required.

 

[Junior]

Medium ? I struggle to read slope. Not whether the putt is going to break left to right, or right to left, but when its a subtle uphill or downhill slope. Sounds stupid, but on fast greens it magnifies my problem. I therefore don't like them too slow, but not too fast either.

 

[Beezerk]

No option for medium?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I prefer them quick. It allows me to just concentrate on stroking the ball onto it's line. Whereas slower greens make me feel I need to hit the ball towards the hole, thus my stroke isn't as smooth.
Obviously there can be problems with fast greens, especially when you end up on the high side of the hole, as control becomes more difficult.

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

As long as they're smooth then I couldn't really care! Nothing worse when the ball bobbles about the place

 

[drewster]

Voted Don't care I'll adjust. I've just come back from a weekend at Barnham Broom where the greens were slower than i'm used to but still as true and the adjustment came pretty quickly. Weekend off this weekend and then it's club champs at Elsham the week after where the greens will be their usual high quality and quick too. As some others have said for me it's about quality not speed for me.

 

[Hosel Fade]

Medium ? I struggle to read slope. Not whether the putt is going to break left to right, or right to left, but when its a subtle uphill or downhill slope. Sounds stupid, but on fast greens it magnifies my problem. I therefore don't like them too slow, but not too fast either.

That isn't stupid at all, think about it logically. On a faster surface a properly judged putt travels at a slower speed for longer to reach the hole and therefore will be more affected by slope.

 

[Fish]

No option for medium?

I was actually waiting for this question :smirk:

What is fast, slow or medium in your terms and in relation to stimp, and how do you know what they are until you're on the first green, and then hopefully they become consistent.

If you don't know the stimp of your course greens, are they just fast to you and your method of putting?

Is a stimp of 9 deemed to be fast, if so, is everything below 9 then medium? and at what point are they slow?

Looking at stimp readings for some of the world's top courses back in 1978, Pebble beach and a host of others were an average of 6 - 8 on the stimp and some as low as 5, did that make those greens slow or poor?

There's a common theme for some golfers, like in many other areas of the game that we don't like to, or even shouldn't, 'hit the ball', so if that's the same for your putting style, like mine is, I like my greens fast so I can stroke the ball with an even tempo. Just like a poor drive, if you attempt to 'hit it' you lose the club face and it becomes a poor drive, so surely 'hitting' at a putter because greens are slow is the same thing, isn't it?

When we all visit golf clubs and courses around the country on many of our meets and social gatherings, the main comment on any of the reviews is that of the greens, in that they were too slow or too fast or god forbid, bobbly!

I think it's fascinating when looking back at the world's top events, even quite recently when the stimp has to be adjusted (grown up) because of high winds and conditions that would affect the ball on the greens if they were too fast.

 

[Capella]

I'm in the "slow(ish) but true" camp, so more office carpet than billard table. I like my ball to predictably stop at some points, not roll overhill and underhill forever. The greens start feeling too fast when I can notice the ball being influenced by the wind even on shorter putts. (Granted I only putted on greens that fast once or twice, but it was really awkward). No idea what that would mean on a stimp-meter. Judging by my putting matt (which claims to resemble stimps between 8 and 12, depending on from which direction you putt and if you brush the fibres up or not), I'd say about 10 is ideal for me.

 

[shortgame]

Fast, medium, or slow... not fussed... so long as they are consistent and true (and fairly receptive)

 

[Junior]

That isn't stupid at all, think about it logically. On a faster surface a properly judged putt travels at a slower speed for longer to reach the hole and therefore will be more affected by slope.

You're right. People think that reading slope is predominantly about right to left & left to right. For me, a subtle uphill or downhiller is harder to read.


I should add, I therefore voted slow but true. I like them about 9 on the stimp, which I would class as medium to slow.

 

[Yant]

I'm going to be quite specific here. Sorry!

I like greens to be soft enough to be receptive to a well struck iron shot, so the spin results in the ball stopping when expected, along with being fast enough that the ball rolls out well and i only have to think about getting the ball rolling on it's line when i'm putting.

I hate firm greens.
I hate slow greens.

I like fast greens.
I like receptive greens.

:lol:

 

[Khamelion]

Not fussed either way on the speed of the green as long as they run true, I'll adjust accordingly. The majority of greens will run 8 or 9 on the stimp. Of course if your greenkeeper actually goes out and does a stimp check they may be faster, but in general as a rule of thumb, they'll most likely be 8 or 9.

The only course I've played where they were faster was The Grove and the starter hut had a sign up stating the stimp for the day and on that day they were 10.5

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Our greens run around 9-10 during normal play and medals etc - they go up to around 11-12 for the big Comps. I enjoy them when they are a bit quicker