Has someone developed an industry-standard equation that tracks the point at which a given area fails to be pinnable? It seems (to this former English major) like a relatively straightforward input/output situation: if the tilt of a given area is X degrees, then at Y Stimpmeter reading, a ball will roll freely, so if you want to pin that area, the green must stimp at Y - 1 or Y - 0.5.
This relationship between contour and turf speed cuts both ways. When I played Shadow Ridge CC in Omaha, Nebraska a couple of months ago, there were contours on the exterior of some greens that were clearly meant to gather balls backwards. Except these contours were maintained at fairway height, and that height was not short enough for the ball to roll backward as intended, so shots played with that strategy in mind were foiled by the then-current conditioning. I'm not trying to single Shadow Ridge out here, but it's just the latest example where I've noticed this phenomenon in recent years.
At this point, anyway, it seems that green speeds outrunning contour is a problem limited to high-end private clubs and some top resorts. It hasn't filtered down to the courses that 80-90% of golfers play, thankfully.
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Tim, As Kyle responded, yes. Google "Jerry Lemons Putting Green Speed Chart" or similar and you can find the best research I know. Beware that he has two charts - one in degrees and the other in %, which I always preferred. And, I used that to write the article below in Golf Course Industry, where I put his graphic in table form and added some of my usual blather.....
Slippery Slopes - Golf Course Industry