[Pat Brockwell]

At the Golf Industry Show in Atlanta last month the architects association held an excellent session on trends in golf course design. One of the stats highlighted was Stimpmeter readings from 1976, when that measurement was first recorded for PGA Tour venues.  30 years ago the average speed on TOUR courses was (hope you're all seated) 7.6 feet!  That speed has nearly doubled, good thing the ball flight distances haven't increased at the same pace, eh?  Last week at Doral they said Tiger missed only 2 putts inside of 10 feet. I've got to believe that flatter slicker greens have made the ten footer the new four footer.  I'm curious about existing opinions on how green speed has affected the game and course design and should the governing bodies advocate parameters on green speed.  Here at Black Mesa I aim to maintain greens to Stimp between 9' and 10'.

[John Kavanaugh]

Of all the things I might find on a golf course that change with the seasons..I think I love fast...really, really fast greens more than anything.  Just love em.  Love everything about them....really I do.

[John Kavanaugh]

I can sit by while you guys take away my new clubs and two piece balls...but when you ask that I play slow bumpy greens you go too far.

[TEPaul]

Pat:

In reality green speed has not doubled from 30 years ago. It's gone up less that 50%---although that's a lot when one considers "playability" and agronomic stress. If anyone tells you some green is stimping at 14 don't believe it. In my opinion over 11 is unnecessary anywhere and it's almost never seen anywhere anyway. Even the USGA's competitions director believes anything over that for any reason at any tournament is not necessary.

In my opinion, once green speed gets into the 10-11 differential an exponential effect in "playability" kicks in that is just remarkable. I feel strongly the reason for that exponential effect on "playabilty" at that differential is because it's at that differential friction (on the ball) is down to a point something I call "ball creep" kicks in bigtime.

[Brent Hutto]

I can sit by while you guys take away my new clubs and two piece balls...but when you ask that I play slow bumpy greens you go too far.

Anyone who could compare the putting greens at a typical PGA Tour stop in 1980 to the putting greens at a typical PGA Tour stop today and not declare the new ones far superior is a certifiable kook.

It's one thing to bemoan the fact that some extremely sloped classic green complexes are incompatible with modern putting speeds. It's quite another to turn around and conclude that modern greens are too quick and too perfect. I'd think any golfer would love to play on greens where the only way to miss a 10-foot putt is to make a bad stroke.

[BCrosby]

Interesting.

It is a lethal combination when greens are both fast and soft. Which describes greens on the PGA tour.

They stick every approach and sink every putt. Or they aren't playing well.

To retell the Nicklaus's Oakmont story, he said the greens there for the '62 US Open were a shock to the field. No one had ever putted on greens so fast. He estimated they stimped at 6 or 6.5.

So 7.6 sounds about right 10 years later. That's about 20% faster.

Bob

[Jim Nugent]

I'd think any golfer would love to play on greens where the only way to miss a 10-foot putt is to make a bad stroke.

You can make a perfect stroke, but if you don't a) read the green right, b) aim the putt correctly, you still miss.  I don't know the stats, but my guess is that few if any pro's make much more than 50% from 10 feet over a full season.  

[Brent Hutto]

Jim,

By "bad stroke" I really meant to be more inclusive. I should have said "an error by the golfer". I know when I switched from the public course where I learned to play to a private club with very, very well-conditioned greens it became obvious when I was having a good putting day and when I was having a bad putting day.

With slow, bumpy, grainy greens probably stimping 5.5-7 in the summer and 8-9 with winter poa triv overseed I could occasionally ram in a 10-footer but most of the time it was Brownian motion from putter to hole over that range. With faster, true, semi-grainy hybrid greens stimping 10-10.5 year round at the private club I'd have days where everything inside six feet was automatic and other days where a poor stroke on a 10-footer could easily leave 5, 6, 7 feet for the next putt.

It's a whole different game fast, true greens.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()