Greens that roll "True"

[Emile Bonfiglio]

Heard an ad for a local course claiming all their greens rolled "True". Don't all greens roll true (except for damaged/punched)?


Moving ball + Slope +Gravity = True....right?

[Blake Conant]

"True" is basically suggesting there's no imperfections or varying lengths of grass (particularly late in the day) that will knock a putt offline.  For example, Chambers Bay greens did not roll true.  I'm sure marketing the idea of "greens rolling true" i.e., trying to achieve perfection, has made a lot of golf industry people a lot of money.  Depends how much you care about stuff like that, I suppose. 

[Grant Saunders]

At least its a step away from using green speed as the only sales pitch.

[Ally Mcintosh]

You guys are probably spoilt in the States.


In GB&I, greens that roll true are perhaps the single most important factor in evaluating a course for 90% of the public.


For me, it's also important if people can focus on true, consistent surfaces and not on speed.

[Ulrich Mayring]

Most greens here in Germany do not roll true, i. e. the ball hops. The reasons are for the most part high traffic, i. e. spike and pitch marks, as well as maintenenance practices.

Ulrich

[John Connolly]

An overvalued trait. It's the rub o' the green we seek.

[Jim_Kennedy]

...mainly for cover, i.e. "Don't blame us for your misses".   

[Sean_A]

Rolling true is something I look for in greens.  I tend to think most of the time if greens are firm and kept to a reasonable height, acceptable speed and trueness will follow.  Its pretty rare for me to encounter firm greens which don't putt at least decently. Sometimes during hot spells greens can become crusty, but this is rare.

Ciao