Playing a new golf course can be a great experience. But it can also be a big disappointment when you shoot way over your average because you can't figure out the nuances of the greens.
No matter how good of a putter you are at your home course, you are doomed if you can't figure out the line. When faced with a strange golf course, I have found three things to be very helpful in reading the greens and in the confidence of my reads.
First, read the green from the fairway. From 150 yards out you can get a good idea of exactly where the high and low points of the green are. This knowlegde will allow you to get a general idea of the prevailing break on the green.
Another thing that seems to help is to check for a tilt of the hole itself. The amount of any slope detected will not be much if any. However, if you can detect a high side of the hole it will take a lot of the guesswork out of short putting on strange greens.
Lastly, try on every putt to have its final roll be towards the hole if you miss it short. In many cases this requires you to play break you really cannot see. But you will be rewarded with a lot of tap ins, which are priceless on strange greens.
Next time you are out on a strange course, don't just excuse yourself because you can;'t read the greens. Start by picking the low point in the green from the fairway and you are halfway there. Check for any slope the hole may be cut into, and overplay the break you see.
You will get around in fewer putts and get a lot more enjoyment out of the experience of playing a new golf course, and thats why you went out of your way to play it in the first place.
Now let me show you the right way to putt anywhere.
