WGT Golf Guide

My first post on my site is about putting, as this seems to be one of the hardest skills to master, and one of the most common forum posts on the WGT site.

There are a number of factors which will influence your putting.
(Not in any order of priority)
1 – The Wind speed and its direction.
2 – The slope of the greens
3 – How severe the slope is on the greens.
4 – Whether the greens are rated slow, medium or fast.
5 – The power on the swing meter.

Tip 1
The first tip I would recommend, and I think one of the most important - is to putt looking back from the pin. In other words do not putt from the player’s perspective – you just can’t get a good enough read on the putts.
So – once on the putting green hit the space bar. That will place you on the green looking back at the player ready to putt. IMPORTANT – Do this for ALL putts, even the short ones.

You will then see the putting grid. Colours – Black is flat profile, red is downhill, Blue is uphill, and the faster the arrows run across the grid the more severe the slope is. If they move very very slowly then you can assume there is very little slope on the putt. So you will need to study closely just what trajectory your putt is going to take.

Tip 2
 Click on the pin blue box which states the pin elevation and the hole distance, and keeping your left mouse button depressed move the box around on the green – this will give you the trajectory line and you will be able to make decisions on just where you think that line should be, based on the wind and the contours of the green. If the pin elevation is 1” up, then over all your putt is going to be 1” higher than where you are putting from. If  its 12” below then the hole is 12″ below your feet.

Also be aware that if the slope is steep, lessen the trajectory of the putt (hit the ball straighter – but hit it harder). Or work out the borrow on the putt and let the green take your ball there. You will need to make a decision on just what method you will have to use, based on the type of putt you have.

When moving the pin blue box around on the green, make sure you leave it below the hole so that you can actually see the hole itself as the putt is coming towards you. I find that really helpful – it just helps you with the read on the green.

Tip 3 – Wind
Next see what the wind is doing, if there is a strong wind blowing it will have quite an effect on the putt so you will need to factor that in also. You will need to move that trajectory line a little further out if there is a strong wind blowing across the putt, or hit the putt that much harder if you are putting directly into a strong wind.

Tip 4 – The Swing Meter – Power
You will need to be able to calibrate your swing meter reasonably accurately, so that if you want to putt at say 60% power, you will need to know exactly where that point is on the swing meter. This is very important. Some players will say that you need to judge the power level by feel? Thats fair enough, but if your like me or just starting out you will want to judge the swing meter power very accurately and some form of scale is required for that.

Green speeds.  (You need to be aware of this prior to starting your round) A fast green will need less power than a slow green, so factor that into your swing power also.

Lastly – practice, practice practice. You will need to put (pardon the pun) in a lot of practice to master this art. You should be able to – worst case scenario, 2 putt every green. That will save you a lot of shots over a round, you will then, like me try and see how many greens you can single putt in any given round. Lets face it, this is where tournaments are won and lost – on the putting surface.

Hope those tips help with your putting. But dont forget – you cant get away with not practicing, that is key.

Happy putting  – Golfgun

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