If you’re like most golfers, you’re probably terrified of fast greens.
You know, the ones that are as fast as lightning and make you nervous over any putt that is downhill. Heck, even some of the uphill ones are scary because you don’t want to get overly aggressive and leave a slippery one coming back.
But this is why we all love golf so much. The conditions change from course to course and even during different seasons.
To play your best golf, you need to know how to make the necessary adjustments on the greens. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about putting on fast greens.
How to Putt on Fast Greens
You might be thinking, how do you play golf on fast greens? What sort of adjustments should I make to putt better?
Follow these five tips to set yourself up for success.
1. Spend Plenty of Time on the Practice Green
One of the most important parts of warming up before your tee time is to spend plenty of time on the putting green. Too many amateurs waste 90% of their time banging balls on the driving range instead of rolling putts.
When greens are quick, you need to spend even more time there instead of on the range. Don’t forget, most shots happen on or around the green, so spend plenty of time there before the round.
Make it a point to hit uphill, downhill, and breaking putts to see how they react. Try to focus on the front of the cup so you can get the speed right above all else. Also, make sure to hit a range of long ones too so that your lag putting is solid when you’re on the course.
The more comfortable you are before the round, the more confidence you will have during the round. Do not skip this easy step as it’ll cost you big time on the course.
2. Play Plenty of Break
Aside from a solid pre-round warm up, you want to make sure to adjust your starting line. In general, faster greens have more break than slower greens.
Yet, so many amateurs play the same break they normally see and miss it on the low side. Remember, a putt that is going in on the low side has a much smaller chance of finding the bottom than one on the high side.
Plus, when greens are lightning fast, you want them dying in the hole instead of ramming into the back of the cup. That way, in case it doesn’t find the bottom of the cup, you have a 2-3 footer, not a 4-6 footer. Too many of those long comeback putts to save par will wear you down.
If you spend enough time on the putting green, you should have a better idea of how to read the greens and identify the line. But it’s vital to actually commit to the extra break on the course.
In fact, I challenge you to play even more break and try to die it into the hole. These putts that have perfect pace enlarge the hole, as opposed to putts that are hit hard and need to find the middle, just to go in.
Give yourself the best chance of making putts on quick greens by dying it into the cup.
3. Adjust Your Setup
I’ve found that sometimes even when I know greens are quick, I still struggle to get my mind on board. To help with the faster putting surfaces, I’ve started to adjust my setup so that it’s easier to nail the speed.
Specifically, I recommend doing two things: choke up on the putter and narrow your stance.
When you choke up on the putter, it shortens the club. Think about when you do that with a full shot to hit a knockdown shot. The ball doesn’t travel quite as far and the same thing happens with putting.
When you grip down on the club, it makes it easier to take a shorter backswing to match the speed of the greens.
Also, on the putting green, try to narrow your stance too. Since the greens are quick, you need a small stroke, which is usually easier to do with a narrower stance.
These two adjustments at setup should make it much easier to improve your speed control on quick greens. Also, you might want to try out the claw grip as it helps with quick greens (if it works for Phil, I’d recommend giving it a shot).
4. Minimize Forward Press
I love the forward press move to get your putting stroke started. A lot of pros like Phil Mickelson and Jordan Speith too. But sometimes, too much forward press actually hurts your putting with firm and fast greens.
On quick greens, too much forward press removes loft and makes the ball roll out further. While a small move to get your stroke started is okay, don’t overdo it and decrease loft. Like anything new, make sure to try out different amounts of forward press to see how it affects total roll out.
Make sure to read our full article about forward press in the putting stroke.
5. Leave Uphill Putts
Finally, I think you can’t forget about course management as well. To play your best golf on quick greens, you need to give yourself as many uphill looks as possible. If you’re constantly putting from above the hole, you’re going to play defense, not offense on the greens.
From the fairway, make a few adjustments to ensure you have an uphill birdie putt.
First, if you’re in between clubs, go with the shorter club as most greens slope back to front. A shorter club should bounce up on the green or land on the front and give yourself a good look up the hill.
The other big adjustment you should make is when you’re around the green and have a chip or pitch. You want to read the putt and walk up to the cup to see where your chip should end up to give yourself an uphill putt. Think of it like billiards, you want to hit the shot with the next shot in mind.
A lot of times, players try to jam every chip in and race it by 5-10 feet. But if they’re quick greens, then it’s straight downhill and might have a lot of break too. These aren’t easy putts to make, especially on a consistent basis.
Instead of trying to make the chip, put yourself in position to have an uphill putt. Personally, I would rather have a four-foot uphill putt than a three-foot downhill putt. This should increase your chances of finding the bottom of the cup and save more strokes throughout the round.
Fast Greens FAQs
Do you have more questions about rolling the rock on quick greens? If so, we got you covered in the frequently asked questions and answers section below.
Are fast greens better?
It’s more of a personal question as some players like fast greens while others prefer slower greens. I think for a lot of golfers, putting on slick greens is harder because they’re not used to them. Most public courses (and even most country clubs) don’t usually have greens over 11 on the stimpmeter.
But once you get the hang of fast greens, I think they are easier to putt on. Because greens that are fast means you don’t have to hit the ball as hard, which means less can go wrong.
For example, if you’re playing hairy, slow greens you have to hit putts hard. Which leads to the ball getting airborne sometimes and maybe hitting a divot and getting offline. But with quick greens, you can take a smaller stroke and let the green do the rest of the work.
Click here to learn more about putting on slow greens.
Do fast greens break more or less?
This is a great question because if you can’t read the right amount of break, good luck making putts (especially on slick greens). With fast greens, putts will break more and keep rolling, so it is important to adjust your line accordingly.
Is a heavy putter better for fast greens?
A common theory in the golf world is that a lighter putter is better than a heavy putter on quick greens. But there isn’t any concrete evidence that it works, so take it with a grain of salt. Not to mention, most golfers don’t carry or even have two different putters. I think if you implement the five tips above, you should be fine with your current putter.
How fast are the greens on the PGA Tour?
The best guys in the world get to play the best courses in the absolute best shape possible – from tee to green. The greens specifically are quite amazing and wish us mere mortals could play on them more often.
In general, they play on greens that are between 12-14 on the stimpmeter. Usually, the bigger events like Majors and the Players Championship have the fastest greens all season.
The other component of them is if the greens are firm or not. If greens are firm and fast, that makes things especially difficult, as it’s hard to spin the golf ball as well.
Since the guys are used to playing on quick greens though, it’s not a big deal for them to putt well. It’s when they go to events overseas like The Open Championship where they struggle as the greens are much slower and struggle to adapt.
Final Thoughts
Fast greens don’t have to scare you anymore!
Make sure you use the tips above to find success on quick greens, so you can score well, no matter what the conditions. Remember, you want to:
- Spend plenty of time on the practice green.
- Play more break than normal and try to die each putt in.
- Adjust your setup by choking up and narrowing your stance to allow for a short stroke.
- Minimize forward press so you don’t decrease loft.
- Use solid course management strategies to leave as many uphill putts as possible.
Do you prefer quick greens or ones that are more on the slower side? Next up, read this article about the different types of golf grass to help your putting even more or go here to read about how grain affects your short game.
