Mastering pace on the greens

Nelly Korda of the United States on her way to winning the Chevron Championship at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, Texas, last week. The American was laser‑focused on and off the greens as she claimed the LPGA’s first major of the season — and the second of her career. — AFP

Making a good read on the putting surface only matters if you can match it with the right touch.

If there’s one quality all good putters share, it’s the ability to control how far the ball rolls.

Touch – or feel – is everything. A putt struck too softly never has a chance, while anything hit firmly enough to finish more than nine inches past the hole dramatically reduces the effective size of the target.

A simple drill to sharpen your speed control worth remembering is just how crucial pace is when reading a break.

The speed the ball travels across the green directly affects how much it will curve: the quicker it’s rolling, the less break it will take.

You can make the perfect read, but if you hit the ball at the wrong pace, it will not drop.

Mastering how hard to hit a putt of any given distance – on different green speeds and slopes – leads to more accurate reads, more confident strokes and, ultimately, fewer shots.

 

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Vary your distances

1Scatter balls at random distances from the target and never hit from the same spot twice. This encourages learning through achievement rather than trial and error, and mirrors the natural variation you face on the course.

Hit the 12-inch zone

2 Your goal is to finish every putt within a 12-inch target area beyond the hole. Controlling your speed within this window ensures you’re delivering the ball with the optimum pace for it to fall.

Change the slopes

3 Repeat the drill on different gradients — uphill, downhill, right to left and left to right. This teaches you how pace interacts with slope and how your stroke length must adjust accordingly.