Quick story… I’ve got two buddies who I play golf with regularly, and they are a study in just how different players can be when it comes to reading greens. One of them makes a lot of golfers behind us angry because he really gets in there and studies each green. He plumb-bobs with his putter from several angles. He flops down on the green to look for subtle undulations. The whole nine yards, so to speak. If he wasn’t a riot on the course (tells the funniest jokes ever), my other buddy and I would have abandoned him long ago. OK, then there’s my other playing partner. He never does any of that stuff. In probably 100 rounds with the guy, I’ve never seen him so much as crouch down to survey the lay of the green. Not once.

Guess who consistently putts better? Yep, the second guy. Now, some of it is probably just latent talent. He is a better all-around player than my other buddy. But I was curious about his lack of green reading once, so over a beer at the 19th Hole I inquired. His answer was so elegantly simple that I just shook my head and ordered another round. He told me he learned all he needed to know about any green on the walk up to his ball.

While I’m thinking about my approach shot and how it could have been better, or looking around admiring the scenery (including the beer cart gal, if she’s around), he’s checking out the green and where his ball is on it. By the time he reaches his ball, he’s ready to line it up and putt. Meanwhile, I’m not likely to do more than give my ball a cursory glance until I’m just about to the green.

So I started paying more attention on the walk up to the greens, and sure enough, I felt a lot more confident about how the ball would break. What I noticed is that you can see the overall pattern of small hills and valleys, as well as the general lay of the land on a green when you begin examining it from 20-30 yards away. It’s like seeing the forest instead of individual trees, to co-opt an old cliche. I still go through some of my old green reading routines, but I’m generally much faster now. And most importantly, I make more putts…. especially mid-range and long putts. When I miss them, I leave them closer than I used to. I tracked my 3-putts after I began this little experiment last season, and sure enough I cut them down by about 25%. Not too shabby!

I couldn’t convince my other golf buddy to try it, but then if you knew him, you’d understand. He’s very set in his golfing ways. But man, the jokes this guy always has at the ready make his slow play a very minor annoyance - at least to us. I’m not sure the groups behind us would agree.