How to read Bermuda greens

If you typically play on bent-grass greens, encountering a course with Bermuda grass can really feel like being on a unique planet.

All of the sudden, you not solely have the same old pace and break to take into consideration, but in addition the grain — the route the grass is rising — and that grain has an enormous impact on the putt’s pace and break.

Bermuda grass is prevalent in states with heat climates, so for those who’re planning to journey for some winter golf, familiarizing your self with the nuances of Bermuda greens will aid you play your greatest.

As a 10-year LPGA Tour veteran, Marina Alex is aware of a factor or two about navigating Bermuda greens, so at this yr’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Fla., I made a decision to ask her for her greatest suggestions.

How to read Bermuda greens, in accordance to Marina Alex

“With putting, there are two things you focus on: the break and the speed,” Alex says. “With grain, you have to incorporate in how that’s going to affect both the speed and the break, because it will.”

Alex says there are a number of steps to soak up order to read a Bermuda inexperienced correctly.

1. Look on the cup

“If you look at how the cup is cut, you can see which way the grain is going,” she says. “The part of the cup where the grass is grittier and not as smooth is the grain direction.”

If you discern that your putt is down grain, which means it will likely be a bit sooner than it could be as a flat putt.

“That may also impact how much it’s going to break,” Alex says. “You have to play it a little softer than you would normally, so you have to increase your break.”

2. Look for darkish vs. shiny areas

Another trick to studying Bermuda greens entails assessing your line for darkish or shiny sections of grass.

“When we’re looking at this putt, you can see it’s pretty shiny,” Alex says. “So it’s going to be, again, down grain.”

If you end up on a shiny a part of the inexperienced, you may additional verify the grain by assessing the inexperienced as an entire, finding the pockets of darkish and glossy areas.

Down-grain and down-slope don’t all the time align, Alex says. That’s why it’s all the time vital to examine.

“Sometimes you will be putting either on a flat surface or even uphill but the grain could be going in the opposite direction of the slope,” Alex says. “That makes the read a little bit more difficult.”

3. Look at your putt from either side of the opening

Many gamers make use of this green-reading tactic on each putt, however Alex says that it’s an particularly good concept on Bermuda greens.

“You have to take a look from both sides. Because I think, A, seeing the color change in the grass, but also taking a look at that cup can kind of reinforce where you want to aim it and how hard you want to hit it.”

Alex then demonstrated her keys on a down-grain putt. It was method sooner than it appeared. We each missed it, underscoring Alex’s factors about how a lot grain can impact each pace and break.

“That is the tricky part of Bermuda,” Alex concludes. “Some putts become very, very quick, some putts can become very, very slow. Look for the shiny grass, and take a quick peek at the cup.”

For extra from Alex, take a look at the complete video of our lesson above, and for extra suggestions from the sport’s greatest, browse our whole assortment of Pros Teaching Joes movies.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She can out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily accountable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular initiatives, comparable to GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview collection, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video kind on GOLF.com.