Several years ago, Mr. McMulligan and I invested in a set of green-reading books we were sure would improve our putting at our favorite courses.
The problem was, we never quite figured out how to use them while keeping pace with the group in front of us, and they went to live undisturbed in the garage with souvenir yardage books and unused practice gizmos. Even playing in CGA tournaments, I was never tempted to spring for the discounted Strackaline book offer, writing off green-reading maps as TMI.
Then last year, my year of golfing from carts, I started noticing the colorful, 3D putting green maps, full of tiny arrows, appearing on golf cart GPS units. A friend and I tried consulting them for our approach shots, but we didn’t have a guide to the color codes or any clue about how to use the arrows. Then, we couldn’t unplug them from the cart at the greens so they were of no use reading our putts.
In service to CGA members preparing for the upcoming new season – yes, including the McMulligans – I spent a winter weekend researching putting green heat maps. Here’s what I discovered:
Green-reading technology, using drones and laser scanning, has made digital mapping affordable. Yardage and green books remain strictly limited in size and scope by the USGA and tend to run $30-$50 per course from companies including Strackaline, GolfLogix and PuttView, depending on waterproofing and number of images per hole. But the USGA-compliant GHIN app enhancement available at $50 a year to CGA members offers mapping at every course, featuring a bird's eye hole view and two choices of putting maps (pictured below), one basic and one with colors. For those who can never have too much information and can spring for $99, Strackaline, the pioneer in yardage and green books, offers its all-inclusive digital app with six different green maps plus two “Fall Line” images, which are especially valuable to players using AimPoint putting technique.
For USGA approval, an important consideration for tournament players, yardage and green-reading books for use on the putting green must be no larger than 4¼ inches by 7 inches. Here’s where the bright colors come in – many of us will need to pull out readers to see the tiny arrows and numbers on some of the maps, but the colors leave no doubt about where the undulations are at their most diabolical. Oh, and if you’re thinking of getting around the rule by enlarging a screenshot from your app to help you read your putts, know that that would be breaking the rules; even your own handwritten notes are not allowed to be larger than 4¼ x 7. The exception: Putting green maps and notes can be enlarged for use in planning your approach shot – which is why the new cart GPS maps comply. For more detail on related rules, check out the USGA’s Green-Reading Materials Clarification PDF.
The color coding is fairly universal: White to light blue to dark blue signify very flat to pretty flat (think less than 2%); light green to dark green into yellow indicates increasing slope (2-4%); then orange into red into hot pink communicate the danger of extreme slopiness (greater than 4%). PuttView also includes dark purple, to indicate the lowest point on the green. On old-school, “classic” maps, the proximity of lines indicates slope severity, so the colors represent a user-friendly improvement.
The arrows point downhill. I thought this meant I should try to land my approach shot where the arrows pointed toward the hole, because then the ball would run down to the hole. But the experts recommend picking out a landing spot where the arrows point away from the hole, leaving an uphill putt or, sometimes, chip for the best approach.
It takes some time to learn to use the maps to read putts. The Strackaline tutorial promises, “When used properly, a green reading book will speed up your play.” It advises mentally placing the hole and the ball on the page or map, using bunkers and surrounding features including dots that indicate sprinkler heads. Then turn the map so that you’re looking at the putt from behind the ball and see if the arrows are pointing toward you (uphill putt) or toward the hole (downhill putt) or sideways (breaker). What color is the area around the hole? Use the line on your ball to establish the putting path and then just focus on speed.
We may practice using the maps to become better green readers. For instance, feel the various degrees of slope with your feet and confirm with your vision what the book is telling you. And play practice rounds using the apps on the greens; if you have a regular course or club, you’ll start to remember the data.
CGA tournament players may incorporate maps in their preparation. Study the maps in advance and decide where pins might be on tournament days. Determine spots that might be considered safe misses, with difficulty ratings of 1 and 2 rather than 3 and 4, and put those in your notes. Then, to keep pace of play, consult the map or your notes for your approach shot, then use it again as you walk or drive up to the green. Once on the green, books, notes and even some apps are allowed if they meet USGA requirements, but, whatever you do, don’t wait until it’s your turn to putt to look at the map.
Technology isn’t finished improving our putting. There’s already a Puttview app for iPad and iPhone that scans the surface of the green and gives real-time analysis of your putt. Certainly, smart glasses are coming to show us the line and give us the speed. And who knows what else AI and Augmented Reality have in store. Just know that the USGA rules overseers will continue to be on the case with this ultimate objective: “that a player’s ability to read a green remains an essential part of the skill of putting.”
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