Reading Bermuda

[Hybrid-Heaven]

Any tips? Good books or websites? I don't play them much, but when I do I feel paralyzed. On a poa or bent I'm not a great putter, but I can always fall back on lagging to avoid 3-putting if I don't feel I have good touch that day, but the last time I played bermuda I got so frustrated! I was always having a 3-4 ft'er for par then I started lagging, and still couldn't get the ball closer! Golf is not a very fun game when you have a 3-4 fter for par on every hole

[MCDavis]

Originally Posted by Hybrid-Heaven

Golf is not a very fun game when you have a 3-4 fter for par on every hole

I shoot in the mid-90's...I wish I had this problem!!!

[ualtim]

Originally Posted by Hybrid-Heaven

Any tips? Good books or websites? I don't play them much, but when I do I feel paralyzed. On a poa or bent I'm not a great putter, but I can always fall back on lagging to avoid 3-putting if I don't feel I have good touch that day, but the last time I played bermuda I got so frustrated! I was always having a 3-4 ft'er for par then I started lagging, and still couldn't get the ball closer! Golf is not a very fun game when you have a 3-4 fter for par on every hole

Practice and prayer seem to work best. When in doubt, play it straight at the hole and hope it stays close to on line. Bermuda greens always seem to hold some secrets. Putts that break up hill. Downhill putts that stop halfway to the hole. Up hill putts that go a mile past the hole. The only way I have found to combat Bermuda is to spend a lot of time on the practice green prior to the round. Even with the practice, a couple of holes per round will make you feel like an idiot (especially the ones with those elevated tee markers ...long story, short fall.)

[flomarilius]

Ok bermuda sometimes depends on where you are in the country. Miami bermuda greens might differ from Pensecola bermuda greens.

[dave.]

According to Arnold Palmer there are 5000 different types of grass in the world,and never once did he bother to try and read them.He took time to read grain,which is simply the direction the grass grows,but thats it.So if Arnie took no notice of the grass I doubt anyone else needs to.

[Fourputt]

I've only played Bermuda once in my life (La Quinta in Palm Springs), but I just found that it's like anything else in this crazy game. You adjust. With Bermuda greens, I found that as long as you could figure out which way the grain was running, adjusting for it was pretty straightforward. I'm not saying I always applied the correct compensation, but that was mostly due to inexperience, not to any deep mystery. All you have to do is listen to Johnny Miller on TV.... he'll tell you everything you ever needed to know about grain...

[Hybrid-Heaven]

Originally Posted by flomarilius

Ok bermuda sometimes depends on where you are in the country. Miami bermuda greens might differ from Pensecola bermuda greens.

Tifdwarf. That's mainly what I see in the winter months in Palm Springs. I guess it's pretty hardy in the scorching summer heat of the desert.

[Hybrid-Heaven]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

I've only played Bermuda once in my life (La Quinta in Palm Springs), but I just found that it's like anything else in this crazy game. You adjust. With Bermuda greens, I found that as long as you could figure out which way the grain was running, adjusting for it was pretty straightforward. I'm not saying I always applied the correct compensation, but that was mostly due to inexperience, not to any deep mystery. All you have to do is listen to Johnny Miller on TV.... he'll tell you everything you ever needed to know about grain...

Dude, your giving putting advice with a moniker of fourputt?

Dave, says grass type doesn't matter!

Anyway, if anybody's interested I did find this article:
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Types-...Game&id=188396

I found it helpfull since sometimes I have a very difficult time ID'ing the grain. Loved the tip about looking in the hole!

[dave.]

No,I said ARNOLD PALMER said it doesn't matter.As in knowing what type of grass it is and getting worked up about the differences.Reading the green is crucial,knowing the grass isn't.I have his book on putting,and a fine book it is to.For your info,he travelled the world quite a bit playing golf,and not once did he care about what grass he was putting on.As I said,there are 5000 types of grass in the world, and all that article tells you is to look at the shine on the grass and look for clues for grain,and other tips.Palmer agrees.Knowing what the grass is called,and what soil it likes,and how much sturdier it is then some other grass in an other continent is an irrelevance.You read the green you are on,and thats it.Palmer dedicated a long chapter to how to do this.

I think Palmer nows what he is talking about.There are many players who study grass and Palmer thinks they are slightly odd.

[dave.]

ps what does 'id'ing the grain' mean?

[robereno]

when reading the grain you can look at the cup itself to see which direction the grass is growing. whichever direction it grows( i.e. the grass points) is with the grain. This is the way the ball will favor on a putt. this will not override the slope but it will make the break less pronounced if the grain is in the opposite direction of the slope. When playing Bermuda you will always want to put short putts of less than 10 feet firmer than normal as not to allow the grass to dictate too much. Luckily Bermuda greens are usually slower so this isnt to bad of a problem.

[Hybrid-Heaven]

Originally Posted by dave.

ps what does 'id'ing the grain' mean?

ID = identify

Here's a quote from that article:

"It’s especially helpful to know the type of grass used on the greens."

Don't start with the Arnold won 7 majors and 69 tournaments argument, cause I can see your 7 majors, and raise you one! Tom Watson never won a tournament in his career in Florida...and he attributes that to bermuda.

I was watching the World Golf Championships in Barbados, and they were talking about how important it is to have one of the players in the group who regularly plays on bermuda on the team.

Anyway, this tires me. You can howl at the moon.....I'm going to bed.

[Sandpiper3]

Golf is not a very fun game when you have a 3-4 fter for par on every hole
Hybrid-Heaven

I tihnk golf is great on days like this! Puts you to the test boy! If you can grind through 3-4 ft par putts every hole then you know what your made of. I had a tourney this summer (54 hole tourney) where i couldnt and didnt miss between the hole and 15 feet, that feeling was amazing, it was a feeling of supreme confidence and invincibility. God it was beautiful.

[dave.]

Hybrid

I've emailed Arnold and told him his book is nonsense and he could have won so many more tournaments,all he had to do was know what the name of the grass was on the greens.Coh! How annoyed is he now.

Lets agree that being an expert of grass is irrelevant,what matters is reading the green

[cypressperch]

difference in how a green is read. But that is not to say that it is overly complicated. Bent grass will have grain that matches the way a green drains, and since they drain down-hill, the breaks in the greens match the grain. Example: Downhill putts will be with the grain. Uphill putts will be against the grain.

Bermuda greens are harder to read because the grain is determined by the direction of the SETTING SUN. If you are putting in the direction that the suns sets, you will be putting with the grain. In the morning, the grain is still towards where the sun will set.

Water bodies near a green can affect the grain, but the drainage pattern with bent and the direction of the setting sun with Bermuda will still be the biggest determining fact in regards to grain.

So the type of grass does matter since it has a direct influence on grain. Grain comes into play more with putters who like their ball to die into the hole rather than hit the back of the cup. Severe grain can alter even firmly struck putts, and maybe that did have an impact on Watson who might have been uneasy striking putts any harder than he already was.

These grain rules might sound like an over simplification, but they hold up very well when put to use.

Sincerely, Cypressperch