How to Read Bermuda Greens: My Top 5 Tips

If you are like me and grew up putting on bent grass greens, the thought of playing golf on Bermuda greens can be distasteful. That doesn't change the fact that you still have to play on them, so here are a few tips:

To Find the Grain, Look at the Cup

To find the grain, look at the cup. The dead/brown side of the hole is the direction that the grain is going. In other words, if the dead side of the cup is on the North side of the cup, the grain is going North.

Find the Prior Day's Cup

If the cup is freshly cut, try to find an old cup from a previous day near the new one. Most of the time, you will be able to see the dead side of this cup even though it has been replaced.

Don't Overthink It

On long putts, you might go through multiple directions of grain. Don't worry, just figure out where the grain is pointing for the majority of the putt, and play it accordingly.

Grain Matters on Flat Putts

On short putts, put more weight on the grain than the slope if the putt is relatively flat. For example, if the slope looks like the putt is breaking 2 inches to the left, but the grain is pointing directly to the right, chances are, this is a dead straight putt.

Scrape the Green (gently)

If you are playing a tournament on grainy greens, map out the direction of the grain during the practice round and write it down in your yardage book. To test, just scrape the green with your putter. If the grass comes up, then you have scraped AGAINST the grain.