Putting on Grainy Greens: How to Read the Grain
If you've ever travelled to a warm-climate course and found your putts mysteriously racing past or stopping short, grain is probably the reason. Grass on many warm-season greens grows in a particular…
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Instruction, equipment advice, course guides and the rules of golf — practical reading for every handicap.
Pressure Putts: How to Hole the Ones That Matter
A four-foot putt on the practice green and a four-foot putt to win a match are the same distance, but they don't feel the same. Under pressure, hands tighten, the stroke gets jerky and doubt creeps…
How to Build a Putting Routine That Holds Up Under Pressure
Great putters look the same on every putt. They read the green, take their practice strokes, set up and roll the ball with the same rhythm whether it's a two-footer to win a match or a 40-footer on…
How to Get Up and Down More Often Around the Green
Getting "up and down" means getting the ball in the hole in two shots from off the green: one chip, pitch or bunker shot, then one putt. It's the skill that separates golfers who turn missed greens…
Sloping Lies Around the Green: Uphill, Downhill and Sidehill
Greens are often surrounded by banks, mounds and hollows, so many short-game shots are played from sloping lies. A slope changes your balance, the club's effective loft, the direction the ball starts…
Chipping from Tight Lies: How to Strike Off Bare Ground
Tight lies, with little or no grass under the ball, are some of the most intimidating chips in golf. There's no cushion to hide a poor strike, so a fraction too early and the club bounces into the…
Greenside Rough: How to Chip and Pitch from Long Grass
Missing the green and finishing in long grass is one of the most common situations in golf, and one of the most unpredictable. The ball might sit up nicely on top of the grass or nestle down at the…
The Links Short Game: Chipping and Putting on Firm Turf
Links golf asks for a different short game. On firm, fast, sandy turf by the sea, the high lob shots that work on soft parkland courses become risky, and the ball reacts to every slope and hollow…
A Short-Game Practice Plan That Lowers Scores
Most golfers know the short game matters, yet most practice time still goes on the driving range. Around 60% of shots for a typical club golfer are played within 100 yards of the green, and that's…
Chipping with a Hybrid or Fairway Wood: When and How
Chipping with a hybrid or fairway wood may look unusual, but it's one of the most useful and forgiving shots around the green. The wide sole glides through the grass, the ball comes off the face like…
The Bump and Run: How to Play Low Running Chips
The bump and run is the simplest, most reliable shot around the green. Instead of flying the ball high to the hole, you land it just on the green, or even short of it, and let it roll like a putt…
Uphill and Downhill Putts: How to Judge Speed on Slopes
Few things in golf are as frustrating as a downhill putt that won't stop or an uphill putt that dies a foot short. Elevation changes speed more than almost anything else on the green, and judging it…