By Scott Kramer
Reading greens is arguably one of the toughest parts of golf. If you can’t determine which way your putt is going to break, or how hard you have to hit it, you can easily have a frustrating day out on the course. One reason PGA Tour pros seem to be such great putters is that they generally are. But they also get a lot of help from their caddies — many of whom are armed with a book of green diagrams for whatever course they’re on. Those diagrams are detailed renderings of every green, sporting tiny arrows that show which way the grass breaks. Leave it to technology to now bring that insight to you.
GolfLogix — the GPS handheld device company that also offers one of the best GPS smartphone apps around — has brought to its app Putt Breaks, which is essentially a set of green maps for more than 8,000 different golf courses. The company claims all of these interactive maps provide accurate reads of breaks and undulations. The really cool part about the app is when you plot on it the exact location of the pin and your ball, it orients the map on your phone screen to show the breaks from your physical perspective.
I was able to try out this new feature on two courses, so far. Interestingly, when I activated the app at a course by the ocean, my playing partner instantly said “I bet it won’t take into account the ocean breaks.” As it turns out, he was absolutely spot on. At this course, even though many of the greens are sloped away from the water, the putts always break toward it. Always. And the app didn’t reflect that in any way. So I tried the app at an inland course later in the week, where it was much more accurate. Although on one particular putt, it showed a strong left-to-right break. I knew better, however: There was a large hill immediately to the right of the green, and my instinct told me its overall slope would overpower any break into the hill. And it did. But overall, the app worked outstanding.
While I don’t question the accuracy of the breaks shown in the app — if the greens were on an otherwise flat course — I think they don’t necessarily take into account the bigger picture. Many courses in my area of Southern California are hilly. And those hills and mounds generally overtake whatever breaks any green may have on its own. And I believe that’s a shortcoming of the app that needs to be considered for the next version.
One thing I found cumbersome in the version I’ve been testing was having to manually set the flag and ball position on each hole. Even though GolfLogix made the process incredibly simple, I got tired of doing it on every green. Of course, there’s always the old-fashioned way: Figuring out the breaks by visually studying the green contours, grass blades and surrounding terrain before each putt. It’s a skill that helps golfers become better putters. And there’s satisfaction in learning how to read greens on your own rather than being supplied the information. But because technology was inevitably getting involved, this is a nice first step.
Scott Kramer is veteran, Southern California-based writer primarily versed in golf and personal technology. Studying Computer Sciences in college, and then working as a programmer/software engineer for about a decade, triggered my passion for today’s high-end, high-tech gadgets. I can’t help myself whenever I see any kind of cool new personal technology. I feel compelled to further check it out and see what it’s all about. And even if I have no use for it personally, I’m always thinking who it might best suit. There are exciting new innovations emerging daily that are shaping the future and simplifying life. And I hope to be your eyes to that world, through the words of this column.