BY MARTIN VOUSDEN

12. Paul Runyan

Still remembered on the US Tour as the sort of opponent that everyone hates. He was a short, slight man who was consistently out-driven by everyone — often by a huge margin — but could get up and down better than almost anyone who ever lived. Won the USPGA in 1934 and ’38 when it was still match play and when the quality of opposition was awesome.

11. Greg Norman

People remember the numerously inventive ways he found to finish second in Majors but none of them came on the greens, where he was as good as anyone. He sank a 40-footer on the last green in the ’84 US Open to force a playoff with Fuzzy Zoeller, knowing that he had to make it, and that takes bottle and technique. And when he got hot, no-one could scorch round a golf course better.

10. Ben Crenshaw

Widely regarded by his peers as the best they have ever seen, Crenshaw’s smooth, unhurried rhythm was the key to his success. Tom Kite, who grew up with Crenshaw in Texas, once said of him: “I don’t remember Ben ever missing a putt from the time he was 12 until he was 20.” He didn’t miss too many after that either. Inevitably his only two Major successes came at Augusta, where putting is the first game you need to bring.

9. Bobby Jones

The Master stayed faithful to his putter “Calamity Jane” throughout his career, and she remained faithful to him, helping deliver a remarkable string of success. Between 1923 and 1930, when he retired, Jones played in 23 of the Majors for which he was eligible, and won 13 of them — a strike rate of 62%, which no other player has come near matching. And a lot of it was down to putting. In almost every regard he was, simply, the Greatest.

8. Seve Ballesteros

Missing a putt, to Seve, was a personal insult, and he hated to be insulted. From the marvelous fist-pumping excesses of St Andrews’ 18th green when he beat Tom Watson in the ’84 Open, to the miles and miles of putts he holed in the Ryder cup to beat the hated Americans, Seve played on the green exactly as he did everywhere else on the course, with no fear. He was aggressive, bold and even towards the end of his career, never frightened of the one coming back.

7. Tiger Woods

When Phil Mickelson was asked in March this year by Golf magazine who he’d pick to make a five-footer for his life, he said, “Tiger, because he’s made more clutch putts under the gun than anybody I have ever seen other than maybe Nicklaus.” He went on to cite the sliding 5-footer against Bob May at the 2000 PGA Championship, and the putt he made in the Presidents Cup in the dark from 15-18 feet. As Phil said: “He’s made a lot of ’em.” Great putters make them when they have to and there has probably never been anybody more consistent from 10-feet and under when it counts.

6. Jack Nicklaus

His awkward, crab-like stance, hunched over the ball, right knee bent and all his weight on the left side, never looked to be the most aesthetically beautiful thing in golf but few actions were as effective. His finest day came in the ’86 Masters, his last Major, when he wielded an oversized MacGregor Response putter to devastating effect over the back nine to pinch the green jacket from under the noses of Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman, but that was only the most recent of many memorable days of the short grass for the Daddy of them all.

5. Peter Thomson

The Australian who took five Open championships, three of them in a row, is probably the most neglected multiple Major champion in golfing history. His quietly spoken, relaxed demeanor disguised the depth of his bloody-minded determination to win and he probably had the smoothest and best-looking putting stroke of anyone on this list. It wasn’t quite as effective as some but was a thing of beauty, and it got the job done.

4. Young Tom Morris

Bob Ferguson, who himself won the Open three times in succession, said of the man who was first to achieve the feat: “Tom Morris would putt and before the ball was halfway to the hole, turn away and say to the boy carrying his clubs, ‘Pick it out of the hole, laddie.’” And this was in the days when greens resembled sheep-grazing tracks (which, incidentally, they often were) and clubs were made from the jawbone of an ass. It is important, though, to make the distinction between Tom Morris Jr and his father, who couldn’t putt a tennis ball into the Grand Canyon.

3. Sir Bob Charles

The first left-hander and New Zealander to win the Open (in 1963), Charles is now 65 and has just announced that next season will be his last as a golf professional, after almost 50 years of showing his fellow pros how it should be done on the greens. So good and consistent has his putting stroke remained that he won 23 times on the US Senior (Champions) Tour, at an age when many others are fighting the yips, and he has 70 professional wins in total. First came to prominence as an 18-year-old amateur prodigy when he won the NZ Open and he hasn’t stopped winning since.

2. Bobby Locke

The South African was unconventional in everything he did. He wasn’t even named Robert but was christened Arthur D’Arcy — the Bobby came from his habit of bobbing up and down in his pram. He familiarly wore a white cap, shoes and shirt (including necktie) and dark plus fours, in which he carried his portly frame down the fairways with such ponderous elegance that his passing could have been likened to that of a royal barge on the Thames. His golf game was also out-of-the-ordinary, and involved sending every shot at least 40-yards right of target and hooking it back into play. But it was on the greens where he broke people’s hearts and he always maintained that any round of golf involving more than 28 putts was a bad one. He won four Opens and when he went to America they laughed, until he won six times in a short space of time with such dominance that the ever-insular US Tour changed its rules so that he couldn’t go back. One of the Americans he beat, Lloyd Mangrum, said in 1982: “That son of a bitch Locke was able to hole a putt over 60-feet of peanut brittle.”

1. Sir Michael Bonallack

Quite simply, in the eyes of many, the former secretary of the R&A is the best putter there has ever been. As a lifelong amateur he was never tested against the very best pros but many of those who witnessed him in action agreed that he was peerless. Like so many masters of the green, he stayed faithful to one putter and had an idiosyncratic style that was all his own. Peter Alliss said of him: “Michael Bonallack was a remarkable player. He had a magnificent short game that was all of his own making. When putting he took up a big, wide stance with his nose almost sniffing the ball and had a short, jabby swing but all the putts went in the hole.” Sir Michael’s honors in the amateur game are far too numerous to mention but include five amateur championships and four English amateur titles. In the 1963 English Amateur at Burnham & Berrow, he got up and down in two 22 times in 36 holes against Alan Thirwell. Far too modest to agree with this assessment, he nevertheless was the best.

Definitely not on the list

Ivan Gantz — early US Tour pro who was famous for hitting himself in the head when he missed a short putt, and once even knocked himself out.

Larry Nelson — who once said with commendable honesty: “I play along every year, waiting for one week, maybe two, when I can putt.”

Clayton Heafner — of whom fellow American pro Cary Middlecoff said: “The only time he could putt was when he was mad enough to hate the ball into the hole.”

Had it but lost it

Tom Watson — Fearlessly aggressive in his early days and never minded knocking it five feet past because he would always get the one coming back. Now he doesn’t.

Ben Hogan — Still a fabulous swinger of a golf club well into his 50s but couldn’t putt for his life.

Tony Jacklin — Never the same after Lee Trevino broke his heart and picked his pocket for the ’71 Open by chipping in from everywhere.

Peter Alliss — Lost it at the Italian Open when he retired mid-round after missing a two-footer.

Sam Snead — Rescued himself for a while by putting sidesaddle but when that was outlawed he was back to the yips.

Honorable mention

Bernhard Langer — for having, and overcoming, the yips three times, which is just about unique at the highest level.

Almost made it into the top-25

Arnold Palmer — Always wonderfully aggressive but his collection of more than 80 putters reveal how he struggled at times.

Retief Goosen — One of the most consistent holer-outers in the world and his two US Opens are a measure of his ability.

David Toms — Rarely three-putts and WGC Matchplay win might just propel him to the next level.

Potential to join the greats

Paul Casey — The combination of Luke Donald’s iron play and Casey’s putting wrapped up last year’s World Cup of golf.

Adam Scott — At his best a wonderful putter but not at his best often enough yet.

Stewart Cink — Rolls them in from everywhere

Mike Weir — Won the Masters on the greens but not yet truly consistent enough.

Sergio Garcia — Currently worried about his inconsistency but has the stroke and imagination to be a world beater.

Martin Vousden is a freelance golf writer, a former editor of Today’s Golfer and launch editor of Golf Buyer and Swing magazines. His book, With Friends Like These; A Selective History of the Ryder Cup, was published in 2006 by Time Warner. He edits the Rare Birdie website.

BY MARTIN VOUSDEN

We all know that putting is a game within a game and those who manage to excel at the black arts are usually the ones to go home with someone else’s money in their pocket

Willie Park Jr. famously said that the man who can putt is a match for anyone, and in the rarified atmosphere of today’s pro Tours, that has never been truer. Players can hit the ball so far, with such accuracy, that the man who can putt the best settles tournaments and championships on the greens. It has always been so but never more than today, when everyone, it seems, is a peerless ball striker. Moderate players can have a hot streak in which the hole is as big as a bucket and the ball drops with relentless certainty, but those streaks don’t last and the golfer who wants to build a long career needs to be able to putt consistently well.

So here we present the definitive list of the greatest putters that ever lived, with two deliberate exceptions. Women are excluded because women cannot putt. And anyone who wields a long putter is excluded because they have already conceded, by having the monstrosity in their bag, that they are fallible on the greens (and because it’s not golf to use one).

25. Billy Casper

The 1959 US Open champion of whom Gary Player once said, with just a tiny hint of irony: “I feel sorry for Casper, he can’t putt a lick. He missed three 30-footers out there today.” Casper hated analyzing his play and once, when asked about technique, replied: “How does a seagull fly? How does a centipede get all those legs working at once?” Thanks Billy.

24. Ken Brown

One of the qualities that many people in this list have is that they moved with an unhurried, tranquil slowness — and there was never a slower player than Brown. Best friend Mark James wrote: “When he stood over a putt you were never sure which would come first, his backstroke or darkness.” But the painstakingly deliberate method helped Brown sink more than his fair share.

23. Phil Mickelson

One of only two left-handers in the list, he’s always good but often inspired. At last year’s US Open, he and Retief Goosen putted the lights out on some of the hardest, fastest and lumpiest greens ever produced for a Major, and of course at the Masters he simply looked as if he knew he would hole everything he looked at. And he did.

22. Nick Faldo

Especially in his younger days, Faldo was remarkably gifted, with the same sort of free-flowing, rhythmical action that characterized his long game, and he himself said in his autobiography that in those days he didn’t think he would ever miss. When he rebuilt his swing over two long years, he neglected his putting but then rededicated himself to that as well, with six Majors being the result.

21. Lee Trevino

Unorthodox in everything he did, Trevino grew up poor and his real education in golf came in money matches that he could ill-afford to lose, against opponents to whom it was unwise not to pay up — few things will find the faults in a putting stroke quicker. In consequence the Mexican genius developed a sound, consistent, repeatable action that wouldn’t work for everybody but certainly did for him.

20. Jose Maria Olazabal

Ollie’s driving problems have been an almost perennial part of his career but so, thankfully, has one of the most effective putting actions in the world. You only need to get two things right to hole a putt — pace and direction — and this man gets them right a helluva lot of the time.

19. Walter J. Travis

Golf writer Charles Price summed up the Australian who played through the turn of the last century with the words: “Travis holed out from such immeasurable distances that his opponents claimed he could putt the eyes out of a chipmunk.” He didn’t take up the game until he was 37, and three years later won the US Amateur.

18. Isao Aoki

The popular Japanese player probably had one of the most idiosyncratic actions of all but, awkward though it looked, it was effective. He would address the ball with the toe of the putter pointed skywards, in a way that made you scared he would dig the heel into the ground during the stroke — but he never did. The first Japanese superstar led the way on the greens.

17. Brad Faxon

Some say that if Brad couldn’t putt he probably wouldn’t be on Tour, but he is blessed with one of the smoothest, most effective putting strokes ever seen, and you don’t make two Ryder Cup teams on putting alone. He is consistently rated number one by his fellow pros — most of whom would sacrifice their first-born for Faxon’s stroke — and they should know.

16. Walter Hagen

The Hague virtually owned the USPGA Championship when it was match play, and it’s match play where the best putters dominate. Which also explains his Ryder Cup record of played 9, won 7, halved 1 and lost 1. He had all the gamesmanship and psychological tricks, but they don’t work if you can’t back it up, and he could.

15. Ernie Els

Despite those two woeful misses on the 18th green in last year’s Open, over the course of his career Ernie has been a textbook putter. His reading of greens is superb but, as with so many other truly greats, it is the smooth and unhurried but accelerating rhythm of his stroke that elevates him to the ranks of the very best.

14. Loren Roberts

It was Loren’s caddy who first christened him with the dreadful moniker, “Boss of the Moss,” but the nickname has more than enough grounding in truth to have stuck. Along with Faxon and Crenshaw, he has consistently been the man most envied by his peers and least likely to break a putter over his knee.

13. Hale Irwin

Yes, he famously missed a one-inch putt to get into a playoff for the 1976 Open, but that was through carelessness. And yes, with the exception of that famous 1990 effort on the 72nd hole of the US Open at Medinah, he’s not renowned for making bombs. But he is the master at getting the job done — three-putting rarely, leaving himself anxiety-free second putts, and holing out when he has to.

Martin Vousden is a freelance golf writer, a former editor of Today’s Golfer and launch editor of Golf Buyer and Swing magazines. His book, With Friends Like These; A Selective History of the Ryder Cup, was published in 2006 by Time Warner. He edits the Rare Birdie website.

BY MATTHEW ROBERTS

The one most important shot in all of golf is the putt.

It should be the easiest of them all, I mean the hole really isn’t that far away. But in the grand scheme of things it can make, or all too often break, your score.

Putting has always come easily to me. The most common mistake I see other golfers make is overanalyzing their putts.

Once you know the basic fundamentals of putting (keep your shoulders stable, swing smooth, head over ball, etc.) the rest comes down to making the stroke second nature.

Aaron Baddeley once compared his putting style to throwing a ball. When you throw, you don’t analyze how your arm is bent or at what point you have to release the ball, you just throw. That’s how he thinks it should be with putting, and I agree. It’s the same reason people recommend you never change your putter, because you have to develop a real understanding of how your putts behave.

It means that rather than trying to guess how hard to putt the ball or exactly where to aim, you’ll be able to just ‘feel.’

Here’s a unique little drill you probably haven’t tried that will help with developing this feel:

Putt with your eyes closed. Set yourself a distance, then close your eyes and putt, and see how close you get to your target.

In time and with practice you will start to understand exactly how hard to hit the ball to get it a certain distance. You won’t have to worry about how far to move the club back or anything, you will just know (like throwing).

There are a few other things to consider in putting like slope, break, softness of the green, etc. Here’s what I think:

Once you have decided on your line, stick with it, don’t go and double check from different angles. This just creates doubting thoughts in your head, and you don’t want them when you’re putting.

Trust your first decision, it will usually be right.

Matthew Roberts writes for The Golf Files, where you can get your hands on FREE driving and putting resources.

BY JACK MOOREHOUSE

Golf is a target game. That’s why golfers pick targets before hitting the ball. Maybe it’s a distant tree, a telephone pole, or a church steeple, whatever it is, we all have some idea of where we want to hit the ball. These targets are directional goals and we need them to minimize scores.

Then, of course, there are distance goals. We need them just as much as we need directional goals. Maybe it’s a brown patch just to the left of a bunker, a yardage marker in the center of the fairway, or the center of the green. Regardless, distance goals are just as important as directional goals.

The key to playing target golf is consistent contact. If you don’t hit the ball well time after time after time, as I stress in my golf lessons and golf tips, you don’t know where your shot will land. Maybe it will be too short or maybe too long, but you’ll never know for sure. If you want to play good target golf, you must have control of your shot.

If you don’t make consistent contact and you’re serious about reducing your golf handicap, work on it until you do. While there’s no magic wand to help you make consistent contact, you may want to commit yourself to holding the club gently and making your hands soft and supple when you play. You’ll be surprised at how much better you’ll hit the ball.

Putting

Poor distance control is a major reason for three-putting a hole. At least 85 percent of the time, your putt will miss short or long than it misses to either side. That’s on straight putts. On breaking putts, distance control is also a key to putting well. Short putts require distance control as well. You need to hit the putt fast enough to hold the line, but slow enough to go in the hole.

Here are 4 tips to improving distance control when putting:

• Read putts from side to side as well as from behind
• Calculate direction and distance separately
• Control distance by the length of your backswing
• Practice breaking putts as much as you can

Keep these tips in mind when you’re playing and you’ll have better control of your distance when putting. And practice distance control putting as much as you can.

Approach Shots

The key to full shots to the green is solid contact. To achieve it, try the following: First, let the ball’s lie determine where you hit the shot. Generally speaking the worse your lie, the more downward a blow you’ll need. On short approach shots (100 yards and in) choose your club based on the trajectory you want for your shot. If you have a poor lie and you’re playing the ball back in your stance, you have to subtract loft.

On long approach shots, choose enough club so there’s no chance of you overswinging. In other words, choose a club that allows you to swing easily and still reach the green. Finally, stress distance control in practice, just as you do when working on your putting. Hit shots to greens on the practice range. If there’s none, pick out a spot or a marker on the range and pretend it’s the green. Hit to it.

Advancement Shots

Advancement shots, as I’ve explained in my golf tips, are tee shots and shots from the fairway or the green when you don’t expect to hit the green. Unfortunately, players tend to disregard distance control on these shots and shoot entirely for a directional goal. Instead, try this: Choose a direction for the shot. Create an imaginary path for it. Select a spot on that “line” that you know you can reach with a smooth swing. And erect a “mind’s eye” flagpole on that spot. Then aim for it. This visualization technique transforms advancement shots into approach shots.

Trouble Areas

Is this an all too familiar spot for you? The need for a specific distance target is seldom greater than when playing from trouble spots where direction seems ultra important. Again, separate distance and direction. Pick a distance target along your direction line, just as you would off the tee. Remember, when you’re in trouble, every shot is a distance shot, just as it is with every other shot.

Playing target golf, as I teach in my golf instruction sessions, is one of the fastest ways to shave strokes off your golf handicap. But whether it’s a putt, an approach shot, an advancement shot, or a shot from the rough, directional AND distance control are equally important. The key to achieving both is consistent contact.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book How to Break 80 and Shoot Like the Pros. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicaps immediately.

BY SANTIAGO CAICEDO

There is nothing ‘artificial’ about artificial putting greens anymore. You are going to have to completely reprogram your view of what it really means to have a backyard golf green at your home. Artificial putting greens are not your run-of-the-mill, cheap outdoor deck covering. This can now be a part of your landscape, and you can practice your putting and chipping on greens that can be described in no better way than to say: just like the real thing!

The research has been done, and the surface and construction of artificial putting greens has been refined to the point where you may not be able to tell the difference between the real bent grass at your local golf club, and the backyard putting green you just installed. Here’s why:

• The artificial turf used for today’s artificial putting greens has provided a surface that virtually duplicates the surface that you will find at any golf course. Each tuft of synthetic turf emerges from the surface of the carpet the same way that a sprig of grass would poke its way from the earth below.

• The woven pattern of the artificial putting green’s surface is similar to that of real grass. So, it not only provides the look of real grass, but it also offers the golfer the ‘feel’ of a natural putting surface.

• There is a crushed rock base underneath the synthetic turf that allows for contouring and sloping the putting green. This offers a ‘real green’ feel and it also allows for excellent drainage and fantastic stability and support for the artificial putting green’s surface.

Even the construction is similar to that of a real grass green. With the crushed rock base you can have all of the natural contours, slopes and speed that comes with a natural putting surface. In fact, you can even have your backyard putting green contoured in the same way as your favorite real putting green. Now you don’t have to leave your home to make a few practice putts and chips in your spare time. It acts like a real green, too.

If you want your ball to ‘hold,’ artificial putting greens can do it. If you want the contours and speed of your favorite golf holes, then put together a custom design for your backyard golf green and make it a part of your exterior landscape. The advances in technology have taken year-round putting light years ahead of your local minigolf course. Now, you can have the real feel and the natural beauty – all in a synthetic grass surface.

Aside from the obvious convenience of having an artificial putting green in your backyard, the latest turf technology makes them more durable, longer-lasting, and playable year round. It is an all-weather surface that can be played on even when wet, but it doesn’t need water at all; it isn’t real grass.

Sure, artificial putting greens are becoming more popular at golf courses across the country. In fact, the commercial opportunities for artificial putting greens are growing rapidly. It makes sense for clubs that can’t operate year round on real grass to offer their members the chance to practice their putting and chipping on 2,000 to 4,000 square foot synthetic greens.

This is especially true for practice greens and driving ranges that experience high traffic and use. Studies have shown that after about five years, the total cost of maintenance and re-sodding natural grass equals or exceeds the total cost of an artificial turf green. On a cost-per-use basis, the benefits of synthetic turf look more compelling.

Natural turf greens require constant maintenance, overseeding, fertilizer, pesticides, aeration, weed treatment, and regular mowing and watering. There is also the investment in equipment, equipment maintenance and added labor costs to keep it all going. A synthetic grass tee line or putting green has little to no downtime so it is always available for use. When you add it all up, artificial turf putting greens and tee lines make a lot of sense.

Even though you can find artificial putting greens at your local golf club, it doesn’t mean you can’t take out the garden in the backyard to make way for your new artificial putting green. You too can enjoy the benefits of having the convenience and comfort of being able to walk out after a cup of coffee in the morning to practice your stroke for this weekend’s match. Here’s what you can expect from your artificial putting green:

Features of Artificial Grass Greens

• Lifespan expected to be greater than 15 years
• Most synthetic turf warranties are for 8 years
• Just an occasional quick sweep — that’s almost maintenance-free
• Quick dry and playable even if it’s wet
• Resilient to traffic and wear — even from golf carts
• Sloping, contouring and shaping available
• Speed can be changed and adjusted by top dressing and rolling green
• You can put it inside, too!
• Integrity of playing quality does not diminish
• Sold and made across North America
• Natural grass look and feel for the duration of the artificial putting green
• Holds the ball just like chipping on real turf
• Pin placements can be changed and pre-set to change regularly
• UV treated polypropylene — resilient to extreme temperature changes

The pros use it and so do some of the top clubs in the country. Artificial greens are not what they used to be — their construction is superior; the blades of grass are as close as they can be to natural, without being natural. The same approach to seeding, shaping and providing a firm foundation is done when construction of your backyard golf green is underway.

No more putting into a glass on the living room carpet; no more shaving your real lawn down to create a ‘putting surface’ — now you can have the benefit of a putting green in your own backyard. This truly is next-generation technology. This has far surpassed that vision of cheap outdoor carpet and replaced it with a product that provides golfers the luxury of having the ‘real-feel’ of their favorite golf green in an artificial putting green right outside their door.

Santiago Caicedo writes for South West Greens, builders of the best artificial putting greens in Miami, Broward and Palm Beach, Florida.

BY JACK MOOREHOUSE

What’s the difference between a good putter and a bad putter? Usually, we attribute the difference to mechanics. Good mechanics produces good putting. Bad mechanics produces bad putting. At least, that’s what I’ve always stressed and taught in my golf lessons and golf tips.

However, research shows that mechanics may not be the only difference between good putters and bad putters. According to Dr. Joan Vickers, University of Calgary, the difference may lie in how you use your eyes. The secret to good putting, she says, may be using your eyes to detect the right information about distance and direction; then using your mind to relay the information to the rest of your body, so you can consistently sink the putt. The Quiet Eye, as it is called, may someday help explain what being “in the Zone” means, she says.

So what exactly is the Quiet Eye? It’s when your gaze remains absolutely still on the ball just before and as the stroke is performed. There are two important aspects to this basic yet essential skill: location and duration. Which is better? Both are effective in improving accuracy, but evidence is beginning to favor the back of the ball. In putting as well as other hand-eye-target skills, the Quiet Eye is emerging as an indicator of optimal focus and concentration. And it’s something that can be taught in golf instruction sessions.

Good Putter versus Bad Putter

Having watched many players putt during golf lessons, I can see how the eyes play a part in good putting. The good putter focuses his gaze on a precise spot, his or her scans from the hole are more precise, and he or she fixates his or her gaze on a specific spot inside the cup. A good putter picks out a specific location at the hole, like a blade of grass on the lip. The target isn’t the hole and certainly not around it. Instead, the putter’s gaze focuses on a target only a few millimeters wide.

The poor putter does not fixate on a specific target, but instead directs his gaze to a number of locations in and around the hole. There’s no clear definition of his target or his line of gaze from the ball to the target. His gaze is all over the place. He has a shorter Quiet Eye duration because he is unable to keep his gaze quiet as he strokes the ball. The end result, of course, is missed putts.

Under stress, the Quiet Eye is often the first thing to go. It moves with the stroke, and golfers lose their ability to stabilize their gaze as they putt. When you choke, the billion cells in your brain lose their effective complexity in solving the slope, curvature distance and location problems. So even dozens of golf instruction sessions focused on mechanics may not always be able to save you when the pressure is on, but proper mechanics builds confidence, and that helps.

Developing a Quiet Eye

Research shows that the average player can develop a Quiet Eye. A Quiet Eye routine on straight, flat putts has the following characteristics, which can be learned through golf lessons like any other skill.

• Focus on the hole — As soon as your putterhead is set behind the ball, pick a specific location on the hole where you want the ball to go, such as a blade of grass or a small feature on the front of the cup.
• “See” the ball go in — Look at this location for about two seconds, and visualize the ball going into the hole. Visualization is a key technique in this procedure.
• Scan from the hole to the ball — Smoothly shift your gaze without interruption from the target to the back of the ball. Your gaze should move efficiently and calmly.
• Eye on the ball — Fixate on the back of the ball and imagine just the right contact of the putterhead on the ball. Picture a line through this contact point to your spot on the hole.
• Stay steady — Maintain a Quiet Eye on the one spot on the back of the ball during the backstroke and forwardstroke, and through contact. Don’t peek! Take a look at your ball going in the hole only after putting.

The idea of being in the Zone, or the “flow,” has been around for a long time. It’s when you absolutely can’t miss. But until now there has been little scientific evidence that the Zone exists, let alone can be measured. Perhaps the Quiet Eye will emerge as one of the objective measures of being in the Zone. Learning the Quite Eye technique can only help you lower your golf handicap.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book How to Break 80 and Shoot Like the Pros. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicaps immediately.

BY ROBERT PARTAIN

Ever notice how many players neglect to practice the long putt? And then taking it one step further, how many players are “faced” with a long putt during their rounds? A long putt, in general, is any putt over 10 feet from the cup. Even the pros get a little antsy when they have to make a putt from this distance or beyond. There’s a good reason the pros (and we) get antsy at this distance — it’s because we usually miss the cup! And in some cases, we end up with the next putt being more difficult than the first.

But there are a couple of things we can do about this.

First, on a long putt the key factor is speed. Too hard and the ball will roll right on past the cup and who knows where it will stop. This is especially true if the green has any down slope on the far side of the cup.

The flip side of speed is that a ball that isn’t hit hard enough will die before it gets close to the hole. In this case, the player doesn’t even give himself a chance to sink the ball. Pure physics- — the ball has to at least reach the hole in order to fall into it.

A great little practice drill for improving speed is to get on the practice green and then putt a handful of balls to the furthest edge of the green. You’re trying to get as close to the fringe as possible without actually getting “on” the fringe. By putting to the fringe instead of to a cup, you’re focusing only on speed — there is no cup to distract you, only the far fringe.

Now another tip (and this one incorporates using the cup) is to play a little trick on your mind. Tell yourself, and believe it, that you don’t care if you sink the ball on your next long putt. All you want to do is get within 5 feet of the hole, and you’ll putt out from there. Forget the hole, just try to get within a five foot radius of the cup. Now, the trick of course, is you still aim for the cup, you still want this miracle putt to sink, but release the pressure from yourself. If it sinks, great! But if it stops within your five foot radius, well, that’s great too.

Try these tips on the practice green and then take them with you on the course. You’ll be pleased you did.

Robert Partain has been an avid golfer for over 40 years. He publishes a golf blog that is updated 4 times a week with golf tips, techniques, and information.

BY TERRY VERMEYLEN

Get a Golf Instructor today

We’ve all been coached by our friends who believe they play like Tiger Woods, and then proceed to wallop their ball into the next fairway, braining some poor soul. Or complete strangers give you well meaning advise in the middle of your swing. “Wiggle your waggle more!” We’ve heard it all. The very best advice I can give you is to ask around and find a good golf instructor. Whether it’s group lessons, private or Butch freaking Harmon himself, this is the single greatest investment you will make for your golf game.

I took eight group lessons for a measly $169 dollars and began to play in the 80s that season. A current back injury has stopped me from going for the 70s. Sometimes it takes only one tip from an instructor to make a gigantic difference. In my case it was to begin rotating my hips before my driver downswing. I drove the ball straight and true right away. I was happier than John Daly at Caesars Palace on a rainy day.

Get a putting aid

Putting means placing that little white orb in an annoyingly small hole from various distances and levels. If you don’t practice your putting then give up your dreams of being a great golfer. After my instructor gave me a few grip techniques I practiced my putting in my basement on a Mike Weir putting carpet. On the course that day I putted calmly, with confidence and of course gleefully trounced my friends. It doesn’t matter if it’s carpet, or a piece of felt, getting the feel for your putter will payoff big, big time on the course. Huge.

Practice your short and sand game

Ah, how we have all tried thrashing the crap out of a ball while perched precariously in a nasty sand trap, only to end up with hoots of laughter behind our back. After your Instructor has given you some basic instruction, go to a course, and before or after your game, practice your sand trap shots and chipping. It’s all about developing a feel and relaxed confidence for your game. There is nothing worse than heart tremors, clammy palms, and nerves like popcorn popping, to ruin your game. Get confident and calm down. Or bring beer in your cart.

1. Get a Golf Instructor now
2. Get a putting aid
3. Practice your short and sand game.

Terry Vermeylen is one of those rare people that is passionately driven to help others unlock their own barriers toward fulfillment, meaning and purpose. He is the founder of My Life Changes, an Internet value identification and goal setting enterprise.

BY ANDREW McNAUGHT

Unlike a lot of the other aspects of the game of golf, putting technique can be a matter of personal preference. However, there are some fundamental aspects of the set up and stroke that all good putters adhere to. If you are struggling sinking those 10-footers then try practicing these simple tips:

1. Your grip should be reverse-overlap. In other words it will be the same as a normal overlapping grip except the left index finger lies over the right pinkie rather than the other way around.

2. Your eyes should be directly over the ball. You need to line up the ball with the hole and if your eyes are not over the ball then you cannot hope to line up properly. Try addressing the ball and taking another ball and dropping it from your right eye. It should land just behind the putter if your eye’s positioned correctly.

3. Ball position is also important and should be played off the left toe. Some players will have the ball more central, and this is fine if your upper body is leaned back behind the ball. Playing the ball from the right of the stance is a definite no-no unless you enjoy three-putting.

4. The club should be flat on the green or with the toe up. You must make sure not to have the heel off the ground.

5. Hands should be held high. This is to allow the left side to lead the putting stroke and ensure the club head does not move ahead of the left hand causing pushes and pulls.

6. Keep the club head low to the ground during the putting stroke. Lifting the club head too high will result in a tendency for the wrists to break and the hands becoming too involved in the stroke. Watch any good putter and you will see that their hands do not move independently but only as part of the movement of the arms and shoulders.

7. Have a pendulum motion. Think of the pendulum on a clock, it moves back and forward in an even, consistent movement. This tempo is exactly how your putting stroke should be. The backswing and through swing should be of the same distance and speed.

Like any other part of the game, perfecting putting requires lots of practice and it is important to be practicing good habits and techniques such as those I have described.

Andrew McNaught is a successful webmaster and keen golfer. His website Golf World Online helps golfers with swing drills and other tips to improve their games.

BY TIM GORMAN

It doesn’t take many games of golf to realize that the quality of your putting can make a big difference to your final score. If you want to improve your putting, then you need to develop the ability to read the green. This ability combines a number of things, including physics, and being able to judge the territory correctly and so predict a ball’s path and speed. Yes, you need to develop precise aiming and control, but although that’s useful, if you can’t work out what sort of terrain the ball has to cover, you might as well forget it.

Firstly, realize that although highly experienced golfers may be able to stand back 10 or 20 feet and immediately know what a green is like by looking at it, it’s almost impossible for you to do the same. The higher up you stand, the easier it is to make errors about the density and wetness of the grass, the contour and roughness of the surface, and even the distance. The further away you are, the higher the margin for error.

So what you need to do is kneel down on the green and take a good, long look at what is between the ball and the cup. Take one of your clubs and lay it down in the direction of the hole, then lie right down and look along the shaft of the club. Some of the things you’re looking for include bumps, hills, valleys, and curves to the left or right. Work out roughly how much downhill versus uphill is between you and the cup. Estimate how damp the grass is. A small amount of moisture is all that’s necessary to alter ball travel distance compared to the same shot on dry ground.

Take a good look at the mow height, and whether or not the grass has been double cut. Double cut is when the grass is mown in one direction, and then mown again perpendicular to the first cut. Double cut grass can also affect the ball travel distance. A low mow height can increase the amount of roll by 6 to 10 inches, even if the grass is only 1/16 of an inch shorter. It can be difficult, though, to work out if the green has been rolled. This results in the soil being compacted, and so harder ground, which can also affect roll.

It can be harder to judge the amount and direction of curve in the green. It’s obvious that the angle and force of your shot needs to vary based on whether you are above or below the hole, as well as whether the green breaks to the left or right.

Over time you will get better at estimating all these different factors, although you can’t get accurate, quantified figures without measuring devices. It would get very cumbersome to carry those with you on every round, so you’re just going to have to get better at using the measuring device in your head. Experience and practice are what’s required.

Whenever you get the chance, take some practice shots, whether it’s on real or practice greens. It can often be helpful to walk around to the opposite side of the flagstick for another view. Watch carefully when your partner putts, and use that information to help improve your own putting.

Obviously you can’t spend hours assessing all this information when there are other people waiting. But if you can use the course on a slow day, you should be able to take a reasonable amount of time. Take the opportunity of a quiet day to really get to know the details of each hole. Take notes if you need to. When you play the same course again, those notes can be invaluable in judging how to putt that hole.

Learning to read a green correctly will certainly help decrease your score by several strokes — and all golfers want to do that!

Tim Gorman writes for the Golf Swing Improvement website which provides tips on improving your golf swing and top selling golf improvement ebooks.