Putting Green Speeds, Slopes, and"Non-Conforming" Hole LocationsWhen selecting hole locations on your greens,there are a number of factors to consider.BY JERRY LEMONS

This classic 1904 Strong and Tillinghast course contains slopes that are practically impossible tonegotiate when the greens are fast.

"That hole location is illegal!That green is just unfair! Thatgreen doesn't have enough

hole locations!" These comments arejust a few that golf course superinten-dents have heard more frequently inthe last 30 years as green speeds havecontinued to increase on most golfcourses.

What classifies a hole location orgreen to be illegal or unfair?

The Rules of Golf are very detailed,as Rule 32-b establishes that the Com-mittee responsible for setting up play isto determine hole locations.

But where can the Committee findguidelines for a legal hole placement?And specifically, when does a puttinggreen or specific hole location become"non-conforming" under the Rules ofGolf? For many years, the USGA andR&A have published general guidelinesfor the Committee to assist in deter-

mining where to place holes fairly andhow to set up greens for play.

An area two to three feet in radiusaround the hole should be in goodcondition without any steep slopesor, if possible, any changes in thedegree of slope. In other words, thegreen in the holing-out area shouldbe as nearly level as possible and ofuniform grade, but it need not beexactly level. In no case should holesbe located in tricky places or on sharpslopes where a ball can gather speed.A player above the hole should be ableto putt with a reasonable degree ofboldness, and not purely defensively.!

Championship greens should befast and uniformly paced, firm butresilient. They should place apremium on well-executed shots,while exacting a penalty for lessprecise shots.2

These guidelines sound simpleenough, but what factors help definea "conforming" hole location?

GREEN SPEEDThere have been numerous articleswritten on green speed since theStimpmeter was introduced in 1976.Here are a few highlights:

In 1976 and 1977, the years duringwhich the Stimpmeter was first tested,the average speed across the countrywas 6' 6". Any speed at 7' 6" or morewas considered "excitingly fast" by theGreen Section agronomists.3

Readings at the 1978 U.S. Open:Practice Round - 8'8". First Round-8' 11". Second Round - 9' 4". ThirdRound - 9' 5". Fourth Round -9' 8".4

In March of 1983, a Green Sectionagronomist declared, "91;2feet to 101;2feet provides an excellent putting sur-face for most championships. However,any green faster than 111;2feet shouldbe considered too fast for some cham-pionship play and dangerous for thelong life of the green if properattention is not given."5

The final Green Section Record editionof 1983 discovered "... that mostgolfers prefer a daily Stimpmeter speedof between 7' 6" and 8' 6"."6

In 1992, " ... this combination willallow for reasonable putting greenspeeds, somewhere between 7' 6"and 9'."7

We found in 1995 the S.P.E.E.D.acronym chart only went up to 9'6".8

A 2003 article told us, "Stimpmeterreadings on American golf coursesgenerally range from 7' to 12'."9

By 2006, "The idea of 'target'rolling offers the perfect combinationof rolling without causing excess stress,creating smooth surfaces at whatever

JULY-AUGUST 2008 21

Maximum Slope for Green Speeds

MARGINAL SLOPEUse caution! More than8' around hole shouldbe consistent slope.

• CRITICAL SLOPENo hole locations!No holes any closerthan 10' to this slope .

• RECOMMENDEDSLOPEMore than 3' aroundhole should beconsistent slope.

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Figure I. It is important to understand the direct relationship between green speed and putting green slope. As green speeds increase, the potential foruncontrollable slopes also increases.

speed your membership desires (stay inthe 9' 6" to 10' 6" range, if possible) ."10

In 2007, rated courses in Tennesseehad speeds from 8' 1" to 9' 4" on publiccourses and 9' 5" to 10'4" on privatecoursesY

ASGCA member Rees Jones saysgreen speeds probably will be at 13' forthe U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.12

Without fail, the Green Section Recordarticles warned of trying to maintainfast greens, especially for extendedperiods.

Since the introduction of the Stimp-meter, green speeds have inched higher.Putting green speed discussions are notgoing away and will likely remain partof the conversation on most everyround of golf, warranted or not. In myopinion, most clubs have consistentlymet the goal of providing their golferswith greens at acceptable speeds. Super-intendents now have better tools andknowledge and can provide fasterputting surfaces if proper financialresources are available.

Will green speeds continue to climb?I doubt that we will ever again see thesame significant average increase as in

the last 30 years, although some of thenew bentgrass varieties and ultra-dwarfbermudagrasses can be extremely fastwhen these greens are dormant.Green speeds on these turf grassescan exceed 13' without intentionand remain that way until the turfbegins to grow.

Many golfers find that the fastergreen putts truer. Faster greens addanother level of interest to the game.However, golfers do not like greensthat are too fast. Greens should be con-sidered too fast when better playersexperience anxiety because the ballbecomes uncontrollable on a puttingsurfaceP

PUTTING GREEN SLOPESWe golf course architects enjoy design-ing and playing greens with character.This character (for which many coursesare known) can be any combination ofslopes, bumps, swales, and twists of thesurface. Putting greens that have toomuch severity of any of these traits canbecome unfair at a fast green speed. Inshort, a putt that misses the hole placedon too steep a slope on a fast putting

green will not come to rest near thehole.

The USGA Course Rating SystemGuide says, "When a downhill roll onthe Stimpmeter is 2 times greater inlength than uphill, it is consideredmoderately sloped. When a downhillroll on the Stimpmeter is 3 timesgreater in length than uphill, it isconsidered steeply sloped."14

Over the years, the Green Sectionhas suggested:

The slope of a major portion of aputting green should usually not begreater than 3 percent (1.7 degrees),although some areas may exceed thisfor special reasons, such as difficultterrain or dramatic architecturaleffect.1s

Based on current information, anyslope 3% (1.7 degrees) or greater on a10' Stimpmeter reading is too steepfor hole use.16

For us to understand what is "toosharp or too steep," we need to under-stand the direct relationship betweengreen speed and slopes. We have allwatched tournament after tournamenton television where greens were so fastthat players lost control of the ball

22 G R E ENS E C T ION R E COR D

Placingdigital tools on a Stimpmeter or a straight level improves accuracy.

speed and the putts rolled further fromthe hole and even off the green. Asgreen speeds increase, the potentialfor uncontrollable slopes becomesinevitable. Committees with years ofexperience in locating holes can appearfoolish when conditions change andhole locations become too difficult.

So at what slope, at a given greenspeed, does a golf ball continue to roll?

To determine a "conforming" slope,we need to know the green speed andslope that cause a golf ball to continuerolling. Remember your high schoolphysics: a moving ball tends to stay inmotion with the same speed and in thesame direction unless acted upon by anunbalanced force. Gravity (of steepslope) and friction (of the putting sur-face) are unbalanced forces on a golfball.

The Maximum Slope Graph (seeFigure 1) shows the Stimpmeter speedson the left and slope in degrees below.To use this graph, find your currentgreen speed and go to the red area. Thisis the "critical" slope for that speed; itis where a golf ball will continue roll-ing. The yellow area defines slopes thatare marginally conforming, while thegreen area on the graph defines "con-forming" slopes for a given speed.

We are fortunate to have digitaltools that show instantly the slope on agreen (Smart Tool, Breakmaster). Likethe Stimpmeter, every superintendentshould have one of these inexpensivetools to help determine "conforming"hole locations. By using one of theseinstruments, a Stimpmeter, and thisgraph, it is quite simple to find a fairhole location. Keep in mind that thetools' accuracy in reading slopesdepends on the straightedge uponwhich they are placed.

DESIGN OF GREENS-ARCHITECTUREAmong those on your list of favoritegolf course architects, most all, pastand present, placed an emphasis on theputting green. Since every golfer willplay each putting green in a round,

and putting comprises about 40% ofthe strokes, luck should not come intoplay.

Architects of the Golden Age suchas Mackenzie, Tillinghast, Ross, andMaxwell created greens with boldcontours. So do a few contemporaryarchitects. The exciting movement insuch greens helps to make those coursesinteresting to play day after day. Evenwith the steeper slopes, the greens hadadequate fair hole locations, and thesuperintendent was able to move themoften enough to allow turf to recoverfrom traffic.

However, as green speeds haveincreased, some hole locations on theseputting surfaces have become unfair.Greens that had 15-20 fair hole loca-tions may now be reduced to two orthree. At today's faster green speeds,these masterpieces can be frustrating toplay and even more difficult to main-tain due to damage caused byconcentrated traffic.

Keep in mind that many greensbuilt prior to the development of theUSGA's method for green constructionhad little or no subsurface drainage.Golf course architects of many classiccourses were not only adding characterto their putting greens, but they wereensuring good surface drainage on thesoil greens. Fast greens as we nowknow them were simply unheard of

FUNCTIONALITYPutting greens must be designed andbuilt to function as intended. Form

must always follow function. A greenthat looks good but has few hole loca-tions will suffer during stress periods.For a green to disperse golfer traffic,holeable turf area must be present sothat turf recovery can occur during therotation of hole placement.

A green typically needs no fewerthan 14 days for old hole locations torecover from play. If these 14 areashave a radius of8' (200 sq. ft.), then2,800 sq. ft. (pi X radius2 X 14) of spaceuseable for hole locations on the greenis needed. The putting surface fromthe collar inward to 10' contains about

2,200 sq. ft. This means that a 5,000sq. ft. green needs all 2,800 sq. ft. ofremaining useable space to handlenormal golfer traffic. Smaller greenscan accommodate play only if addi-tional maintenance practices, such asaerification, are intensified. Whensteep slopes exist on these greens andare maintained at too fast a puttingspeed, the functionality of the greendiminishes.17

If the number of reasonable holelocations drops below seven or eightper green because the greens are beingmaintained too fast, the course maybecome less enjoyable for regular play.

HOLE LOCATIONSIn reality, there are several factors toconsider when determining a holelocation, but if it is cut on the puttingsurface, it is legal.18

A hole should be placed in such aposition that no matter where the

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Typical S,OOO-Square-FootGreen

Figure 2. Keeping hole locations at least five paces from the edge of a green is a good recommendationfor large greens. On courses with small or irregularly shaped greens, using a minimum 10' guidelinefrom the green edge increases holeable space by 33%.

Conforming "3 Paces"

18Hole Locations

of the green. A player should have areasonable opportunity to recoverfrom a good shot that just misses thegreen. There must be enough puttinggreen surface between the hole and thefront and the sides of the green toaccommodate the required shot. Forexample, for a long iron or woodshot to the green, the hole should belocated deeper in the green and furtherfrom its sides than may be the case fora short pitch shot.• Balance hole locations from right,center, back, front, and in difficulty .Make every attempt to have six veryeasy, six moderate, and six moderatelydifficult hole locations.• Once the above criteria are met, theturf around the area should be in good

USGA "s Paces"

13Hole Locations

• Using the Green Speed Slope Chart,determine the maximum slope basedon the speed of the fastest green, keep-ing in mind that weather conditionscan change during the day and mayresult in faster green speeds.• Study the design of the golf holeand factors affecting the shot into thegreen, especially the wind, length, andhazards around the green. Anticipatethe probable weather conditions andhow they may affect the shotsplayed.• Hole placements, as a general rule,need to be at least four to five pacesfrom the edge of the putting surface.A hole should be no fewer than 10'from the edge of a putting surface if nohazards or steep slopes are near the edge

A CHECKLIST FOR"CONFORMING" HOLELOCATIONS• Check and know your green speed.

golfer is putting from, assumingcontinuous putting surface betweenhimself and the hole, it should bepossible to stop the ball withinapproximately two feet of the hole.19

A green so fast (or a hole cut insuch a position) that a ball cannot bestopped near the hole from any pointon the green, for example, is anunfair challenge.2o

Hole placements as a general ruleneed to be five paces from the edgeof the putting surface.21

No one likes to see a missed puttroll back or a well-struck putt rollcompletely off a green when the ballhas missed the hole. We all agonizewhen it happens to us or a favoriteprofessional on television. By using thecharts and checking slopes near thehole, a hole location can be set farenough away from steep slopes andthe edge of the green so that a well-executed shot that misses the hole willnot run off the green, thus giving theplayer an opportunity to hole out.

The five-pace recommendation is agood one on courses with large greens,but consider that on a 5,000 sq. ft.green, 25% of the green is in the five-pace area (Figure 2). There are courseswith small or irregularly shaped greensfor which the five-pace suggestion justdoes not work. Using a 10' guidelineincreases holeable space by 33%. Aneven better guide is to make sure that ahole is no less than 10' from the edgeof a putting surface, but only if nohazards or steep slopes are within fivepaces of the edge of the green. Thisallows a player enough room to havea reasonable opportunity to recoverfrom a good shot that just missed thegreen.

Take care on greens with multiplecontours and slopes. A hole location onthe front portion of a multilevel greenmay be difficult for most golfers tonavigate when above the hole.

24 G R E ENS E C T ION R E COR D

condition, void of old cup marks,damage, and excessive pitch marks.

• The hole location should have atleast 3' around the hole (holing-outarea) that is consistent in slope. Holelocations using steeper slopes (yellowon the green speed slope chart) shouldhave at least 6' around the hole. Holesshould be placed no closer than threepaces to critical steep slopes (in the red).

• In no case should holes be located intricky places or on sharp slopes wherea ball can gather speed. A player abovethe hole should be able to putt with areasonable degree of boldness and notpurely defensively. A player should notlose the ability to control the ball on aputting green, especially around theholing area.

• For a competition played overseveral days, the course should be keptin balance daily as to degree of diffi-culty. In a stroke competition, the firsthole of the first round is as importantas the last hole of the last round, and sothe course should not be appreciablymore difficult for any round -balanced treatment is the aim. An oldconcept of making the course progres-sively harder round after round isfallacious.

• In early rounds, anticipate players'traffic patterns and avoid locatingmany holes where walking across thegreen by many players could spoilgood hole locations for later rounds.

• In match play, a hole location may, ifnecessary, be changed during a roundprovided the opponents in each matchplay the same location. In stroke play,Rule 36-4a requires that all competi-tors in a single round play with eachhole cut in the same position. When36 holes are played in one day, it is notcustomary for hole locations to bechanged between rounds, but there isno Rule to prohibit it. If they arechanged, all competitors should beinformed.

• During practice days before a com-petition, it is advisable to locate holes

in areas not likely to be used duringplay, preferably at the fronts and thebacks of greens, bearing in mind theareas that will be impaired by foottraffic patterns.

• The superintendent who cuts theholes should make sure that the Rulesof Golf are observed, especially therequirements that the hole liner notexceed 4" in outer diameter and that itbe sunk at least 1" below the puttinggreen surface (Definition 15). Thehole should be cut as vertically aspossible.

• Use common sense with hole place-ments: "If you have to look long-it's wrong!"

Bob Jones said, "Control of the ballis what all good golfers are striving for.The great courses in America allowthe player to make use of his talent tothe degree that he can, yet challengethat talent to reward only theexceptional."22

Although the Rules of Golf may notspecifically define a "conforming" or"non-conforming" hole location, inthe interest of the game, the committeeshould consider these recommendationswhen setting up their golf course fordaily and championship play. Selectingfair hole locations involves using artand science. Neither the Rules of Golfnor the committee can use an exactformula that can be applied to everysituation.

These recommendations will notonly allow competitions to occur in afair manner by identifying the playerwith the best skills, but they will alsoallow the great game we enjoy to beplayed in the spirit that was intendedfor many years to come.

Courses that maintain greens so fastthat only a few conforming hole loca-tions exist should consider slower greenspeeds. If a club is adamant abouthaving faster speeds, then individualgreens can be modified by removingsevere slopes and still keep the archi-tectural intent of the existing green .

Call an ASGCA member today!

REFERENCESlUSGA Green Section Record, July 1966.2USGA Green Section Stimpmeter Handbookand USGA Green Section Record,September 1967.

3USGA Green Section Record, March 1977.4USGA Green Section Record, NovemberlDecember 1978.

sUSGA Green Section Record, March 1983.6USGA Green Section Record, NovemberlDecember 1983.

7USGA Green Section Record, September!October 1992.

8USGA Green Section Record, NovemberlDecember 1995.

9USGA Green Section Record, July IAugust2003 .

lOUSGA Green Section Record, July IAugust2006.

llTennessee Golf Association Course Ratings.12SanDiego Union Tribune, "Architect ReesJones is excited and proud as his redesignedTorrey Pines South gets set to host U.S.Open," by Ed Zieralski, February 13, 2008.

13USGA Green Section Record, November!December 1984.

14USGA Course Rating 2007 System Guide.lsUSGA Green Section Record, July IAugust

1987, "Turf Twisters."16USGA Green Section Record, Marchi April

2005, "Turf Twisters."17Excerpts from Golf Course Architecture,

Dr. Michael Hurdzan.18USGA Green Section Record, January I

February 2000.19U5GA Green Section Record, Septemberl

October 1981.2°USGA Green Section Record, July IAugust

1987.21USGA Green Section Record, Septemberl

October 1981.22USGA Green Section Record, Marchi April

1977.

SPECIAL THANKS toJan Beijan, ASGCA;Rick Robbins, ASGCA; ToddJenkins,PGA; for their assistance.

JERRY LEMONS is a golf course designer inOld Hickory, Tennessee. A 27-year veteranif the GCSAA, he earned CGCS statusin 1988. He recently was selected as anAssociate Member if the American Societyif Golf Course Architects. Jerry hasdesigned more than 25 coursesand can bereached at www.lemonsgolfdesign.com.

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