Putting on aerated greens is tough. I don't have any real sound tips except to put a good stroke on the ball with a little added speed and hope that the last aeration hole knocks it back on line.

Hey AGuest

One tip I use whenever I putt on bent grass greens that have been recently plugged and filled with sand is that I will putt them as if the green is slow like as if I am playing on a medium length bermuda grass green. I find this works well in terms of getting my ball at the correct speed. It usually gets me consistently close to the hole like I normally do on bent grass. However, there is nothing you can do if the ball is bouncing around from aeration hole to aeration hole. You will lose your line and you will 3 putt on occasion.

Best Wishes,

DV

When our group plays aerated greens we play a automatic two putt when ball is on the green. Do not post for handicap. Another group I play with, all putts inside the leather are good regardless if greens are aerated or not.

The greens are aerated at my course also. The greens are slower and they were spread with sand and it was smoothed out into the aerated holes. I have to hit the ball a bit more aggressive and more more online and with the luck of the aerated holes bouncing the ball towards the hole. Good luck!!!!!!

My experience has been to play a little less break than I might otherwise expect on non-aerated greens.

it's kind of a lottery putting on aerated greens as they can variate on breaks and how quick they are...
keep on training hard until the greens are fine again

Hope that the clubhouse gave you a discount on the round for the aerated greens and just grin and bear the 3 putts. It's better than being at work.

Hi Keith M, ... you hit the nail on the head so to speak when it comes to one of my "bug bears". Aeration is an important part of maintaining a healthy golf course and I fully applaud it.

HOWEVER, it is not part of a" good or positive" golfing experience when there is absolutely no notice of it anywhere, whether it be by the staff when checking in, a sign at the entrance or website. And, you are charged full price for the "pleasure" of playing the course.

Thank you all for the advice. I will keep all that is mind the next time.

I play with a couple of different groups and we all agree that once you're on the green ,we give an automatic two putt on aerated greens..But if you dont put out ,then you can't post the round :( ...

All depends on whether you are playing bent or Bermuda type greens. Break: forget it and just aim at the hole and past the hole and hope. Putting on aerated greens is not something that I worry about. When the do our greens they also do our practice greens so we get a good idea of what are up against before we tee off. I just lengthen the putting stroke and just aim it at the hole, because you pretty much have little control of what the ball is going to do. Just go out and enjoy the round for those two weeks and do not worry about scoring. Our group, we play thru it, continue our little bets, because we all have to play the same conditions, and do not worry too much about it, but oh, do we complain, of course, we are golfers. That is part of the game....... Cheers, Chuck...........

courses that do it right, fill with sand and roll them out after, they then roll fine. just slower. If they are not they are cheaping out and only doing a half job in my opinion

When ever you putt on greens that have recently been aerated they will play a LOT slower and with significantly less break. Hop this helps for next time.

Aerated greens are tough & are a special nuisance in my book. The only thing you can do is "hit it & hope" kind of thinking cause you can't control which hole it's going to hit and where it will go after that. Greens will be slower, break will be less pronounced & obvious unless they topdress with sand then it's an even different story. I think it also comes down to the way the aeration was done. Some courses can minimize the damage to the greens if they use smaller tines in the greens. When I worked on a golf course when I was a kid, we used a "water injection" machine that would aerate with water but only punch a small but deep hole in the green that was barely noticeable. The greens were immaculate year round. I think that's why the Superintendent is still there to this day. He was amazing!
Just grin & bear it this time of year. Remember .... you could be working instead.

They are usually slower, since they have sand on them, and probably a few days past mowing. I usually take the "Maximum 2 putt" approach. I putt the first one, and if it does't go in, take 2 putts and move on. No way around it.