AUGUSTA, Ga. — The week before Tiger Woods played in the Masters for the first time as an amateur in 1995, he practiced for Augusta National’s lightning-fast greens by putting on Stanford’s basketball court.
Ernie Els famously practiced on a billiards table to which Stewart Cink said, “My ceilings aren’t high enough for me to putt on my pool table otherwise I would too.”
Others have settled for the smooth concrete of their garage. Then there’s the possibly apocryphal story of players trying to simulate the speed of the Augusta greens by putting in a bath tub. Something tells us Bryson DeChambeau tried this or something even wackier.
When TPC Sawgrass superintendent Jeff Plotts was asked if the pros that practice there ask him to ratchet up the green speed on the practice green ahead of the Masters, he said, “Get it all the time.”
Here are some of the stories of the rude awakening pros experienced their first time at Augusta National and what they do to prep for arguably the toughest set of greens the pros face all year.
Stewart Cink
Stewart Cink putts on the 18th green during the final round of the 2021 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
I remember people telling me that the practice greens are one thing, but when the tournament starts it’s a completely different animal. I was like, OK, I’ve played in tournaments. How much could they really change? I was completely caught off guard. I played early and they were freshly cut and rolled and couldn’t keep it anywhere around the hole. Threw a 79 or something at them. (Check of the records shows he shot 75-78—153).
It would be nice to have a course to get one practice green something in the neighborhood of how fast they are going to be. What I always like to do is go to the practice green (at Augusta National) near 1 and 10 tee. That’s the best one for speed putts. I try to spend a lot of time there near the time of the Par 3 Contest when they are getting it ready for Thursday.
How to watch | ESPN+ | Paramount+ | Golf Channel free on Fubo TV.
We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.
Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh celebrates after winning the 2000 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Allsport)
Vijay Singh has a synthetic putting green in his backyard at his home in Florida and to prep for the Masters his annual rite is to put sand on it to make it extremely fast. “He would wet it and roll it,” said TPC Sawgrass Superintendent Jeff Plotts, who always gets requests to double cut and triple cut greens and roll them to get them a little faster at the PGA Tour’s flagship course. “I taught him how to do it in order to get prepared.”
Matt Kuchar
Matt Kuchar putts on the second green during the first round of the 2021 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports)
I do remember being amazed on a Wednesday afternoon as a rookie in 1998, and playing a practice round with Tom Kite and he said, “Make sure you do some chipping and putting after they’ve done a little extra work on the green.” I remember having this nervous, scared feeling as I practiced. I didn’t know how the ball stopped anywhere.
When I was at Georgia Tech, the Golf Club of Georgia used to get them lightning fast. I’ve been fortunate that the guys at Frederica Golf Club in Sea Island do an amazing job of prep work in getting the greens up to 13-14. I’d always hear the week prior to the Masters that they were even better, but I traditionally was playing Houston or San Antonio that week and didn’t get to benefit from them.
Curtis Strange
Curtis Strange lines up a putt during the 1981 Masters Tournament at Augusta National. (Photo: The Augusta Chronicle)
I’ll never forget I had a four-footer at 16, pin was right, I’m above the hole, and I think to myself, if it doesn’t go in, I don’t know where it’s going to stop, so the anxiety of that and hitting it so easily is just not done anyplace else on Tour. So you add that to the speed of the greens, the slope of the greens, it’s hard to explain. It’s hard to explain. You have to play there numerous times to apprise what your body is going to react like, what your mind is going to react like and what that ball is going to react like.
You can practice on a fast green all you want, but you’re not going to feel the way you feel on a Thursday or a Friday afternoon to try to make it (to the weekend) or a Sunday on the second nine. You don’t feel emotionally the way you feel, and you’re not asked to putt on 16 if you’re on the wrong side and you’ve got to put up and down or 14 or whatever.
The only place you can really prepare for them is when you’re out there on them is the way players have explained it to me. Putt fast greens all you want. There’s plenty of fast greens. They aren’t Augusta’s greens.
Andy North
Andy North waves to the gallery as he completes first round play in the 1976 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: Associated Press)
Putting those greens, they’re absolutely mindboggling sometimes, but I think a simple answer is to go there early, spend some time just trying to figure out — have some concept what parts of the green you want to try to play to, where you can make par from. Trying to get an understanding of the golf course will help you putt those greens better.
Your first time around the track don’t go out and play a practice round with your buddies, go try to find a veteran. Go try to find a guy who’s done well there and try to arrange practice rounds with guys who have won, if they’ll play with you, if you’ve created those kind of relationships…Absolutely ask questions, because the golf course has so many quirks to it and intricacies that it’s not easy to get around the first couple of times.
Just keep your mouth shut and your eyes open and learn, and I think that’s the best you can do.
Scott Stallings
Scott Stallings lines up on a putt on the first hole during the first round of the 2014 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
To say they are not fast would be a gross understatement, but it’s not the speed, it’s the slope. Loren Roberts (AKA The Boss of the Moss) showed me this putt on the putting green near 1 and 10 tee. He said this is the putt you need to practice before every round. If you can manage the speed of this putt you can manage any putt on the course. I was like, “Man, this putt is impossible.” That was the only putt he hit. Every time I went to No. 1 I knew if I had an idea how not to putt this ball off the green I could putt any putt I’d come across that day.
Cameron Smith
Apr 8, 2021; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Cameron Smith putts on the 12th green during the first round of The Masters golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Quite scary. My first time here, I felt so hesitant with the putter. I was trying to see balls drip in the front edge, whereas I think over the past few years, I’ve just been a little bit more aggressive with the putter and, you know, not scared of that 3- and 4-footer coming back.
For me it’s always just been about keeping the tempo off the putter head. I feel at times these greens can get quite fast so you can get quite tentative. Just keeping the tempo up and making sure the ball is hitting the back of the hole and just hitting good putts.
