By Fred Altvater
As talked about earlier in this issue, modern technology over the last two decades has brought a radical revolution to golf. Advanced space-age drivers, turbo-charged golf balls, and training aids, that Arnie and his Army could only dream about, make it easier to hit a ball further and straighter than at any time in the game’s history.
For all these advances, putting, which accounts for nearly half of a player’s score, remains largely unchanged.
Allen Terrell, who coaches the No 1 ranked player in the world, Dustin Johnson, laments, 
“People don’t practice putting correctly and have a false sense of confidence about how good they are because they see the ball going in the hole (on the practice green). But they aren’t developing a sense of routine and practicing the type of putts they will face on the course.”
Even if a golfer is making putts on the practice green, he may not be developing the necessary “greens reading” skills to hole more putts on the course.
Once a golfer develops confidence in his stroke, the ability to read greens is vital to success.
In the eyes of some, reading greens takes on an almost mystical quality among those players, who struggle to read the correct line.
Reading greens is learned skill and there is help for those of us who find reading greens difficult.
Using a laser scanner, StrackaLine has collected millions of data points on the greens at over 700 golf courses around the country. They can provide accurate mapping down to the millimeter.
When you watch professional tour golfers, they are using the latest information to accurately read every putt.
StrackaLine President, Jim Stracka told us,
“The public has just started to hear about greens maps over the past year, but we’ve been perfecting this for a decade. This has been a passion project and it has been rewarding to see the technology embraced at the Tour level and now, increasingly, by a broad cross section of amateurs.”
Terrell said of the StrackaLine greens guides,
“They take the doubt out. The first thing a tour caddie does, when arriving at a tournament is purchase a greens book and they are playing for millions of dollars. Dustin uses his StrackaLine books religiously.”
Even collegiate golfers understand the importance of accurate greens data, with over 300 college teams currently using StrackaLine books.
StrackaLine is dedicated to helping players better understand subtle fall lines, contours and slopes on green complexes and their extensive library provides access via printed books, or as a smart phone app.
Finally, technology has found a way to assist players in using the flat stick.
For more information on how to order a greens guide or have a course scanned, go to www.StrackaLine.com.
