Golf is a hard enough game and putting is really difficult aspect of that game. But one extra feature that some people will come across in their games of golf is the grain of the grass. Particularly on Bermuda grass greens, where it's not only a slopey green that I’ve got to get the right speed up, but I’ve also got to judge how the ball will roll and react over the grain of the grass.

So when you look at the grain of the grass to see that it's been cut one particular direction by the mower or it's even growing in one particular direction. Now if it looks shiny and slick and like all the blades are going away from me, that would mean the putt would roll a bit quicker. It would be faster down there, maybe smoother but I’d have to allow for less speed and actually allow a bit more break. It would curve more.

So if the grain is going away from me, it's light and shiny, aim wider and aim slower. And therefore if it's a darker grain of grass I can see the grains growing in towards me, it might feel like it's going to be a little bit slower because all the grains of the grass are effectively stopping the golf ball. As ball is coming toward the grains of the grass are stopping it. So you're going to hit that harder.

Therefore, you can also hit it a little bit straighter because the putt will break less when it's rolling quickly. I can also be a bit more aggressive for the fact that when the ball rolls beyond the hole it's still been a bit more slowed down. It's not going to race on too far. So not only have you got to consider the break of the putt, the line of the putt, the speed of the putt on Bermuda grass greens or greens that have a lot of grain in them you have to consider how they've been cut, how the grain is growing and whether you're playing into the grain, against the grain or down the grain or sort of across the grain. Sometimes that might affect how the ball curves left and right as well. So read the surface and then read the grain on the surface and adjust your putting stroke accordingly.