It is fair to say that there is no green in the world that is perfectly flat. Every green has some sort of slope on it and on many golf greens there is a predominant step in the surface where the green rises very sharply up to a different level.
These greens are called Two-Tiered greens and if you find your golf ball is not on the tier where the flag is you can be faced with a difficult putt up or down a very sharp slope. Find out how to play these putts with this tip.
The first rule of putting on Two-Tiered greens is that you must get the ball on to the correct tier with your first putt. Ignore the line and focus on distance, you cannot be too cute with the putt and leave the ball on the same tier that you have just putted from. If you do, you have exactly the same problem again and the golden rule in golf is to never play the same shot from trouble.
The second rule of putting on Two-Tiered greens is that you must get the ball on to the correct tier with your first putt!! This is too important and so it needs saying twice!
Aside from getting the ball on to the correct tier with your first putt, we will separate this tip into two sections: putting up a tier and putting down a tier.
1. Putting up a tier
It is important to note when putting up a sharp incline that the ball will slow down very quickly. As the ball slows down the slope affects the ball more and will make it turn very sharply. Here the sharp incline is the predominant force on the ball and so this is the part of the green that needs reading more closely. Make sure that you take notice of which way the incline slopes and allow more break than you normally would as the ball will turn hard as it slows down. Also be aware that the ball could bounce and skip up the hill as you hit it fairly hard into a severe up-slope. When playing this shot, it is a good idea to move the ball ever so slightly forwards in your stance to allow the putter to hit more upwards into the ball and make the ball roll along the ground as it goes up the hill.
2. Putting it down a tier
Obviously putting down a sharp slope will mean that the ball will travel very fast, very quickly. Again you need to take a close look at the incline and, standing next to the hill, imagine rolling the ball from the top of the hill to the hole. Identify a point at the top of the hill where the ball needs to start its journey to end up in the hole. Now go back to your ball and take some practice swings. The focus is to get the ball to roll over that one point at the top of the hill that you have marked, so that it nearly stops and just travels over the edge to trickle down, gather speed and end up in the hole.
These points will help you to deal with that tough situation of being on the wrong part of the green and allow you to have a chance of getting that ball close to the hole.
