Terry Talks - the Putters Edge blog

A good course designer will leave clues as to how a ball will break on certain areas of the green.  Here are a few tips that will make it easier when playing a course for the first time.

Putts break away from hills Don’t forget the obvious. Putts will break away from greenside hills and rises located next to the green.

Putts break away from the clubhouse Clubhouses are normally built on the highest point of the course for drainage purposes. As you play the course keep the direction of the clubhouse in mind and you will have a good idea of the lay of the land.

Putts break toward the sun As the grass grow on the the green throughout the day, it will follow the path of the sun. In the late afternoon, when the blades are at their longest, greens feature a serious grain toward the setting sun.  Your putts will break with the grain.

Putts break towards water For obvious drainage reasons, greens will slope towards the nearest body of water.

Putts break away from bunkers The last thing a course designer and greens superintendent want is water draining into a bunker. The green typically slopes away from the sand to avoid extra maintenance.

Putts break towards collection areas If you are putting near a collection area, the break will favor that direction.

Remember all the clues to the breaks are out in the open.

In Harvey Penick’s “LITTLE RED BOOK” he stresses the importance of putting.

“Golf should be learned at the cup and progress back toward the tee.  I’m talking about children.  The same thing applies to adult beginners, but adults think that is too simple.  An adult beginner, especially a man thinks he’s not getting his money’s worth if you ask him to spend an hour sinking short putts.  He wants to pull out the driver and smack it.

If a beginner tries to learn the game at the tee and move on toward the green, postponing the short game until last, this is one beginner who will be lucky to ever beat anybody.

If your child will learn to play on the green first of all, I am convinced that in most cases progress will be more rapid and the skills will be longer lasting.”

                                                                                          HARVEY PENICK

How many of us started playing golf and followed Harvey Penick’s advice? Raise your hands.  I don’t see very many hands in the air, including mine.  Most of us took the other route and fight the results all the time.  A golf commentator stated during the finals of the Match Play Championship that Tiger Woods had missed only one putt from inside 5′ in his previous 19 tournament rounds of golf.  Many of us have childre and grandchildren starting to play golf.  We envision every one of them becoming a pro someday.  Will they fall into the same trap that we fell into?

In May of last year, for whatever reason, I started thinking about how many work related nights have required me to stay in a hotel.  A conservative estimate is one night per week (although I think it is closer to two) since 1075.  That works out to 1,650 nights in a hotel room.  Were any of them memorable?  Perhaps. However, not in a positive way.  So many I would like to forget for reasons such as cleanliness, cleanliness and oh yes, cleanliness.  Not that I’m a clean freak, it’s just things that you notice (or try to ignore) that has you asking yourself, “Why did I pay $ to stay here?”.  It’s also difficult to book your rooms in advance.  A change in plans is out of your control.  When you factor in quality of food available, distance to and from a meeting or job site and things that go bump in the night, the whole experience gets old fast.

So last June, deciding enough is enough, I’m not going to take this anymore, I purchased an RV.  For me it is like a palace.  I know it’s clean. I can reach in the refrigerator anytime and the George Foreman grill provides great meals at a fraction of what a restaurant charges.  But it doesn’t stop there.  I don’t have to worry about changing hotel reservations and my office is with me 24/7.

Life is good working out of an RV.  Now, if I could just figure out how to increase the gas mileage from 8 to 20 miles per gallon, I would have it made.

At the turn of the century, I sold my benefits firm and decided to enjoy life.

After about six months, I was getting antsy and looking for something new to do. A couple of members at my country club had purchased a putting green dealership and asked me to handle the sales and marketing. One of the first things we did was to install a 1,000 square foot green in my yard for people to visit. I thought I was in heaven! I could practice anytime I wanted to; it rolled true and provided numerous putting options.

During the next 2-3 months we experienced typical Ohio weather consisting of heavy rains and strong winds. I noticed when putting on the green that the speed was slower in some parts of the green and faster in other sections. When I asked my partners (who had gone through the training and installation courses) why it was changing, they explained to me that sand-filled polypropylene greens require a regular thorough brushing with a stiff bristle broom, followed by a rolling with a 400 pound water roller and even additional sand applications on occasion.

WHAT? I wanted to relax and enjoy my green, not become a part time maintenance man!

Needless to say we had a falling out and I felt the synthetic putting green business, that I was truly enjoying, had betrayed me. When I did some follow-up investigations on turfs from other companies, I found that most of them promoted the sand-filled turfs, downplaying the maintenance factor. The only other turf option was nylon turf, which required very little maintenance, but gave the ball an unrealistic wobble when putting.

There were two mills manufacturing the nylon product at the time, both in Dalton, GA. After visiting with them a number of times over a four-month period, I was able to convince Grass Turf Mills that if they could eliminate the wobble, I could sell the turf. They increased the yarn count, changed the tufting procedure and through research and testing, PAR (Pure Absolute Roll) turf evolved. PAR Turf™ is now manufactured in three stimp speeds that provide the golfer a putting green that matches the speed of the greens he or she plays on.

Nylon turf is not for everyone. Since they are not filled with sand they will not normally hold shots over ten yards. Of course, they don’t provide the owner an opportunity to stay in shape with all the regular brooming, rolling and applying sand, either!

Ohio was ground zero for the Putters Edge dealership initiative, and as such, certain regions were created and fully prepped for business. These dealership zones come complete with starter websites that have already been live on the search engines long enough to be considered well-established. In addition, Putters Edge has managed these several regions from our Columbus headquarters, and has installed quite a few “show greens” that you might be able to use as your own.

If you live in Southern Ohio, Cincinnati or near Cleveland, it’s the perfect time to strike while that 7 iron is hot! Check out this sample site (which will be completely upgraded in March). The search engines know all about it… shouldn’t you? Contact Terry Elkin for more information.

Florida is a great state for vacationing, retired and just everyday well-tanned golfers. That’s why Florida was an original target market for our dealership initiative, and continues to receive a lot of attention from Putters Edge. Terry Elkin, our president and founder spends quite a bit of time down south, overseeing putting green installations all over Florida, as well as firming up strong partnerships with retailers. Edwin Watts Golf in particular has climbed on board with both feet, sporting brand new greens in quite a few showrooms throughout Florida.

With all the excitement that has been generated, Terry needs help managing the sales. This means you can own your own Florida-based golf business, with most of the work already done for you! The leads are coming in strong, and the word is spreading like brushfire. Turnkey websites already exist in a couple market regions, including Miami. In addition, the entire dealership network is undergoing massive website upgrades this winter that will only increase the already hot opportunities.

Isn’t it time you own your own golf industry business in sunny Florida? Contact Terry Elkin for more information, pronto!

Putters Edge is beginning a new phase of expansion, and right now is the best time to hop on board. Many dealership areas are still wide open for enterprising individuals who want to supplement their income in the golf world.

If this sounds like you, try this link for a little more information, and then give Terry Elkin a call or an email He’ll be glad to answer any questions, and tell you about opportunities that may still be available in your area.