Newer TifEagle at TPC Southwind, Poa annua in Portland and sprawling bentgrass at Merion put a premium on learning quickly and leaving the ball in the right places.
Compiled by Multiple-Award-Winning PGA Professional Brendon R. Elliott, PrimePutt’s Director of Instruction and Lead Writer
There is no one-size-fits-all putting lesson this week. TPC Southwind, Columbia Edgewater and Merion differ in grass, size, surrounds, weather and the approaches needed to create realistic chances.
That last part matters. We tend to separate putting from everything that happens before the ball reaches the green. At Merion and Southwind, many important putting decisions will be made with an iron in hand.
TPC Southwind: A Small Target Can Create a Big Problem
TPC Southwind will measure 7,300 yards and play to par 70 for the FedEx St. Jude Championship. According to the current GCSAA tournament fact sheet, its TifEagle bermudagrass greens average 4,300 square feet and are being maintained at 0.090 inches.
Those are small targets by PGA Tour standards, and they are still relatively new. A 2024-25 renovation rebuilt and resurfaced all 18 greens, recovered putting area for more hole locations and restored Zeon zoysiagrass around the complexes.
That combination should get a player's attention. Missing a green is one problem. Missing on the wrong side of a small green, from a tight zoysiagrass lie with little room between the landing spot and hole, is another.
Highs in Memphis are projected to rise from 99 degrees Thursday to 103 Sunday, with isolated afternoon storms possible during the first two rounds. A storm could soften the targets and leave players returning to a surface that feels different after the delay.
TifEagle's grain often becomes most noticeable as a putt slows. Players still have to read slope first, but the final few feet deserve a careful look. Sheen, entry speed and the direction the grass is lying can all influence how the ball reaches the cup.
Columbia Edgewater: Better Be Ready to Make Some Putts
Columbia Edgewater has been part of LPGA golf across portions of six decades, and recent winning scores tell us plenty. Aki Iwai reached 24 under in 2025. Moriya Jutanugarn won at 22 under in 2024, one year after Chanettee Wannasaen finished at 26 under.
Nobody has much time to putt her way into the week.
The Poa annua greens average 5,500 square feet and are listed by GCSAA at a 0.090-inch mowing height. The property uses sand topdressing and has excellent drainage. Director of agronomy Jim Myers is in his eighth year at the club and preparing the course for his seventh LPGA event.
Poa annua is too often reduced to the idea that it becomes bumpy later in the day. That is lazy green reading. A well-managed Poa surface can roll beautifully. Moisture, traffic, growth and maintenance all matter.
Portland's forecast is dry, with highs in the low-to-mid 80s. If that holds, pace calibration and conversion should matter more than complaints about afternoon Poa. The targets can produce chances, but proximity will determine how realistic they are.
Merion: Hitting the Green Is Only the First Job
Merion's East Course is hosting the 126th U.S. Amateur. Two days of stroke play lead into match play beginning Wednesday. The USGA lists the course at 6,939 yards and par 70, subject to setup changes.
The numbers attached to the greens jump off the page. GCSAA reports an average of 7,227 square feet, easily the largest of the three venues featured this week. The surfaces are a blend of 60% 007 bentgrass, 20% L-93XD and 20% Piranha, maintained at 0.110 inches.
Large greens sound friendly until a golfer discovers the hole is in a different neighborhood.
Hugh Wilson's design, with later restoration work by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, places enormous value on angles and green sections. A regulation green can still leave a putt across a contour that was never meant to be crossed. Merion also has 131 bunkers, so blindly attacking a hole can create a far tougher recovery.
Heavy thunderstorms are possible Tuesday, with another storm possible Thursday before drier weather arrives. Early moisture may make approaches more receptive. If the course dries during match play, preferred landing areas could change with it.
At Merion, the player who keeps asking, “Where do I want to putt from?” will have an advantage over the one who sees only the flag.
What I Will Be Watching
At Southwind, watch the recovery shots after approaches miss the compact targets. At Columbia Edgewater, pay attention to how quickly the field adjusts to pace and converts from makeable range. At Merion, look beyond greens hit and notice how often a player finishes in the correct section.
The PrimePutt Read
If I were preparing a player for any of these venues, I would spend as much time discussing the ideal leave as the putting stroke itself.
Sometimes the best leave is below the cup or on the same tier. At Southwind, it may be the side that offers enough green for a recovery. At Merion, 25 feet from the correct section can beat 15 feet from the wrong one.
Before firing at a flag, ask a more useful question: Where can I leave the easiest next shot?
The PrimePutt Drill: Five-Ball First Look
Most golfers need several putts to decide what the practice green is doing. This gives you five balls to figure it out.
Roll these putts in order:
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A 30-footer uphill
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A 30-footer downhill
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A 12-footer breaking right to left
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A 12-footer breaking left to right
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A straight 5-footer
Use one ball and your full routine. Do not repeat a putt until all five are complete.
Score 2 points when a long putt finishes inside 3 feet and 1 point inside 5 feet. A breaking putt is worth 2 for a make and 1 when it finishes past the hole but inside 18 inches. The 5-footer is worth 2 if holed.
Eight points out of 10 means you adjusted quickly. Five to seven calls for another circuit. At four or below, do not rebuild your stroke. First decide whether you misjudged pace, read or face direction.
On a PrimePutt mat, use the longest putts the space allows and reduce the finish zones to match. The point is not the exact footage. It is learning to gather information without needing a bucket of balls.
PrimePutt Takeaway of the Week
Do not arrive with a speech prepared about what Bermuda, Poa annua or bentgrass is supposed to do. Watch the ball. Notice how it loses speed, reacts near the cup and finishes against your expected line.
Then make an adjustment and trust it.
That sounds almost too obvious, but golfers talk themselves out of good information every day because it conflicts with what they expected to see. This week, the players who remain curious the longest may be the ones putting late Sunday.
