Compiled weekly by multiple-award-winning PGA Professional Brendon R. Elliott, PrimePutt’s Director of Instruction and Lead Writer.
Most weeks, “The Greens This Week” starts with official agronomy notes and works outward from there. This week, we are going to do it a little differently.
With the ISCO Championship, Genesis Scottish Open and Amundi Evian Championship all sharing the same competitive window, this is one of those rare weeks where the putting surfaces themselves give us three very different golf lessons. We have a classic Kentucky summer test on bentgrass greens. We have links-style fescue surfaces in Scotland. We have one of the LPGA’s biggest stages on bentgrass/Poa annua greens in the French Alps.
That is a lot for one week, and it is exactly why putting is never just putting.
The stroke matters. The read matters. The start line matters. But the best putters in the world also understand the surface under their feet. They know when a green is likely to be receptive, when the wind will change speed control, when Poa annua can alter the roll, and when a firm fescue putting surface demands more imagination than perfection.
For everyday golfers, this week is a great reminder that good putting starts before the ball ever moves. It starts with understanding what kind of green you are on.
ISCO Championship: Bentgrass, Humidity and the Kentucky Speed Test
The ISCO Championship moves through Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, and from a putting standpoint, this is a week where bentgrass greens meet July heat, humidity and the possibility of weather interruptions.
Hurstbourne’s greens are listed as bentgrass, and last year’s GCSAA tournament information identified them specifically as A1/A4 bentgrass. That usually points us toward surfaces that can be very pure when maintained well, especially when players are putting on fresh morning greens. The challenge in Kentucky in July is not whether the surfaces can roll well. The challenge is how the maintenance team manages cool-season greens through heat, moisture and tournament traffic.
That matters to the players because speed can become a living thing during a week like this. If rain or humidity softens the course, the greens may accept shots more readily, but pace on longer putts can become harder to judge. If the surfaces dry out and firm up, players suddenly have to be more precise with landing spots and leave themselves uphill looks. On smaller greens, the approach shot and first putt are connected. You cannot separate them.
That is the key at Hurstbourne. The putting test may not be about outrageous slopes or wild green complexes as much as it is about controlling the ball into compact targets and then being sharp from 20 to 40 feet. Players who hit the right sections of greens will make birdies. Players who miss by a small margin may spend the week grinding over awkward first putts and defensive par saves.
For recreational golfers, this is the bentgrass lesson: do not assume pure greens automatically mean easy greens. Pure surfaces expose speed control. When the ball rolls true, your touch has nowhere to hide.
Genesis Scottish Open: Fescue Greens and the Art of Links Putting
The Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club is a completely different conversation.
This is links-style golf, and the greens are listed as fine fescue. That changes the entire feel of the week. Fescue putting surfaces can reward creativity, patience and imagination in a way that feels very different from the target-golf bentgrass test players see so often in the United States.
At The Renaissance Club, the wind is always part of the putting story. It can affect full shots, obviously, but it also impacts how players think around the greens. A putt from 40 feet into the wind is not the same as a putt from 40 feet downwind. A player standing over a six-footer in a strong breeze has to feel stable, quiet and committed. Even the read can feel different when the ball is exposed to links conditions.
The other part of the Scottish Open putting test is what happens from off the green. On links-style turf, the best play is not always a wedge. Sometimes the correct answer is a putter from several feet off the surface. Sometimes it is a hybrid bump. Sometimes it is a low, running shot that behaves more like a long putt than a chip.
That is where fescue greens and tight surrounds force a player to think like an artist. The best putters this week may not only be the players who hole the most 12-footers. They may be the players who lag it beautifully from 70 feet, choose the putter from off the green at the right time and accept that some good putts will finish two or three feet away instead of falling.
For everyday golfers, the Scottish lesson is simple: expand your definition of putting. If the grass is tight, the ground is firm and there is nothing significant between your ball and the hole, your putter may be your smartest short-game club.
Amundi Evian Championship: Bent/Poa Greens and Major Championship Patience
The Amundi Evian Championship gives us the week’s major championship putting test.
Evian Resort Golf Club’s 2026 course information lists bentgrass/Poa annua greens, with a target speed of 11 feet, 6 inches to 12 feet. That is quick enough to demand respect but not so outrageous that players cannot be aggressive. The bigger story is the blend of grass, the elevation changes and the way Evian asks players to handle uneven lies, visual discomfort and major championship pressure.
Bentgrass/Poa surfaces can be excellent, but they require players to be observant. Morning roll can be different from afternoon roll. Moisture, heat and foot traffic can subtly change how the ball behaves. A player who keeps the same speed expectation all day may be in trouble. The best putters at Evian will adjust quickly, especially on longer putts and slippery downhill looks.
The Alps also make Evian one of the more visually interesting putting weeks on the LPGA schedule. Players have to trust their reads, but they also have to understand how much their eyes can be influenced by the land around them. When you put mountain golf, major pressure and mixed bent/Poa greens together, commitment becomes everything.
This is a week where three-putt avoidance could be just as important as mid-range conversion. The player who wins may make a few dramatic putts, but she will also likely manage the greens properly. She will leave the ball below the hole when possible. She will avoid short-siding herself into impossible downhill putts. She will accept safe two-putts when the situation calls for it.
For everyday golfers, Evian’s lesson is about patience. On mixed bent/Poa greens, especially later in the day, you cannot get frustrated by every imperfect roll. Your job is to match speed, pick a committed line and keep your routine calm enough to handle the unknowns.
What Golfers Can Learn From Three Very Different Surfaces
This week gives us three clean takeaways.
At Hurstbourne, bentgrass should reward players who control distance into smaller targets and putt with disciplined speed. At The Renaissance Club, fescue greens and links conditions should reward imagination, touch and the willingness to use the putter from off the green. At Evian, bentgrass/Poa annua surfaces should reward patience, adaptability and emotional control.
That is the beauty of putting. The best players do not have one putting personality. They adjust.
They may use the same putter, the same stroke and the same routine, but their intention changes based on the surface. On one course, they are aggressive. On another, they are defensive. On another, they are creative. That is not indecision. That is awareness.
Most amateurs could save strokes immediately by doing the same.
Before your next round, ask yourself three questions:
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What kind of greens am I putting on?
Bentgrass, Bermuda, Poa annua, fescue and overseeded surfaces all behave differently. -
Are the greens firm, soft, fast, slow or changing?
Do not judge speed only on the practice green. Keep updating your feel during the round. -
What is the smartest leave?
Sometimes the best putt is not the one that tries to go in. It is the one that leaves you below the hole with no stress.
PrimePutt Practice Plan: Surface Awareness Week
Use this week’s three-event schedule as your practice theme.
1. The Hurstbourne Speed-Control Ladder
Place balls at 20, 30, 40 and 50 feet. Putt each ball with the goal of finishing inside a three-foot circle. Do not worry about making the first putt. Worry about controlling the second one.
This builds the skill players need on bentgrass greens where the ball rolls true and distance control becomes the separator.
2. The Scottish Open Off-Green Putter Drill
Find a tight lie just off the green. Hit five shots with a wedge, five with a hybrid and five with a putter. Track which club finishes closest to the hole.
This teaches creativity and helps players understand that the “right” short-game shot is not always the one that flies in the air.
3. The Evian Adjustment Drill
Hit five 25-foot putts uphill, five downhill and five across a side slope. Before each putt, say out loud whether the putt is a “die it,” “normal pace” or “firm finish” putt.
This helps train commitment. On tricky greens, you cannot just read line. You have to define speed.
Final Roll
The ISCO Championship, Genesis Scottish Open and Amundi Evian Championship give us a perfect PrimePutt week because all three events ask a different question.
In Kentucky, can players control speed on bentgrass while managing heat, humidity and smaller targets?
In Scotland, can they embrace fescue greens, wind and links-style imagination?
In France, can the best women in the world stay patient on bentgrass/Poa annua surfaces in a major championship setting?
The answer, as always, will show up on the greens.
For everyday golfers, the lesson is not to become an agronomist. The lesson is to become more aware. Notice the surface. Notice the speed. Notice how the ball reacts. Then adjust before frustration shows up.
Great putting is not only about making a better stroke.
It is about reading the green before you ever read the putt.
‘The Greens This Week’ drops every Wednesday and looks at the putting surfaces the best in the world from the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour and DP World Tour will face in the coming week. Got a putting question or drill request? Drop us a line.
