Compiled weekly by multiple-award-winning PGA Professional Brendon R. Elliott, PrimePutt’s Director of Instruction and Lead Writer.
This week gives golf fans two very different looks at what putting really demands at the highest levels.
At Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, the U.S. Senior Open returns to one of the most historic stages in American golf. At TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, the John Deere Classic brings the PGA Tour back to a course known for birdies, momentum swings and players who can get hot with the putter in a hurry.
On the surface, they are two very different tests. One is a classic Donald Ross design, restored with an eye toward strategy, ground contours and championship precision. The other is a modern PGA Tour stop where scoring can move quickly and putting pace becomes a major part of keeping up.
But both events point to the same truth: the greens tell you how the golf course wants to be played.
For everyday golfers, that is the lesson worth stealing.
Scioto: Classic Greens Ask Better Questions
Scioto Country Club has a golf history few places can match. The club has hosted the U.S. Open, Ryder Cup, PGA Championship, U.S. Amateur Championship and now another U.S. Senior Open. It is also the place where Jack Nicklaus hit his first golf shot in 1950, which gives the week an added layer of history.
But from a putting perspective, Scioto is not just important because of who has played there. It is important because of how a classic championship course asks questions around the greens.
The GCSAA tournament fact sheet lists Scioto’s average green size at 5,000 square feet, with L-93XD bentgrass greens maintained at .120 inches. That is a tight, championship-level setup on greens that are not oversized targets. When greens are smaller and more strategic, approach shots matter more, misses become more specific and putts often demand better speed control from the wrong sections.
That is where classic design can become uncomfortable for players who are used to simply firing at flags.
A Donald Ross green complex rarely lets a golfer separate putting from the rest of the hole. The angle into the green, the section of the green used for the hole location and the type of recovery shot required all feed into the putt that comes next. Even when the putt is not long, it may be delicate. Even when the player is close, the wrong side can feel miles away.
For golfers watching at home, Scioto is a great reminder that putting starts before the putter comes out of the bag.
If you keep leaving yourself downhill sliders, breaking four-footers or long putts over ridges, the issue may not be your stroke. It may be the shots that are feeding your putter bad assignments. Better putting is sometimes better positioning.
Deere Run: Speed Makes Commitment Non-Negotiable
TPC Deere Run brings a different kind of putting examination. The GCSAA tournament fact sheet lists the John Deere Classic setup with L-93 bentgrass greens cut to .100 inches and a Stimpmeter reading of 12. That is fast enough to expose hesitation, especially when players are trying to keep pace in an event where birdies often come in bunches.
Fast greens do not only test touch. They test commitment.
When greens are running at that speed, a player cannot afford to baby the ball, jab at it or change their mind during the stroke. The line and speed have to match. A tentative stroke on fast greens is often just as costly as an aggressive one. The player who can roll the ball with confidence, even while respecting the speed, has a real advantage.
TPC Deere Run also brings another interesting agronomy note. The course’s soil condition is listed as silty clay, with slow drainage. That matters because putting surfaces do not exist in isolation. Moisture, firmness, weather and maintenance all influence how the ball behaves. Players and caddies are constantly gathering that information, even if fans at home only see the putt.
That is one of the hidden parts of great putting. Elite players are not simply reading slope. They are reading speed. They are reading moisture. They are reading grain, wind, firmness and how the green has changed from morning to afternoon.
Most everyday golfers do not need to make it that complicated, but they should become more aware.
Before you putt, ask yourself one simple question: what is the ball going to do after it starts slowing down?
That question changes everything. The last third of the putt is where speed and break reveal themselves. On faster greens, that final section becomes even more important.
Two Courses, One Putting Lesson
Scioto and TPC Deere Run present different challenges, but both reward players who understand that putting is not just a stroke contest.
It is a decision-making contest.
At Scioto, the player who finds the correct sections of greens will have a much easier time surviving a classic championship test. At Deere Run, the player who can match speed and line without fear will have a much easier time keeping pace in a scoring environment.
That should sound familiar to every golfer.
Some days, your home course feels like Scioto. The greens are tricky, the hole locations are uncomfortable and every miss seems to leave a difficult next putt. Other days, your course feels more like Deere Run. The greens are rolling beautifully, the putts look makeable and the challenge is trusting yourself enough to take advantage.
Either way, the formula does not really change.
Read the whole putt. Respect the speed. Commit to the picture. Roll the ball with enough freedom to let the putter do its job.
PrimePutt Takeaway of the Week
This week, use the professional game as a practice prompt.
On your PrimePutt mat or practice green, create two different putting sessions.
First, build a Scioto session. Focus on precision. Pick smaller targets. Hit putts where speed control matters more than just making the ball. Imagine you are trying to leave the ball in the safest possible spot, not just force it into the hole.
Then build a Deere Run session. Focus on pace and commitment. Hit putts where the ball has to start on line and roll with authority. Do not steer it. Do not guide it. Pick the line, match the speed and let it go.
Those two sessions train different skills, but together they build a more complete putter.
Because great putting is not one thing. It is green reading, speed control, start line, routine, patience and trust all working together.
This week, two different tournament venues will show that in two very different ways.
The best players will not just be the ones who make the most putts.
They will be the ones who understand what the greens are asking.
‘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.
