How A Simple $14 Gadget Has Transformed My Short Range Putting

If, like me, you struggle to read greens then I’ve found something that might be helpful to you. There's a very good chance that I’m worse at reading greens than any of you who are reading this but I'm finding things a little easier after buying one of the best cheap golf products on Amazon. “Well what is it?” I hear you ask. It’s a spirit level ball marker of course.

It might sound a little gimmicky but you can’t argue with science. If there’s a slope on the ground then the little bubble in the marker will show it. It won’t hole the putt for you but it will show you roughly how the land lies, which at least gives you a chance.

I’ve been playing golf for over thirty years and I’d consider myself a streaky putter at best. I've tried everything, blade putters, mallet putters, different putter grips, all manner of putting aids and putting mats, but I discovered recently that my mediocrity has nothing to do with my technique or whether I'm using the best putters; I miss a lot of putts because I can’t read greens. 

Obviously I’ve always known I wasn’t good at identifying breaks, but I had no idea just how serious a problem it was until I played with my Golf Monthly colleague Joe Ferguson. Joe used to play on the European Tour so he knows his stuff. I told him before the round that my putting was a big weakness and he got a close up view of it for 11 holes, until eventually on the 12th green he stood behind me as I lined up a putt and asked me what I saw. I told him and he immediately said “well there’s your problem”. 

It was a good news / bad news situation. There’s nothing wrong with my putting stroke but if there’s a form of dyslexia when it comes to green reading then I have the most severe case of it imaginable.

Joe repeated the process for a few more holes and there was one putt I had which I thought was “straightish, maybe an inch or two from the left”. Joe actually thought I was joking as the read was a full two feet from the right. How is it possible to be so wrong? No wonder I struggle to knock the ball close from mid and long range.

Joe’s assessment of my putting was re-enforced when I went through a two thousand pound Custom PLD Putter Fitting at Ping and all of the data showed that my stroke is indeed solid. 

So I know that I’m not a bad putter but how can I read greens better when I don’t have Joe or someone else there to do it for me? 

There is no perfect solution to being unable to read greens, but the spirit level ball marker can help. Only on shorter putts though. Truth be told it’s pretty useless on anything longer than six feet but from short range it definitely works. It has to work, the laws of physics dictates it. If the ground isn’t level and you place a spirit level down, it will show you. Uphill, downhill, right to left or left to right, whatever the slope is you’ll know.

If I look at a putt and see it as being straight but the little bubble in the ball marker isn’t in the center then I know I’m wrong. So that’s a good thing. The marker tells me which way the putt breaks and hopefully after seeing enough of them I’ll learn to see it for myself. That's the idea anyway, I hope I won't need to use this long term but we'll see.

There are some drawbacks to it though. Firstly, it isn’t legal for competitions. Some might even call it cheating, but if you’re using it for recreational golf or as an instruction tool then is there anything wrong with that? The way I justify it to myself is that if I had a caddy he could read putts for me, so why can’t I have a spirit level doing it for me? As long as I’m not competing against anyone where’s the harm? Besides, like I say hopefully it’s a temporary fix that will eventually help me to read greens for myself, especially if I can transfer what I learn to AimPoint or a feeling in my feet where I can start to gauge breaks, either through feel or sight, on my own without the marker.

The other negative is that it’s not really much use on mid-long putts, especially those with multiple breaks. Unless you want to use the marker to check the line every four or five feet it’s not going to be effective, and that’s not something to be encouraged as slow play is never a good thing. As a learning tool though you could do that and I’ve done it on the practice green at my local course. It’s a long, painstaking process though and I would not recommend it. 

If you’re standing over a five footer and you’re not sure if it breaks or not, a spirit level ball marker will give you the reassurance you need, and given how inexpensive they are it’s worth having one in your pocket. Or on your cap or your belt, as it comes with a clip.

A word of warning though, check the reviews before buying and don’t be fooled by cheap fakes like I was. I waited several weeks for my eBay purchase to arrive and when it did... let's say it was not as advertised (see above photo). It wasn’t a spirit level ball marker that you could attach to your hat. It was a pin badge with an image of a spirit level ball marker printed on it! Lesson learned, don’t buy cheap stuff from China on eBay. 

I then ordered one from Amazon and had much more success with that, so that’s the way to go. I have also seen fakes on Amazon recently though so be careful. The easiest way to tell the fake is the low price, but check the ratings and reviews too.

The markers are available in different sizes and colors. The poker chip sized one is easier to see but smaller ones are available too if that's your preference. If you struggle to read greens, it could be the solution you've been waiting for.