How Lee Trevino reads greens, as described as only Lee Trevino can

Reading a green correctly is one of the most challenging and crucial aspects of golf. Even the most accurate shots can be wasted if the slope and speed of the ball on the final stretch to the hole are misjudged. The legendary Lee Trevino, a six-time major champion, is known not only for his skill but also for his sharp wit and ability to explain complex things in simple terms. A recently resurfaced video features him sharing his green-reading method, and these tips remain relevant today.

The Drive Home Analogy

Trevino himself compares reading a green to the familiar drive home from work. "If you have 10 red lights on your road," Trevino says, "you know how fast to go to make all the red lights." This means that on a familiar route, you intuitively feel every turn, every obstacle, and the optimal pace of movement. If you were asked to take an unfamiliar route, you would get lost, not knowing how long the journey would take or where to turn. Similarly, according to Trevino, an experienced golfer who has studied a green should feel its characteristics, while an inexperienced one will be lost.

Two Types of Greens: Old and New

In his explanation, Trevino divides greens into two categories: old and new. This approach accounts for differences in their construction, age, and, consequently, how the ball behaves.

Reading Old Greens

"These are the most difficult ones in the world to read," Trevino asserts. The reason is that older greens are generally flatter. "Oh, they'll slope a little bit," he explains. "They'll go from back to front. Maybe you'll have a little uphill putt, but it won't be much of an uphill putt."

Why is this the case? The main reason is drainage. In the past, when irrigation systems were not as developed as they are today, greens were designed to retain water. "The hardest putt in the world to make is a straight putt," Trevino says. "I've always said that because you can't make a mistake on it."

So, how do you read these greens? Trevino advises looking around. "First of all, you have to look for just lakes," he says. If there is a lake near the green (to the right, left, or nearby), or valleys, or mountains, or if you are on the East Coast or West Coast, and the lake is permanent, chances are the ball will break towards the lake due to natural erosion and water flow. "Everything drains that way," he explains.

Then, look for bunkers around the green. Trevino provides an example: "Do you have two bunkers, one on the right, one on the left? Do you have two bunkers in the back of the green?" In such cases, he says, you have to mentally split the green in half. If your ball is to the right of this line, the putt will likely break from right to left. If it's to the left, it will break from left to right.

"The reason for this is because after a period of time, that golf course being at 30, 40, 50 years old, that sand being blown out of that bunker actually top-dresses this green, and it starts mounting up. In other words, it starts building up on that side. And if you don't believe that, the next time you have a big rainstorm on your golf course, you go out and look at it, and there'll be a river of water right down the middle of that green, and that's the reason for it."

Reading New Greens

Newer greens require a different strategy. "People will look up at a mountain, they'll say, well, that ball is going to go away from that mountain," Trevino says. "Not necessarily so on a new golf course."

Why is that? "Because that architect knows that over a period of years, erosion and water flow is going to lean that green away from that mountain. So what does he do? If the mountain is here [on the left], he takes the away mountainside of that green, and he builds it up. So you could be playing in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Southern California, and that putt could break towards the mountain. Same thing on the East Coast. Same thing on the West Coast."

How do you read those then? Trevino advises walking around. "You want to be able to survey it," he says. "Now, the way that I survey a putt, and you've seen me many, many times walk completely around this particular putt, 360 degrees I go. What I do is I approach the back of the ball. I look at the cup and I split this 360-degree circle into 180. I don't read anything past this line. I look at valleys, or I look at humps on this side. I look at valleys and humps on this side. And then I determine which way that ball is going to break. That's the reason that I go all the way around."

The surveying can start as you approach the green. Trevino also described this in his unique fashion: "How many times have you seen a golf professional approach the green, and his head is going from the right to the back to the left to the front to the left front and everything?" he says in the video. "And people in the gallery are always saying, ‘Look at him, he’s looking for his neighbor or his girlfriend or his wife or he’s trying to get a few phone numbers.’ No, that’s not true at all.

"I’ll tell you what we’re doing here is we’re approaching this green and at the same time we’re surveying it. We want to know which way that putt is going to go. It’s easy as you’re walking up that green to look and you can see all the undulation in this green. And you’re able to tell approximately which way that ball is going to go." This method, based on observing the landscape, the location of natural features, and the course's design, allows Trevino to read greens with astonishing accuracy, turning a difficult task into an understandable process.