Two gates on the green: how to investigate a missed putt

A miss is information—but not a verdict

A putt slips past the cup and the first instinct is to blame the green read. That may be right. But the ball might have started left of the intended line, arrived with a different pace, or been affected by off-centre contact. One missed putt seldom identifies a single culprit.

On October 26, 2026, GOLF.com writer Zephyr Melton described a lesson with Stephen Sweeney, a GOLF Top 100 Teacher who works with professional players. Sweeney's idea is to put two visible gates along the expected path of a breaking putt, allowing the golfer to observe where actual ball movement begins to diverge from the plan.

This is a coach's instructional drill, not a newly conducted scientific trial. It cannot guarantee more holed putts or diagnose every miss with certainty.

Four interacting parts of a putt

Reading the green: choosing a plausible path based on slope and the expected roll. A sound stroke can miss if the selected line was wrong.

Pace: the ball's speed determines how much a slope can bend its route. A preferred line and preferred pace must be considered together.

Start direction: where the ball actually begins rolling relative to the chosen target, which can differ from the golfer's intention.

Strike location: contact toward the heel or toe can affect the roll, depending on the putter and delivery. A ball path alone does not reliably reveal the exact impact location.

The purpose of Sweeney's two gates is to make those possibilities easier to examine. A gate is a clue, not proof of a specific fault. Several variables can produce the same visual miss.

Setting up the two-gate drill

On a practice green, select a 3–5 metre (roughly 10–16 foot) putt with a gentle, readable side slope. Avoid other golfers' lines. Mark the starting position with a tee pushed almost flush with the turf, then read the putt and imagine a curved route toward the cup.

Use four small ball markers or tees to form two gates about the width of the cup. Place the first gate approximately one-third of the way to the hole, and the second around two-thirds of the way. Position them along the anticipated curved roll—not automatically on a straight line between ball and cup. Do not damage the green.

Putt with the intention of rolling through both gates and approaching the cup at a sensible pace. Watch the gates and the final resting position, rather than treating the holed-or-missed result as your only feedback.

A ball that misses the first gate prompts you to examine start direction and gate placement. If it passes the first but not the second, look at the combination of pace, break and planned path. If it clears both but misses the cup, consider its speed near the hole and its route around the edge. None of these observations establishes a cause by itself.

GOLFTWITT's optional 24-putt self-check

The following sequence is our editorial practice suggestion, not a program attributed to Sweeney or validated by a controlled trial.

Eight putts without gates. Follow a normal pre-putt routine. Before each stroke, pick a start line and intended pace. Afterwards note: left, right, short, long, or near the cup. Resist rebuilding your stroke after one miss.

Eight putts with both gates. From the same starting spot, record whether the ball passed gate one, passed gate two, and finished close to the target. Keep the misses in your notes. They reveal where the ball most often departs from your expectation.

Eight putts from varied positions. Change the angle and read each putt afresh. Move the gates to match the new anticipated route. This makes the exercise more like real golf, where players rarely repeat an identical putt eight times in succession.

At the end, tally balls through both gates and balls stopping within roughly one putter length of the hole. Look for recurring patterns—not just a single successful attempt. A set of 24 putts cannot establish lasting learning; repeat the comparison on another day to see whether observations hold.

Interpret the results carefully

Two gates do not directly measure putter-face angle or impact location. They cannot completely separate reading errors from pace errors, and real greens are uneven. For a simpler check, test start direction on a short, nearly straight putt before returning to a breaker. If uncertainty persists, seek feedback from a qualified instructor.

Source: Zephyr Melton, GOLF.com, October 26, 2026, “This Tour coach’s putting drill changed the way I practice”. The gate concept is attributed to Stephen Sweeney; the 24-putt sequence, explanations and cautions are GOLFTWITT's own editorial contribution.