This story is for you if...
• You play a course with numerous multitiered greens...
• ...and you often leave approach shots short and on the tier below where the hole is cut.
The Situation
You're on a nice, flat part of the green but the hole is 40 feet away on a higher tier.
The Solution
In this situation, you're dealing with two putts: 1) the one that gets the ball up the hill, and 2) the one that covers the upper tier between the edge of the slope and the hole. Unfortunately, there isn't a magic formula to decipher these two distances and come up with an ideal stroke length, but one good rule of thumb is to add the pace of the "two" putts together to determine the proper stroke length.
Once you've done this, set your eyes over the ball and your hands under your shoulders, and keep your eyes and sternum still at impact. This sets you up to make the most solid contact possible, and the more solid your contact, the more likely it is that you'll have enough steam behind the ball to cover the distance of the putt.
As you make your practice strokes, imagine you're "bowling" the ball up the hill — get a feel in your right hand for how much force you'll need to impart to the ball. Then re-create that feeling when you putt the ball for real.
Check!
If you're putting from the left side of the hole (the cup is off to your right), expect the slope to bend the ball to the right. The opposite is true if you're putting from the right side of the hole.
