couple of things we
already know. Putts
break towards water or
the sea or into a valley.
They break more at
theendthan they do at the beginning
and no matter how experienced you
might be, there is always an element of
guesswork when it comes to reading a
green. Surely, there can’t be too many
people who would disagree with that
synopsis. Right? Wrong.
Adam Scott and Stacy Lewis do not
agree and neither do 200 qualifi ed
instructors in AimPoint. On top of
that, there’s a club pro called Jamie
Donaldson (not to be mistaken for a
certain Ryder Cup hero) who doesn’t
agree either. What’s it got to do with
him? Quite a lot actually. Donaldson
used to teach the full swing at a driving
range near Cambridge, but now, thanks
to AimPoint, he’s become a specialist
putting coach sought out by some of
golf’s biggest names.
And what does he have that they
don’t have? The ability to read greens
with astonishing accuracy.
Donaldson remembers a moment
with former US Open champion
Michael Campbell discussing the break
on a putt and predicting its behaviour.
“Cambo popped a tee in the ground
where he felt he should aim and looked
at me to make my call,” he recalls.
The former driving range pro then
set about a unique routine that he
himself developed with AimPoint’s
founder Mark Sweeney. He stood
close to the line to gauge break before
walking back behind the ball, holding
up his hand and squinting as if someone
was dazzling him with a torch.
“No, it’s here,” said Donaldson,
doubling the break on the putt.
Campbell laughed at him, shook
his head, and then set the ball o on
Donaldson’s predicted route. It arced
and arced and arced and dropped into
the hole at the fi rst attempt.
“We need to have a chat,” said the
former US Open champion, though at
that point he wasn’t laughing.A
A
AIMPOINT
The system that takes the
mystery out of green-reading
BY JAMIE DONALDSON
44 AUGUST 2019 | golf australia
A Z OF PUTTING