October 14, 2015 Posted by Matt

Grain is the direction in which the blades of grass flow on the green.  It can cause your ball to turn in the direction of the flow.  Stand just off the green and behind your ball.  If the grass is dark, the grain is flowing against you.  If it is shiny, it is flowing with the direction of the putt.  Move to the side, and see if there is any cross or mixed grain (where part of our putt is against the grain and part is with the grain).  Also, look at the hole.  If one side of the rim of the cup is brown and rough, that indicates the direction the grain is flowing near the hole.  It may flow in any direction depending on many factors that cause the blades to point in a certain direction including the sun, water and slope.