Johansen to market himself and his academy, as well as build a state-ofthe-art putting studio in the club’s pro shop. “He’s on the cutting edge with this stuff,” Blocker said. “As you know, the golf business right now is kind of in a strain because of the economy, so Chad is just looking for any way he can to get us more business out there and he’s come up with a lot of things. “We’re very happy, we’re very fortunate, to have him.” Johansen says he’s just as fortunate to have Blocker, who has let him run his academies, create The Perfect Putting Aid and experiment with new teaching methods, such as text-messaged and e-mailed video lessons. That freedom has also allowed him to speak to fellow Illinois PGA professionals about The Perfect Putting Aid. “If you want to grow your lesson book, you’ve got to lower people’s scores,” Johansen said. “How do you lower people’s scores? You have to get
Theoretically, by practicing with a much smaller target (above, left), the player will feel more comfortable when faced with a customary hole width (above, right).
them putting better; you putt on every hole.” Johansen is slowly getting the aid to his fellow pros, as well as high school and college coaches. There has been a soft launch of a website (theperfectputtingaid.com), but Johansen and some of the aid’s early users surmise there are bigger things on
the horizon. “He’s got to get it out to the masses,” Wright said. “He’s got a really good thing. It’s a good training aid that moves around easily. I look forward to watching it take off because he’s got a good thing.” Jim Owczarski is a sports writer for the Beacon News in Aurora.
NIQUE.
NOVEMBER 2010
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