Page 65 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Fall 2018

SPEED, SPEED &

MORE SPEED

Vic Wilk, Butch Harmon School of Golf (12)

702-612-9615 | vwlove2golf@gmail.com

Whatever you’ve been told about putting—grip pressure, having a steady head, length of stroke, how to read the break—in my opinion,
all take a back seat to one thing. Speed. The path of your putt is dictated by how fast the ball is rolling, so speed is king when it comes to
improving on the greens.

Think about it: if you’re not getting the ball to the hole, what’s the point of focusing on anything else about putting?
Considering how many strokes are taken on the greens, it’s a very important putting fundamental. Use your practice time mainly on distance
control drills, really trying to hit putts with the right amount of effort. If you have good distance control, you’ll still have a reasonable chance
of making the next one even if you don’t get the read quite right, because you’re hole high. You might be surprised how something as simple as
focusing solely on distance makes you put a good roll on the ball.

GAMES OF SPEED

CONTROL & SKILL

Jeff Gallagher, Tour player and Lake Las Vegas Instructor (13)

jeffgallagher64@icloud.com

This drill is my favorite for putting consistency and speed control, and it keeps it fun and interesting. The scoring system allows you to
challenge yourself or another player. The putt for this drill should be about 15-18 feet. First, place a tee about two-three inches past the cup
and then place two ball markers or small coins about 2/3 of the way to the hole on the line of the putt about a putter’s head length wide apart,
basically making a “gate” for the ball to roll through when struck with proper distance and pace.

The scoring is as follows (Play to 10 points)
1 point Zero points
» CORRECT SPEED – ball must go past hole Any putt left short of hole, no matter what
but stop inside tee & cup.
» CORRECT LINE – ball must go through gate
without touching markers & travel past hole.
» MADE PUTT

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