Academy melds technique, technology

St. George course's Jack Nicklaus program gets off the ground

By Jay Drew
Courtesy of The Salt Lake Tribune

ST. GEORGE - To former Utahn Mike Malaska, now worldwide director of instruction for the Jack Nicklaus Academy of Golf, the sport of golf is "nothing more than a lifetime pursuit of problem solving."

If technology allows golfers to solve their problems a little easier, that should be pursued, too, Malaska believes, but not at the cost of loading players with so much information they can't function properly.

Recently named one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers (No. 28) in America, Malaska was at St. George's The Ledges Golf Club on Tuesday at the grand opening of only the third Nicklaus Golf Academy in the United States.

The academy, the first of its kind in Utah, will be directed by former University of Utah golfer Doug Roberts.

It includes three climate- controlled teaching bays featuring the Jack Nicklaus Coaching Studio, complete with the new Nicklaus video capture and analysis software, multiple high-speed video cameras, a pressure mat system that tracks balance and body movement, and an integrated ball flight launch monitor.

The facility also includes a putting analysis lab and a program that combines golf and fitness to be overseen by Roberts, a physical therapist who spent five years working with professional golfers on the PGA and LPGA tours.

"There really isn't any place like this in the world," said Malaska, who Advertisement has spent the last 26 or so years working for Nicklaus at his golf academies around the world.

From 1992, Malaska was director of instruction for the Jack Nicklaus Golf Center in Japan.

The Ledges, which opened in 2006 about eight miles north of downtown St. George, joins the Pronghorn Club of Bend, Ore., and Cascades of Texas Golf Club in Tyler, Texas, as the few U.S. clubs selected by Nicklaus to host his academies. There are nine others operating outside the U.S., and dozens of others in the planning stages, both in and out of the country.

Ted Simons, vice president of Nicklaus Academies, said The Ledges was chosen because of its emphasis on quality and attention to detail and its commitment to golf instruction.

"This is not just the best, it is state-of-the-art," Simons said. "You will get the same level of instruction here as anywhere in the world."

Roberts said the facility unofficially opened in May, but officials waited until now to unveil it to give the short game practice area time to mature. The area comes complete with multiple tees and practice greens and mini-fairways that allow golfers to practice all the scoring shots from 100 yards in.

Former Glen Eagle head professional Mike Lewis, now director of instruction at the Nicklaus Academy at Pronghorn, also helped unveil the Utah academy Tuesday and took golfers out on the course to discuss situations that occur during the course of play, such as reading greens and handling side-hill lies.

Cost is generally $250 for a half-day of one-on-one or one-on-two instruction and $400-$500 for a full day.