For lovers of golf, it’s affectionately known as “the candy store.” This sweet gem is the $1.6-million Jim Flick Golf Performance Center at Desert Mountain. For those beginning their love affair with the sport all the way to seasoned pros, it truly is a sweet place to improve and stay on top of your game.
The center is named after the legendary Jim Flick – one of the game’s top instructors who spent more than five decades teaching and advising tour professionals and weekend warriors alike. His philosophy was that golf clubs should determine what the body does, not the other way around. Flick began working with Jack Nicklaus, the master architect on Desert Mountain’s six signature courses, when the Golden Bear started struggling after he joined the Senior Tour. Flick was also Desert Mountain’s PGA Director of Instruction from 1987 to 2005.
The center itself is equipped with the most advanced technology available in the industry today. This 6,500-sq.-ft., one-stop facility addresses all golf instructional needs including technique, golf fitness and mental game performance utilizing 3-D Doppler radar-based launch monitors that track and measure ball flight and club data. In addition, the center offers real time, marker-less gesture recognition training and teaching system, a Science and Motion Balance Lab and an AMM 3-D sensor – known as the “MRI of your golf swing.”
The PGA- and Titleist-certified staff utilizes the technology to help members find the perfect clubs and putter for their game. The center also helps golfers return to the game after injuries with individually tailored physical therapy programs. –Greg Sexton
