Tag: David Leadbetter

Golfzon Leadbetter Academy to set up new headquarters at Reunion Resort near Orlando

Leadbetter Academy’s new location near Orlando will feature technology to help players of any level.

The Leadbetter Golf Academy’s world headquarters is planning a move across Interstate 4 south of Orlando, having announced Thursday it is leaving ChampionsGate Golf Club to set up new residence at Reunion Resort this year.

Leadbetter Golf Academy was acquired in 2018 by Golfzon, a South Korean company best known for its indoor golf simulators. The company is now officially known as Golfzon Leadbetter and operates 38 academies in 15 countries. Leadbetter Academies was founded in 1983 by instructor David Leadbetter, who has worked with numerous tour professionals and 26 major championship winners, with perhaps his most famous student being Nick Faldo.

Reunion Resort is home to three golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. It is the former home of the ANNIKA Academy, which closed in 2016. Kingwood International Resorts bought Reunion in 2019.

Leadbetter Reunion
David Leadbetter on the range at Reunion Resort near Orlando (Courtesy of Golfzon Leadbetter)

“I have taught golf all over the world and there are few places as well suited for golfers to learn and play as the Reunion Resort and Golf Club,” Leadbetter said in a media release announcing the move. “We share Kingwood International Resorts’ vision for offering the very best golf experience at Reunion. Reunion already has three great golf courses; now they’ll have a golf academy to match. I can’t wait to give the first lesson from the new facility.”

The new academy at Reunion will feature plenty of technology, including lesson studios with launch monitors, 3D swing analysis, radar-based tracking of shots on the range, club fitting, fitness and biomechanics. The facility also will include a Golfzon TwoVision simulator studio to host virtual tournaments, the release said. The coaching staff plans to host a wide range of players from beginners to tour stars.

“Reunion Resort and Golf Club gives us the perfect location to expand the Golfzon Leadbetter business as well as offering golfers a unique facility to work on every aspect of their game, whatever their level of play,”  Benedict Riches, CEO of Golfzon Leadbetter, said in the release.

“This new partnership is a natural fit, bringing yet another legend to our resort with the Golfzon Leadbetter World Headquarters,” said Anthony Carll, general manager of Reunion Resort. “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to offer this experience this fall with such a respected legend in the golf community.”

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Musical chairs: Patrick Reed promotes Kevin Kirk to lead instructor role, David Leadbetter back to ‘consulting’

The role of Patrick Reed’s swing instructor continues to be a case of musical chairs, and it changed again before the U.S. Open.

DETROIT – Team Reed is a close-knit group. It includes wife Justine and brother-in-law Kessler Karain, Patrick’s sidekick on the bag since early 2014. The role of swing instructor continues to be a case of musical chairs. And it changed again before the U.S. Open earlier this month.

Kevin Kirk, the 2019 PGA Teacher of the Year, has been Reed’s longtime coach and guided his star pupil to victory at the 2018 Masters. In March 2019, Justine called noted instructor David Leadbetter ahead of the Valspar Championship looking for a second set of eyes to help her hubby break out of a mini-slump. Before long, Leadbetter was part of the team.

“I would see him here and there but it would often be a fix for what was happening in that day,” Leadbetter wrote on his personal web site. “There was never really a plan in place. I always thought he would be an interesting player to work with.”

Leadbetter took the lead role last summer, with Kirk taking a backseat.

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“Remarkably, considering the success that he has had, he has never been in the top 100 in fairways hit or greens in regulation. His great short game has enabled him to compete at the highest level,” Leadbetter wrote. “I always thought that if we could get his long game anywhere close to the quality of his short game, the sky was the limit as far as what he could achieve. So, it was definitely a challenge that excited me.”

Reed recorded a victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in February and finished in the top 20 in the last three majors, but Leadbetter suffered a foot injury that has limited Reed’s ability to work with him on the road.

“He still can’t travel, his foot is still beat up and in a boot. It’s hard doing a lot of things over a telephone,” Reed explained, noting that Leadbetter has shifted into a “consulting role.” “Really never left KK. But I got back with him full-time right before the U.S. Open. Lead, KK and I, we all attack it together.”

And for those scoring at home, there’s actually two more members of Team Reed: Dave Pelz serves as a short-game mentor and Reed’s college coach, Josh Gregory, is listed as Reed’s performance coach. That’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen, but it works for Reed, who enters the week ranked No. 9 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I feel like the game’s really strong,” Reed said. “I feel like I’m playing really solid, hitting the ball well, so on the golf side I feel like we’re in good form leading into the week.”

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Swing changes working well for Patrick Reed at Farmers Insurance Open

Swing changes are working well for Patrick Reed early on at the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

SAN DIEGO – Patrick Reed began his week in America’s Finest City hitting golf balls in some of the worst conditions Mother Nature can dial up.

At the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on Monday, Reed was working with his new coach, David Leadbetter, as wind gusts exceeded 50 mph and spots of rain were coming in sideways. Didn’t matter; Reed had a blast hitting 8-irons 100 yards into the wind.

“I never like to just kind of sit in the room, it would drive me nuts just sitting there,” Reed said. “That being said, we went out there, were able to kind of go hit some balls and get some work in. We were able to kind of focus on technique, not really worry about ball flight. So it was almost like hitting into a net, but actually out there in the 50‑mile an hour winds. Good thing is, the swing actually felt really good when we were working on it in those conditions.”

Worked just fine in ideal conditions, too. In Thursday’s first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, Reed took advantage of the light winds barely blowing in off the sea and grabbed a share of the lead with a bogey-free, 8-under-par 64 on the North Course. Joining him atop the leaderboard was Alex Noren, who carded seven birdies and an eagle on the North to offset a lone bogey.

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“Definitely it felt easy out there just kind of with how I was hitting the driver, getting the ball in the fairway,” Reed said. “I was working it both ways, which was nice. I was able to hit the draws, hit the fades. The hardest, longest chance I had was on 4; had a 35‑footer for birdie and hit a great first putt, missed it three feet to the right and had a three‑footer, but that’s about it. That was the closest to a bogey, having a chance for a three‑putt, but besides that, everything else was pretty easy.”

Scottie Scheffler was in third after a 65 on the North. Ryan Palmer and Peter Malnati did their work on the South and were in a large group at 66. Rory McIlroy shot 68 on the South as Jordan Spieth got his year going with a 69 on the North.

Reed, the world No. 11 who has eight PGA Tour titles, including the 2018 Masters, started working with Leadbetter at the end of September. He has two ties for third in six starts since.

“It’s still a learning process, we’re still working on it, still trying to get it where it’s comfortable on certain shots and just kind of where it’s more kind of second nature rather than trying to sit there and put a club in a position,” said Reed, who would not divulge specifics on what the two are working on. “I feel like it’s been amazing ball‑striking‑wise.

“And really the biggest thing is clarity, knowing kind of what each shot is. Like when I hit the ball left, kind of knowing what it is in my swing. At this level, if you’re able to know that, then you’re able to kind of fix it on the golf course and you’re not having to wait until the round’s completely done in order to try to get the ball on track.”

It hasn’t been easy by any means. But Reed is confident moving forward.

“There definitely were signs right off the bat that it was obviously the right thing to do and the right way to go, but I’ve been swinging one way basically my whole life and having to change that and make the change is obviously tough,” Reed said. “There’s a lot of work going on not just on the golf course but also at home and doing drills, stuff like that, just trying to dial it in and get it more locked in.

“It’s been a tough change, but at the same time it’s been very rewarding.”

It certainly was in the first round at Torrey Pines.

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Maria Fassi opens up about fighting the shanks and taking on the men this week

With the LPGA on an extended break due to the coronavirus, Maria Fassi will get in some reps on the Moonlight Tour, a men’s mini-tour.

David Leadbetter has only one request of Maria Fassi this week: Don’t try to outhit the men.

He’s serious, too.

On Wednesday, Fassi will compete in a two-day men’s mini tour event at ChampionsGate near Orlando, Florida, where she now lives and practices. The Moonlight Tour event will be held on the International Course, and Fassi has been teeing it up from 7,300 yards to prepare.

“She’s probably one of the most powerful players ever to play on the LPGA tour, speed-wise,” said Leadbetter. The 2019 NCAA Champion reminds him of a young Michelle Wie in that respect.

“She’s constantly over the 300 mark.”

Fassi’s clubhead speed average of 108 to 109 mph with driver puts her on the lower end of PGA Tour players and right in line with men that have made plenty of money, names like Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson.

“Some courses (on the LPGA) actually really don’t suit her,” said Leadbetter, “because she almost runs out of room. We’re really working hard on her wedge play and her short game.”

Fassi said she’ll feel more pressure to capitalize on good looks at birdie on the Moonlight Tour, given that she’ll likely have fewer of them with longer clubs in her hand. She looks forward to the challenge.

“In my head, I still think I can go and win the tournament,” she said.

While the LPGA has been on extended break due to the coronavirus, Leadbetter and Fassi have attacked one particular aspect of her game that has caused a great deal of destruction: the shank.

“We call it ‘the funny shot,’ ” Leadbetter said.

The shank can strike at any time, whether she’s 5 under or 5 over. If she hits one, usually there’s a few more coming. Earlier this year the TV cameras were rolling when she shanked alongside eventual winner Madelene Sagstrom at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio. The shank has cost her junior titles, college titles and a whole lot of money on the LPGA thus far in her short career.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve had the shanks,” she said.

The same trait that makes her potential so vast is the same trait that causes such cringe-worthy shots – her speed.

“My lower body is super fast,” she said. “Sometimes the club falls far behind and there’s no way my hands can catch up. The hosel gets there before the face.”

Fassi tries to laugh them off. Getting angry on the course, she said, isn’t going to make them go away. She hasn’t shanked in practice in over a month, but then again she hasn’t been under the pressure of competition either, when she starts to swing even faster. Leadbetter joked that he has given her the “shank vaccine.”

“I don’t know if it’s true,” said Fassi, “but (Leadbetter) says that the shank is the closest thing to a perfect shot. I try to believe that’s the truth, and that keeps me going and lets me sleep at night.”

The Moonlight event gives Fassi a chance to put into practice what she has worked on since the LPGA went on hiatus in mid-February. There were no girls growing up at her home course in Mexico, so she got used to playing with the guys. She did the same in college, using the opportunity to learn as much as she could. This will be her first official tournament against men.

Fassi’s aggressive playing style and interview candor makes her one of the most compelling young players in the women’s game. Last year, after a riveting runner-up finish against Jennifer Kupcho at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, some began to tout her as a potential superstar.

Would she be interested in one day becoming the seventh woman to ever compete in a PGA Tour event?

“I would love that,” she said.

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