Academy escapes to Texas wilderness course to help golfers grow their skills and enjoyment of the game
AUSTIN/BASTROP, TEXAS (March 10, 2016) – This year, Wolfdancer Golf Club at Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa swings into spring as the new official home of The Harvey Penick Academy.
“Many schools try to force a lot of method on people, but Harvey’s goal was to increase players’ love of the game and help them refine the swing they came with,” said Kelly O’Donnell, director of golf at Wolfdancer. “We believe in Harvey’s philosophy, and we are excited to be the place where his legacy lives on and inspires new students.”
The award-winning course, driving range and short-game practice area are what made Wolfdancer a fit for the academy and its mission. Given the course’s proximity to downtown Austin and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the academy is now able to offer students from near and far easy access to single day, weekend and group golf clinics as well as access to lodging discounts at Hyatt Regency Lost Pines.
Born in 1904, raised in Austin and known internationally as one of the greatest instructors of all time, Harvey Penick instilled his values and teaching method into a no-frills program that takes students back to the basics. His approach resonated with the World Golf Hall of Fame players he coached-including Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw and Betsy Rawls-as well as the amateur players who took lessons through Harvey Penick Academy, which launched in 1993, just two years before Penick’s passing. The academy’s original home was Golfsmith, where it served more than 20,000 students over its first 16 years. It relocated to Falconhead Golf Club in 2009 and made its move to Wolfdancer in early 2016.
“Harvey was just as much my mentor as he was to the thousands of students he personally taught. His dream was simple: to foster his students’ enjoyment of the game,” said Jim Hopkins, director of instruction and a founding staff member of the academy. “That’s what we’ll be doing at Wolfdancer.”
Serving players of all ages and levels, Hopkins runs the academy with David Kuhlman and Woody Arnold. Their Friday to Sunday clinic is the most popular-the tuition for which includes instruction, course play and lunches. Group clinics are available at an hourly rate, ranging from two to three hours with class sizes ranging from 10 to 12 (with a maximum student-instructor ratio of five to one). Full-day clinics are designed for the more serious golfer, with three hours of morning instruction, nine holes of play and additional instruction in the afternoon. To learn more or book your clinic, call 512-547-8106.
About Wolfdancer Golf Club
Designed by Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates, the 7,205-yard, par-72 Wolfdancer golf course rambles along a dramatic, 150-acre stretch of terrain dotted with oak, cedar elm and pecan trees. The Texas wilderness course is cut by the Lower Colorado River, which frames the layout’s finishing holes. Wolfdancer also includes a 13-acre driving range, a full-scale practice facility with 10 target greens and eight tee boxes, a short-game area with two chipping greens and bunkers, GPS-equipped golf carts and a Callaway rental club program. The course is also the home of the Harvey Penick Academy. Learn more: 512-308-9653 or www.wolfdancergolfclub.com.
Contact:
Grant Gunderson, Hiebing for Wolfdancer Golf Club
262-853-0837 | ggunderson@hiebing.com
