Finca Cortesín golf club is located between Marbella and Sotogrande, in Casares municipality. Considered one of Spain’s finest courses, it completes its circle as a luxury resort comprising hotel, golf, spa, sports club, beach club and residential area with the addition of the Jack Nicklaus Academy to its amenities. One of the world’s most prestigious academies, there are 23 around the world in the most exclusive resorts, passing on the philosophy of a golfing legend who won 18 majors and became, for many, the greatest golfer in the history of the game – teaching players that, “Success depends almost totally on how well you control two adversaries: the golf course and you yourself.”
How did the Jack Nicklaus Academy come to be set up at Finca Cortesín?
Jack Nicklaus is undoubtedly the greatest golfer in history and his academy, based on his teaching methods, is one of the best in the world, so the management thought it would be an excellent option to partner a luxury resort such as Finca Cortesín with a renowned academy such as the Jack Nicklaus.
When did the academy open?
The Jack Nicklaus Coaching Studio opened in 2008. It’s a high-tech centre where basically what we do is help students understand the cause and effect of their swing errors by using technology integrated within the coaching studio (video analysis, studies of ball flight…). Our studio is designed to provide immediate feedback, which speeds up the learning process.
Golf is a very versatile game, with as many ways to play it as there are golfers, and the same applies to academies… there are countless of them, each with their own methods. What makes the Jack Nicklaus Academies stand out from the rest?
I believe that the method created by Jack Nicklaus was born out of his own experience, but not as a player but rather as a student. He was aware of the difficulty – especially when reaching a certain level of play – of correcting your own mistakes. At the Nicklaus Academy you have the possibility of working your way through this stumbling block. As soon as students see themselves on video they begin to understand and embrace their errors. It’s not the same to say to someone, you’re doing something wrong, as it is for them to see how they are actually doing it wrong – progress is spectacular.
Another aspect that I believe makes us stand out is that we are not a school with a method that golfers adapt to; it’s a school that adapts to the golfer, to each player and their distinctive features and limitations. We image the academy is appropriate for players of all levels?
Certainly, we are open to all kinds of golfers. It’s important at an academy for the teachers to also be golfers, as this is the only way to understand what a golfer feels at any particular moment. Empathy is a quality that coaches need to develop among their abilities, and at the Nicklaus Academies all the coaches are golfers.
Innovation is one of the Nicklaus Academy’s main values – any novelties in that respect?
This year we have begun a training programme comprising 12 90-minute classes during which the coach obtains a much deeper understanding of the player, which is very beneficial for their game. As part of our instruction schedule we have designed specific programmes lasting two hours and divided into four areas, long game, scoring game, putting game and golf course, and this is proving to be very successful.
Soon we will be launching a special programme for top-level players, analysing all facets of the game in our coaching studio and evaluating their performance out on the magnificent Finca Cortesín golf course.
Golf is a sport in which the psychological aspect is just as important as the technical. We have talked extensively about the latter but how do you work on the psychological aspect at the academy?
In the case of beginners, we start by providing technical knowledge and, as they improve, we introduce knowledge of a psychological nature, but it’s different for more experienced golfers because the great psychological barrier tends to be the tension generated by going out onto the course and being faced by bunkers, water hazards and deadly greens. In this case we work on how to practice, improving routine, concentration, strategy, club and shot selection… in short, elements that a player can control. The only thing a golfer can’t control is actually playing, so that’s why it’s so important to work on all the elements before playing a shot.