Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 | midnight
With roughly five months until its completion, the inside of DragonRidge Country Club's new 14,000-square-foot fitness center is teeming with construction workers and stray ventilation tubes.
The separate site of the club's new Jack Nicklaus Academy of Golf, a 1,600-square foot training facility also set to open in spring, is not much more than a pile of dirt.
It may not look like much, but DragonRidge General Manager Larry Wright insists the construction, which make up the club's biggest additions since opening in 2000, is actually ahead of schedule.
"This will give us a leg up in the private club industry in town," Wright said.
Nicklaus Academies executives had been looking to open its first Las Vegas center for about two years before settling on DragonRidge in MacDonald Highlands earlier this year.
The academy will be the 20th location of the worldwide training franchise modeled from the golf philosophy of the PGA Tour great Jack Nicklaus.
Wright is excited about the club's new golf training.
"It can get a little competitive," Wright said about the local golf industry.
DragonRidge's main competition will come from the Butch Harmon School of Golf, located seven miles away at Rio Secco Golf Club.
The school boasts one of the top instructors in the world in Harmon, formerly Tiger Woods' golf teacher, while featuring the latest technology in golf aid.
Jeff Wood, instructor at Rio Secco's school of golf, said business has been steady since the school opened in 1997, even as new teaching centers emerge.
"We're lucky because when people see the name Harmon on the sign, they want to learn from him," Wood said. "We're unique because we're one of two Butch Harmon schools in the world."
The DragonRidge academy will feature weekly instructions from Mike Malaska, a renowned teacher based in Phoenix.
Nicklaus Academies vice president Ted Simons said the training focuses on improving individual golfers' fun on the course, which is usually related to success.
"A lot of the focus is getting the club face squared up with the ball," Simons said. "We try to initiate that first as opposed to swing speed and other factors people focus on."
Sean Ammerman can be reached at 990-2661 or [email protected].
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