Cleveland Golf Tour visits the Harmon Club!

Alberico, Dearborn impressed with year round practice facilityJuly 9^th by Dom Dastoli

           Rockland, MA-Can you imagine how much your golf game would improve if you were able to practice year-round at a state-of-the-art golf and fitness facility? Well, Cleveland Golf Tour Development Director Andrew Dearborn and touring professional Michael Alberico experienced the potential benefits of having access to such a facility when they were given a tour of the Harmon Golf & Fitness Club in Rockland, MA recently by golf and fitness instructor Michael Gibson.

            Unlike typical practice facilities, The Harmon Club provides its members with a seemingly infinite number of practice options. Perks of the 100 acre facility include a 9 hole short game course designed by the short game wizard himself-Brad Faxon-, a comprehensive short game area which has four different types of bunkers, an expansive one acre 18 hole putting course,  a chipping and putting  area with four different types of grass, and a 9 hole long game championship course. With so many unique and challenging practice stations to choose from, Alberico was convinced that he “wouldn’t get sick of practicing there.”

            Despite the absence of a traditional 18 hole golf course, both Brad Faxon’s short game course and the championship long game course are certain to improve a player’s game by forcing them to play specific shots. “It gives you every situation,” said Dearborn, referring to the strategically placed bunkers and forced carries that require players to forego the use of a driver and play for position instead.

            As player’s continue to concern themselves with health and fitness, the Harmon Club also includes a 5500 square foot Fitcorp fitness center complete with the latest in cardiovascular and weight training equipment as well as a wide variety of free weights.

            The facility is also home to the Claude Harmon Learning Center which utilizes the most modern in computer technology to analyze a player’s swing. “It looked like something from NASA,” said an impressed Dearborn, who was also quick to point out the willingness of the club’s knowledgeable staff to answer any questions that arose.

             Long removed from the days in which a swing analysis revolved around having someone stand behind you as you hit balls, this comprehensive swing center allows player’s to record their swing on camera then use a mouse to scroll through each sequence of their swing in slow motion. Player’s can also compare their swing to that of a touring professional with similar physical characteristics. Launch monitors and swing specification machines are also available in order to assess a player’s individual swing tendencies and then address them accordingly.

            Committed to improved practice 12 months a year, player’s no longer have to relegate themselves to Florida for the winter if they so chose. “I’d probably stay up here longer, knowing I’d have a place to practice,” said a tempted Alberico, who strongly asserted that his regular practice facility, Rogers Park in Florida, paled in comparison to The Harmon Club..

            For more information on The Harmon Club, visit them on the web at www.harmongolfschool.com. As Alberico and Dearborn can attest to, though, anything but an in person visit to this facility does not do it the justice that it deserves.

            All in all, Alberico and Dearborn walked away from their experience with a new perspective on practice and an appreciation for this one of a kind facility. “I’ve never seen anything like that before, including the PGA facility in Port St. Lucie, FL,” said Dearborn. “It is a total game building game experience."