[Johnny Ryall]

Teaching facility in works at Justin Timberlake's Mirimichi golf course
the Commercial Appeal | By Tom Bailey Jr.

Justin Timberlake's golf course has started building a high-tech facility for students of the swing. The Mirimichi-Callaway Performance & Learning Center, perched over the driving range, is scheduled to debut with the reopening of Mirimichi on July 24. "We really feel like we're setting a new standard for not only the growth of the game, the instructional component, the club-fitting, but also the practice facilities," said Mirimichi golf director Greg King.

The new learning center will be one of just 10 or 11 associated with Callaway throughout the nation. It will have a screened-in patio that shelters three hitting bays, so golfers inside hit out onto the range. The facility will offer three high-tech systems for golf instruction and club-fitting: The Callaway Performance Analysis System, which captures swing speed, ball speed, launch angle, spin rates, and other variables for finding the best club fit; Trackman Technology, which displays ball trajectory in real time; and V1 Golf Teaching System, which helps instructors diagnose swing flaws and offer lessons online.

The entertainer and his parents, Lynn and Paul Harless, bought the former Big Creek Golf Course at 6195 Woodstock Cuba Road, reconstructed the course and reopened it last July. But they have closed it for the first half of this year for yet more renovations. "The advanced technology and state-of-the-art building will make Mirimichi the one-stop shopping headquarters for the perfect set of clubs, custom-fitted to individual specifications," King said.

Timberlake is the first non-PGA Tour player sponsored by Callaway, a major golf-equipment manufacturer. "I think Callaway bought into Justin's appeal that covers many different generations and appeals to younger generations," King said. "So given his commitment (in the Memphis area), I think it was just a natural fit."