Teeing it up at the Annika Academy

  Shaving a few strokes off your handicap is usually the goal of a golf school getaway, but in some cases the payoff can be much greater. Since spending three days in March 2009 at Annika Academy, a golf and fitness retreat in Osceola County, Heidi Happy of Worcester has lowered her handicap by five strokes, she says. More significantly, the 44-year-old corporate manager has lost more than 150 pounds and credits the academy’s fitness and nutrition training for spurring her transformation. “I left there with a new commitment to health and to myself,” she says. Full Boston.com story here.
    Part of the posh Reunion Resort near Walt Disney World, Annika Academy is spearheaded by contemporary golf legend Annika Sorenstam. At her golf school, students get in-depth instruction from her closest advisers. A 40-year-old Swedish pro who retired from the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 2008 after a Hall of Fame career, Sorenstam has long been known for her shot-making as well as her workout routine – hence her academy’s emphasis on both golf and fitness.
    Sorenstam’s longtime swing coach, Henri Reis, and sister, Charlotta Sorenstam – also an LPGA winner – are two of the school’s lead golf instructors, while Annika’s personal trainer, Kai Fusser, oversees the fitness curriculum. Sorenstam herself participates in select schools, offering clinics and then having lunch with guests; the academy’s ultimate experience, the Soren-Slam, includes a clinic, lunch, and nine holes with her.
   The academy offers two- and three-day itineraries from October through May, with classes capped at eight guests and instruction typically taking place in groups of four, says director of operations Pam Kehoe. Most packages include full-swing, short-game, and course-management instruction; a Callaway club-fitting session; video swing analysis; fitness instruction that includes a personalized workout program; and a session on nutrition. All include villa accommodations and golf at Reunion Resort, which has three courses designed by golf greats Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Watson. Packages start at $2,500 and premium itineraries that include time with Sorenstam range from $4,500 to $10,000 for the Soren-Slam. (Although Sorenstam is expecting her second child this summer, the academy plans to offer packages with her this spring and fall.)
   Annika Academy, Reunion, Florida, http://www.theannikaacademy.com, 888-266-4522