A legend is leaving the East Valley.

Jim Flick, the renowned instructor who was one of the original cast in the Golf Digest Schools along with being the personal guru of Jack Nicklaus, is moving to Carlsbad, Calif., to work for TaylorMade Golf. Flick had been the highest-profile instructor at Desert Mountain Golf Club in Scottsdale since 1986.

“I guess for a wimpy old guy, I’m still doing pretty good,’’ Flick said of the move, which vaults him into the role of being TaylorMade’s official host at its state-of-the-art technology center called “The Kingdom.’’

“It was a difficult decision. Over the past 20 years, (wife) Geri and I had fallen in love with Scottsdale, and were smitten by the facility and the people at Desert Mountain.

But TaylorMade made me an unbelievable opportunity, and I’ll still get to teach a little bit and see some of my students.’’

A top-100 instructor since the list was first introduced 20 years ago, Flick has worked with over 200 touring professionals. And while Nicklaus is his most well-known pupil,

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman also comes to mind.

These days, Flick has turned his attention to the junior ranks, and currently has about 20 top junior players in his teaching stable. That was the “difficult decision.’’

“They weighed heavily in this, but at the same time, they’ll be grown up in a few years and won’t necessarily need ‘Ol’ Sourpuss’ any more,’’ he said. “At the same time, some of them will stay in touch, and some will come to Carlsbad to see me when they can.’’

Yes, Flick might be gone from the East Valley, but he won’t be too far off the beaten path, said two of his top protégés – Philip Francis and Esther Choe.

“It’s so sad he’s leaving,’’ said Choe, who is a 16-year-old junior at Cactus Shadows High School. “But I talk with Mr. Flick all the time on my (cell) phone, and I plan on going over to see him whenever possible.’’

Dito, said Francis, a home-schooled 17-year-old who plans on accepting a scholarship to either UCLA or Oklahoma State. “With Mr. Flick going to Carlsbad, well, that probably means UCLA for me, because I would be just an hour or so away from a lesson with him.’’

Flick commands that type of respect. He is considered to be among the top-five instructors of all-time, and he was a lynchpin for the Golf Digest Schools in the 1970s and ’80s before he helped Nicklaus found the Nicklaus-Flick Golf Schools in 1991.

Along the way he taught U.S. Women’s Open winners Susie Maxwell Berning and Hollis Stacey, and has the distinction of once serving as the mentor to 27 participants in the Countrywide Tradition, a feat that’s got to be a record.

“I’m only 76, and I’m not planning on retirement unless it’s forced on me by health issues,’’ Flick said. “I’ve never really considered retirement, because I just enjoy helping people with their golf games. I guess that’s my fix in life.’’

Flick said that through the years, he has tried to influence a player’s personality as much as their swing. And while his journey has taken him from Indiana to Ohio to Florida to Arizona, with a lot of summers spent in Michigan, “Moving to California isn’t all bad.’’

“What excites me the most about working for TaylorMade is the chance to work with and understand the latest technology, which no one is doing better at the moment than TaylorMade,’’ he said. “It’s part of my philosophy these days, to not necessarily create the perfect golf swing, but to help people enjoy playing golf, and technology factors into that.’’

Flick said he is constantly amazed with TaylorMade’s research and development department, and all the things that flow from it.

“For instance, I recently learned something I didn’t know about putting. Apparently, there are two key elements that all good putters exhibit: 1), They always hit the ball on the upstroke, and 2) They always make contact just below the equator of the ball, with the shaft tilted slightly forward.’’

Yes, it’s all good for Jim Flick. In fact, there’s only one thing that’s not quite perfect with the move further west.

“We sold our home in Scottsdale, and have bought a home at LaCosta,’’ Flick said of the famed golf course and spa that is located 10 miles south of Carlsbad. “I guess you could say, I paid twice as much to downsize – but that’s California!’’