Jack Nicklaus Calling The Shots From Home Turf (PB Life) September 1983i
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What makes Jack Nick -
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cool temperament, unyielding
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tee o starters. His tourna-
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ment low of 62 didn't come from
the sky. In fact, those same
qualities have made Nicklaus a
millionaire in business.
His 13 -year-old company, now known as the Golden
Bear/Nicklaus Organization, is based in North Palm Beach
and employs 1,000 people and licenses the use of Jack's
name, nickname and trademark to makers and sellers of
golf and related equipment, suits, shirts, sport coats, sweat-
ers, shoes, sheets, tablecloths, aprons, children's wear,
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mens cosmetics, etc e
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........... the world (none at PGA Nation-
al, however) and he's expanding
into real estate, insurance, oil
and gas. Last year he bought
controlling interest in MacGregor golf supplies and garb.
His projected volume from these ventures: More than $300
million.
With a solid Midwestern background, Jack got off to
the right start. His father and best friend, Louis Charles
Nicklaus Jr. (he died in 1970), was a successful pharmacist
Despite a hectic schedule, Nicklaus makes time for his family
— including a backyard lesson with sons Gary and Jack Jr.
....
or
in the affluent Columbus, Ohio suburb of Upper Arlington,
and was a member of closeby Scioto Country Club. That's
where Jack's idol, amateur golfer Bobby Jones, won the
1926 Open. As early as age 10, Jack began to play golf with
his dad who had taken up the sport as therapy for a broken
ankle.
Simultaneously, he learned much about the game from
Scioto's gifted pro, Jack Grout, who taught him three
important golf rules: First, the head must be kept still
throughout the swing. Second, balance also depends on
footwork. Third, a young golfer should try and develop the
widest possible arc by making a full shoulder turn and fully
extending his arms on the backswing, the downswing and
the follow-through. Nicklaus learned quickly from Grout,
driving a ball 275 yards, past the pro's own. At age 12,
Nicklaus was labeled a prodigy.
The next year he played in
the U.S. Junior Amateur Cham-
pionship, and at 15, Nicklaus
qualified for the U.S. Amateur.
About that time he was playing
high school football, basketball
(the greatest thing in the Mid-
west after loyalty), baseball and
running track. Although he ex-
celled in all the sports, Jack
really preferred golf. Former
Ohio State University football
coach Woody Hayes told Louis
that Jack should play golf:
"Your boy has a future in golf.
Get him out of football."
Says Jack: "I could play golf
by myself, and at any time. I
knew it was the sport for me."
Moreover, he found the game of
golf to be both physically chal-
lenging and mentally intoxicat-
ing, stimulation Jack new he
needed in order to do his best
work. He couldn't derive the
same satisfaction from other
sports.
He subsequently achieved
statewide stardom winning the
Ohio State Open, then playing
the U.S. Open, before graduat-
ing from Upper Arlington High
School. Both his father and his
mother Helen encouraged him
to stay home and attend Ohio
State (Louis' alma mater) de-
spite the dozens of college golf
scholarships he was offered
around the country. "My father
was right when he said I could
play golf anywhere," Jack says now.
Under Grout's expertise, he practiced constantly while
attending classes in pharmacy. He reportedly never com-
plained about Ohio's adverse weather conditions. Grout
was busy teaching him to develop power first, emphasizing
that control and finesse would come later.
It paid off. His amateur career soared. Sportswriters
compared him to Bobby Jones, and soon enough, Jack
Nicklaus was driving his way to the top. He proved to be a
golfer who could play all the shots but, undoubtedly, it was
his thunderous power off the tee that gained him notoriety.
Recently, Herbert Warren Wind lionized the Golden Bear
in an article that appeared in The New Yorker: "Watching
him unload the ball and smash it down the fairway packed
an excitement that never lessened, no matter how often an
admirer had been in his gallery." Adds Bobby Jones admir-
ingly: "He plays a game with which I am not familiar."
At the 1960 U.S. Open, 20 -year-old Nicklaus took
second place to super star Arnold Palmer. That same year
he married the former Barbara Bash, a fine-looking Ohio
State coed. Nicklaus changed his major to economics, then
a year later had a family and decided to completely chuck
college for golf: "If I could make a good living doing what I
liked best, why not?" (Who would argue with that philoso-
phy in the '60s?)
In 1962, he went pro, even
beating Palmer in the U.S.
Open. But ironically, that tri-
umph was the beginning of a
tumultuous period dubbed the
"Fat Jack" era, a decade of
doubt, suspicion and grumbles
from the gallery. After all, this
cold and calculating, overweight
newcomer beat the pants off of
their good old boy. They didn't
like it.
Here's the scene: Palmer
looked the part of an athlete, a
prize-fighter, a middleweight.
Nicklaus, on the other hand,
looked like a golfer, which dou-
bled for an unmade bed. To-
gether, they nearly owned the
game of golf. A sportswriter
once wrote it well: "It was al-
most as if God said to Jack, `You
have skills like no other,' then
whispered to Arnie, `But they
love you more.'"
Their sneers and jeers made
Nicklaus defensive and reclu-
sive throughout that turbulent
decade, yet he shrugged it off
publicly, by playing golf and
raising a family. But by 1969, he
had had it with the jabs and the
extra flab. "During the Ryder
Cup that year he felt tired after
playing golf for the first time in
his life," recalls his wife Barba-
ra. "On the plane home he told
me he was going to lose 20
pounds. And when Jack says he
is going to do something, he does
it." In fact, his determination was so strong, "he phoned
Hart, Shaffner & Marx (one of his menswear licensees) to
tell them to make his suits smaller before he lost the
weight," Barbara reveals.
He dropped the first 20 pounds in a month. He lost six
inches around the hips, 11/2 inches at the waist and his
heavy chin and neckline disappeared. Pretty soon he lost
another 13 pounds. In short, the new Nicklaus looked lean
and long, young and * (Continued on page 68)
Nicklaus travels often, supervising his Golden Bear company
interests which include golf supplies, real estate, oil and gas.
Although Nicklaus is from the Midwest, he chose Lost Tree
Village in North Palm. Beach to raise his family. Back row,
left to right—Steve (20), Gary (14), Jack Jr. (21); front—
Michael (10), Barbara, Jack and their only daughter Nan (18).
JACK NICKLAUS
(Continued from page 33)
handsome, and downright svelte. Hart, A
Shaffner & Marx was delighted to coor- h
dinate a blazer in safety yellow ... to A
match Jack's designer golf ball. ti
Yes, Fat Jack had acquired a new it
image and, for the first time, the gallery t
sneers turned to cheers. He became a to
popular sports figure and an all-around t
good guy. The galleries and everyone
else loved Jack Nicklaus. r
As his personage has grown more e
successful, so has his business and fam- s
ily life, a trilogy realized by precious few. p
How did he do it? Well, the touring treks d
could be brutal, but Nicklaus insisted he
spend no more than two weeks (if he i
could help it) away from home at a time. h
That way, he was assured of being home
time his five children were I
during the t B
growing up. He loved going home and he h
loves what the kids have become. Jack
is a senior at University of North t
Jr., 21, o
Carolina and even plays golf; Steve, 20, a
at Florida State plays football on schol- h
arship; Nan, 18, just started University
of Georgia; and Gary, 14, and Michael, r
1 the greatest golfer in the h
10 (supposedly g g �
family), are students at the private and
prestigious Benjamin School in North
Palm Beach. Says dad: "They're good
kids. Sometimes they come with me on
tournaments so they can experience the
pressure and understand what their fa-
ther's life is like."
Barbara, a well -organized, full-time
mother, balances her life well. Active in
community affairs (including the Junior
League) when Jack is absent, she's the
consummate partner when accompany-
ing him on tournaments. (She does this
often, which adds to a happy marriage.)
Other golfers tell their wives to watch
Barbara Nicklaus, and act the .way she
does. Barbara walks the full 18 holes
each day with her husband. She seems to
know everything there is about golf. She
talks to his spectators and makes them
feel good. She understands that his life
is golf, and she accepts it.
The family moved from Ohio to
Florida in 1967 and three years later
bought their present Lost Tree home, a
large one-story Florida nest that fronts
on peaceful Lake Worth. And they love
it. "Palm Beach County is a great place
to raise a family because of the good
education and environment and, of
course, lots of golf," explains Jack of his
choice. "We decided to stay here all year
so the kids would grow up right in one
place, with one set of friends. Had we
spent winters here and traveled back to
Ohio, it would've disrupted their lives."
As a family, they're sports crazed.
11 seven ski together at Christmas. It
as become a tradition. Sometimes it's
spen, Vail or Steamboat Springs, other
roes it's new mountains in Utah. But
's always together. At home, Jack built
wo grass tennis courts (they all play
nnis, including Jack who really loves
he sport), a playground and a swim-
ming pool, blooming with palm and cit -
us trees, tropical plants and. exotic flow-
s. Nearby, Jack bought a satellite dish
o the family could enjoy certain sports
rograms that the regular TV networks
on't carry.
But between playing golf and tend -
ng to business and home matters, Jack
as managed to find time to fish in
celand, hunt in Africa and sail in the
ahamas. He's even written books. But
is new and most important sideline is
he design of golf courses, an extension
F his game and the impetus of still
nother hobby: horticulture. Since he
as become smitten with landscape and
ugged outdoor parks and grounds, he
as started his own home nursery on the
.5 acres of Florida real estate flanking
his back door. So far, he has 35 varieties
of citrus trees (lemon, lime, orange, etc.),
mangos, bananas, avocados (several
types), papayas, litchis, loquats, and so
on. "That's just the beginning ..."
Critics complain Nicklaus has over-
extended himself in business, product
advertising, and golf course design, even
becoming an opportunist. They say his
bad seasons in 1978 and 1979 are a result
of this, and that he should stay with golf,
allowing businessmen to run business,
actors to create advertising, and archi-
tects to mold golf courses.
Some insiders disagree. They say
Jack delegates business responsibility to
top professionals, rarely visiting plants
and offices except to offer suggestions.
As for advertising, polls have proven his
endorsements work. Products sell well
and people have rated him the most
likeable and believable celeb on the
tube.
Golf course design, they continue, is
a natural extension of his game. Who
could do it better? (Except perhaps for
competitors Pete Dye or the Fazios.) If
VILLAGE OF NORTH PAiJdI BEACH
HISTORIAN
P. 3
he wern.n't qualified, the 25 courses he
has designed already wouldn't have
brought him the many jobs now sitting
on his drawing board. He has his own
defense: "Building a golf course is my
total expression. My golf game can go on
only so long. But what I have learned
through my years of golfing can be put
into a piece of ground to last beyond me.
Through my courses, I'll always be a
part of golf."
The bad seasons, well, they happen
to the best of pros. He did experience his
worst game in the late 1970s, but there
was at least one good reason for it. When
he lost weight, he had not adjusted his
strokes and power to fit his new body.
Instead of retiring and walking away
from a bad dream, he proved he was not
Despite a few
a quitter. Nicklaus worked harder than
bad seasons
ever on his game, practicing in the off-
during the 'los,
season, something he had not done be-
hard work and
fore. He changed every major phase of
commitment put
Nicklaus back
on course.
'i l. i- AGE OF NORTH PALM BEACH
HISTORIAN
his game from his driving to his put-
ting to accommodate the weight loss.
It took awhile, but he proved his
professionalism and dedication when he
won the 1980 U.S. Open at the Baltusrol
Golf Club by smashing the record in this
national championship. Golf lovers will
never forget that day; it made history. "I
had to work a little harder," says Nick-
laus of that whole experience. "Golf like
anything else requires commitment and
concentration. When I no longer can
win, I'll know it." Applauds fellow golfer
Tom Weisskopf: "He's the reason I've
practiced so hard, but I could never
think like him."
It sure looks like Jack is back. His
last two years have been good, and with
golf course designs from Hong Kong to
Houston stroking his creativity, it looks
like Nicklaus and golf will enjoy a long
lasting marriage. Who's to complain?❑
Free-lance writer Linda Marx is a win-
ter resident of Palm Beach.
PALM BEACH LIFE -SEPTEMBER 1983
Captain of the Ryder Cup
As captain of this year's Ryder
Cup matches next month, Jack Nick-
laus, the world's greatest golfer will be
able to do what he does best: wow the
world of golfing, then, in a hop, skip
and a putt, tend to the family at
home. Yet for a touring celeb like
Jack Nicklaus, 43, it hasn't always
been so easy. In his 21 -year career,
Nicklaus has logged as much as
35,000 miles per tour, keeping him
away from home for weeks at a
stretch. But this time it's different.
On Oct. 13, Jack will lead the troops
from home. He'll assign the singles
and doubles, host the golf clinics, give
moving speeches, and generally im-
press every looker and golf pundit
around who, during the past two de-
cades, has elevated the Columbus -
born jock into heights of papal rever-
ence.
In broader respects, Nicklaus has
helped create sporting serendipity.
The Ryder Cup will take place on
PGA's long-awaited new home at
PGA National in Palm Beach Gar-
dens, recently ending a frustrating
search for it, that began some two
decades ago. It brings together both
the Ryder Cup and golf's greatest
achiever, Jack Nicklaus. "The loca-
tion is a good luck charm," agrees
Jack, who may not play in the Ryder
Cup since he's the team captain. "In
1971, I won the PGA Championship
right next door at JDM (John D.
MacArthur) Country Club."
No matter that Nicklaus has yet
to play any of PGA National's three
completed courses (a fourth is being
constructed now by Arnold Palmer)
or, that he may not participate in the
upcoming tournament. His incredible
professional years, played on at least
500 golf courses, veritably speak for
themselves. He has won 19 major
championships: five Masters, five
PGA Championships, four U.S.
Opens, three British Opens and two
U.S. Amateur Championships. On his
regular PGA tour, he has racked up 69
tournament wins, a total approached
by none of his contemporaries. He has
87 worldwide victories and has been
named PGA Player of the Year five
times. And there's more: He's the
only golfer who has earned $4 million
in prize money.
The Associated Press put it best
in 1980 after Nicklaus had been
named Athlete of the Decade by the
media: "No one in sports, not even
Ali, has so dominated or been a finer
credit to his particular profession. As
Ali mesmerized the world with his
fighting skills, bombast and charm,
Nicklaus has woven a gentlemanly
grace into his tapestry of silver and
gold trophies."
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