Golden Bear's persistence

GolfSetBase.com / 01-21

The well-known golf Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus will celebrate his 70th birthday this week, but the man regarded by many as golf's greatest player will not have his feet up for too long.

 

 

Jack Nicklausfirst picked up a club at the age of ten and was soon winning age events all over the state. Today, Nicklaus is one of the most respected and best loved figures in the game, but it has been a long journey, one that has stretched over half a century. Despite his age, the 18 times majors champion remains actively involved in golf course design and will be straight back to work immediately after his three-day fishing trip.

 

 

The business is how Nicklaus, who won six U.S Masters titles, four U.S. Opens, three British Opens and five PGA Championships, has kept his competitive juices flowing in the years since he began to fade from the top level of the game in the mid-eighties.

 

"When you lose (your) ability to play the game, you lose your vehicle to compete. Competition is my big deal. Competition is what I love," he said in a teleconference ahead of his birthday on Thursday.

 

"My expectations of my game were very high most of my life. And as my swing speed with ping g10 irons went down, as my ball-striking ability went down, as my ability to dominate a golf course went down, that vehicle left me. So I had to find other vehicles.

 

"I'm a very fortunate guy in that golf course design is something that kept me in the game of golf. I had my competition with a piece of land and the ground I was working with."

 

Many in the game would have preferred Nicklaus, who recorded 73 wins on the PGA Tour, to have competed more regularly on the over-50 Champions Tour and in other big events.

 

But it was hard for the 'Golden Bear' to play at a lower level than in his prime and Nicklaus Designs, the company he runs with his four sons and his son-in-law, filled the gap. Maybe you would say that many swingers are swinging their cheap golf clubs better than Jack Nicklaus, or maybe you would say he is not the best. But I will tell you that no individual has been able to develop and combine and sustain all of the complex physical skills and the immense mental and emotional resources the game demands at its highest level as well as Jack Nicklaus has for as long as he has.

 

I like his persistence and admire his courage, how about you?

 

Jack Nicklaus Festoon Golf Summit

 

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