Legendary Jack Nicklaus - Case Study Example

Jack Nicklaus biography and his impact on society Introduction Jack Nicklaus, the legendary figure, holds an incomparable position in the history of golf. He is the one who brought about radical changes to the face of golf. Jack, who has been considered as the good will ambassador for golf, proved himself as a golf course designer and took part in a number of charitable activities besides playing golf. Jack Nicklaus started playing golf at the age of ten and became one among the dominant players during his era immediately after his entry in to professional golf in 1962. All major golf publications preferred to label him as the “Golfer of the century.” the number of world records Jack possess proves his legendary career and the awards and honors he received from governments and organizations show his involvement and dedication towards the society. The Introduction of tournaments like Jack Nicklaus International invitation has motivated golf lovers with different skill levels to participate and to enhance the popularity of the game. Nicklaus himself was the most dominant personality among the golfers of his generation who has taken efforts to bring the sport of golf to the forefront. Jack Nicklaus-The golf legend Jack Nicklaus was born in Ohio on 21st of January 1962 and he started playing gold at the age of ten and even at this stage he showed immense talent and the rise of a promising player was in progress even from his childhood. The world witnessed an irresistible growth of Nicklaus over the finest golf players like Arnold palmer, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller and Tom Watson in the next three decades. Nicklaus had eighteen professional and two armature wins in his golf career along with nineteen second and nine third place finishes. He has been ranked among the top ten players in 73 majors which constitute almost half of the successive majors he participated. Only five golf players in the world hold the record to win all the four major titles and Nicklaus became successful in obtaining this glorious achievement (Mackintosh 163). It is better to have a look in to the achievements of Jack’s golf career in order to get a clear picture of his extra ordinary talent as a golf player. He won six masters title in 1963, 1965, 1966 1972, 1975 and 1986, five PGA Championships in1963, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1980, three British Opens in 1966, 1970 and 1978, and four U S Opens in 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1980. These tournaments are considered to be the key ones of professional golf. Nicklaus is the only one to hold the record for three time wins of all these four major tournaments. The list of his victories is pretty long and apart from the major tournament victories he won seventy one PGA Tours and achieved fifty eight second and thirty six third places. He also won five World Series of Golf titles, six numbers of Australian Opens, six Rider Cup appearances and many more victories around the world. Jack Grout discovered the abilities of Nicklaus for the first time and he took Nicklaus to the Scioto Country Club in Columbus his performance was very well appreciated by Senead, the defending champion of that period. Bobby Johns a legendary golf player of the era had made comment on the talent of the fifteen year old Nicklaus as “he plays a game with which I am totally unfamiliar,” which shows the expectations that golfers had regarding the future of Nicklaus (Mackintosh 164). The determination and a genuine desire to strive towards perfection always prompted Jack Nicklaus to look introspectively and question whether “he was making the proper adjustments to correct his swing technique during rounds when his play was inconsistent” (Shaw 86). It was this dedication, sincerity and hard work that made him an unchallenged champion in golf. Nicklaus turned professional after his victory in the 1961 U S Armature championship. In the year 1962, Nicklaus won U S Open title which was the first achievement in his professional golf career and in 1963 he won the Masters title and became the first ever golfer to achieve a consecutive victory of U S Open and Masters titles. Bobby Johns was holding the record of thirteen major title wins and in 1980 Nicklaus won his fourteenth major title and established a new record. He won all the four major titles three times and became the first ever golfer to achieve this land mark. 1986 Masters Tournament was the last major tournament in which he participates and became the oldest winner. During the competitive professional golf career of fifty years Nicklaus had won eighteen major titles, a world record which is unbroken so far and had achieved 118 tournament victories. Apart from a player Nicklaus was well known for his ability to design golf courses and he was labeled as the world’s leading golf course designer in the year 1999 by the Golf Digest, a leading sport publication. Nicklaus Jack has been honored by the Golden Bear in 2005 which is the highest receivable honor for a U S citizen and a number of other awards for his expertise in the field of designing. 2001 was the year in which both the Donald Ross Award and the Donald Rossi Awards were given to Nicklaus. He received the Old Tom Morris Award which is the highest award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America in 2005. All these honors prove the remarkable talent and creativity of Jack Nicklaus as a designer (Jack Nicklaus). He is involved in the marketing and licensing business which constitutes the other side of his business and comes along with the course designing work. All these activities are undertaken by the Nicklaus companies with Nicklaus himself as its chairman at present. Jack’s contributions to the society More than a legendry player of golf, Jack Nicklaus is recognized as a responsible citizen who is very well aware of his responsibilities to the society and especially to its weaker sections. Jack along with his wife Barbara has initiated number of charitable activities and still they are continuing their active involvement in all these programs. Several scholarship programs and children’s hospitals are some of the examples of their initiatives towards charitable activities. The Nicklaus Children Health Care Foundation headed by Jack and Barbara turned to be successful in providing health care service for the children. The foundation has succeeded in raising large amount of funds for their activities which include the identification, treatment and the prevention of childhood diseases and support profit disoriented programs which focus on the protection and welfare of the children. More than 4000 poor children are benefited every year by the support of the foundation. Jack provided enormous support for the activities of First Tee, a national program aiming at the facilitation of educational courses and opportunities for the younger generation and a resulting formation of character. Another youth supporting service provided by Jack was the formation of a $ 2 million endowment for providing teaching grand and he formed a partnership with the PGA of America. In the year 2007 the couples were honored by the Boys Scouts of America Distinguished Citizen Award for their contributions to the society and in 2009 they have been recognized for their immense dedication to the youth by the National Pathfinder Award (Jack and Barbara Nicklaus to be honored as 2009 National Pathfinder Award Recipients). Jack Nicklaus is considered to be a legend not only because of his tremendous achievements in golf career but also the benevolence and kindness he showed towards the fellow beings around him. Works Cited “Jack and Barbara Nicklaus to be Honored as 2009 National Pathfinder Award Recipients”. Nicklaus Companies, LLC, 2010. Web. 24 February 2011. “Jack Nicklaus”. Web. 24 February 2011. < http://www.nicklaus.com/nicklaus_facts/bio.pdf>. Mackintosh, David. Golf’s Greatest Eighteen. Illustrated ed: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004. Print. Shaw, Mark. Jack Nicklaus: Golfs Greatest Champion. Illustrated ed: Sports Publishing LLC, 2002. Print. Read More