Jack Nicklaus is just as well known for his influence on course design as he is for his legendary playing career.
With 18 majors to his name, Nicklaus is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time. But beyond his playing days, he’s also built a strong reputation in the world of course architecture.
Throughout the 1990s, he helped design an enormous number of courses, adding to an already impressive list.
Valhalla, Muirfield Village and Harbour Town Links are just a few examples of venues that have seen his involvement.
With so many Nicklaus courses hosting both Tour professionals and local club members, it raises an interesting question about how he manages to keep them challenging yet playable for everyone.
How Jack Nicklaus designs courses for all players
Even though he won 18 majors, Jack Nicklaus isn’t focused on making courses difficult just for the sake of it.
His main goal is to get more people involved in golf, and that comes through in how he approaches course design.
Back in 2015, while speaking with Golf Atlas, Nicklaus shared some insight into his design philosophy.
“You figure that the average golfer is not supposed to hit the ball as far as the pro is supposed to hit it. And, you always try to figure out an alternate way to play the golf course. If you look at most every golf course I might have, occasionally, a hole where there’s no bail-out,” Nicklaus explained previously.
“But very rarely do I do a golf course where you don’t have a way for the women, seniors or the average golfer to play the golf course. Very rarely do I have any holes that don’t present you an alternative or areas where you can bail out.
“If you go look at The Bear’s Club, which has 25 touring professionals who are members of the golf course, they think it’s a wonderful golf course to play. I think every green is open. You can run the ball on to every green on the golf course. I have a bailout on every single hole but it doesn’t affect how they play.
“That’s what makes me proud about my evolution of design.”
Jack Nicklaus chooses his favourite course of all time
With so many courses featuring his input, it’s easy to assume Jack Nicklaus would pick one of his own as his favourite. But when asked about his top choice, he went in a different direction.
He even passed on Augusta National, which might surprise some fans.
When asked where he’d choose to play one final round, Nicklaus didn’t hesitate to name Pebble Beach.
“I got to say, I love Augusta National, but sort of from a golf standpoint if I want to go play one more round it would have to be Pebble Beach,” he said.
“My two favourite places in the game of golf are Augusta National and St Andrews, and that is why I ended my career at St Andrews, just because I had so much respect for where the game started. But it is a pretty hard choice; I hope I don’t have to make it soon.”
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