Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
By Julian Macgregor
What is it that makes Golf so addictive?
Well, I have a theory. I believe it's because the principles of the game are so simple - hit a small ball down a field with a big stick and then roll the ball into a hole with a slightly smaller stick - and that because the principles of the game are so basic we feel we should be able to conquer it quite easily. After all we invented the wheel, we built flying machines, we even put a man on the moon. Surely hitting a small ball with a big stick is within our capabilities. It's our human nature that drives us to the Golf course because we can't stand the thought of something so seemingly easy having the beating of us.
It's only when you actually play Golf that you realise just how difficult it is. I mean ask a person to kick a ball and invariably they can, ask a person to hit a Tennis ball over a net and the majority of them will with varying degrees of accuracy, but give a person a golf club and ask them to hit a small white ball teed two inches off the ground and you can be sure that despite their best efforts the ball will either remain on its perch, roll along the floor or take off at an impossible angle. This is the point where many people give up, deciding that Golf is just too much effort for too little reward.
It's also at precisely this point that you start to appreciate how good professional golfers really are. Like all top sportsmen they make their trade look easy, as if anyone could pick up a 3 iron and plant it 4 feet from a small hole 200 yards away.
Arguably the greatest golfer of all time was Jack Nicklaus. Although Tiger Woods will undoubtedly replace him as the world's most successful Golfer sometime in the near future, Nicklaus somehow made the game appear far more effortless than Woods. Obviously times have changed since the Golden Bear was at his peak, and the modern game relies far more on power than finesse but when Jack Nicklaus played Golf it was as if the game had been created for him.
Jack Nicklaus had an unusual playing style, combining being one of the best putters the game of Golf has seen with being one of the longest hitters on the tour. His superb course management skills and shot selection were the envy of his rivals. He was also known as a conservative player at times, going for broke only when he needed to. This was especially apparent on the green, where he would often choose to make sure of an easy two-putt rather than taking a more aggressive approach. This percentage style of play helped Nicklaus to win an incredible 18 majors between 1962-1986, a record which still stands today. Jack Nicklaus hung up his clubs professionally after the 2005 Open Championship, fittingly ending his career with a 15 foot putt for birdie on the 18th hole. He received an emotional 10 minute standing ovation from the watching galleries.
Having conquered the world's greatest Golf courses, the Golden Bear now devotes his time to designing new ones for future generations. His company Nicklaus design had been responsible for the creation of 299 courses by the end of 2005, and is currently working on a huge project for Spanish Golf Property Developer Polaris World which will see a collection of exclusive courses called the Nicklaus Trail created over the next few years.
Julian MacGregor is a keen Golfer and owner of a polaris World Golf property.
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