The Collective Wisdom of Jack Nicklaus

TWO golf-related articles in one week? What could you possibly be thinking, Dale?
Well, truth be told, I think golf offers a lot of things that Americans need – and could use more of – such as personal decorum, personal integrity, and personal responsibility. Professional golfers usually act and dress well, call penalties on themselves, and can’t blame anyone for the score they just shot but themselves.

Golf is also the ultimate example of capitalism in action. On the PGA Tour, a member has to pay a sizeable fee for every tournament he enters, plus his own travel expenses and those of his caddy. If he doesn’t make the 36-hole cut, he receives absolutely nothing for his efforts.

That’s right… zero dollars and zero cents. Better luck next time.

As for Jack Nicklaus, there are also three reasons why I am choosing to highlight his collective wisdom in this article as opposed to someone else. The first reason is both simple and selfish: he is my all-time sports hero and since it’s my column, Jack is in. The second reason is that the Golden Bear – at least in my humble opinion – is the G.O.A.T. Until Tiger Woods or someone else eclipses Jack’s record of 18 professional majors, he is and always will be the greatest golfer of all time… bar none.

My third reason is perhaps the biggest reason why I chose to feature Nicklaus in today’s article. As impressive as Jack’s on-the-course accomplishments are, he is an even better person. The consummate family man, Jack has been married to his wife Barbara for 64 years (no, that’s not a typo) and together they raised five children, several of whom work for his golf course design company. Jack had a rule when he was playing on tour: never to be away from home for more than two weeks in a row. That personal discipline paid huge dividends as – unlike many other professional athletes – Jack has lived a balanced life, prioritizing his family over his career. Today, he and Barbara have 22 grandchildren and they dote over them all, living in the same house they bought more than 50 years ago.

Need more proof of Jack’s greatness as a person? For more than 20 years, Jack and Barbara have served as honorary chairman and active chairwoman of the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation in North Palm Beach, Florida, raising tens of millions of dollars in the process. The foundation provides valuable programs and services free of charge to more than 4,000 hospitalized children and their families through Child Life programs, the Pediatric Oncology Support Team, and the Safe Kids program.

Finally, no less an authority than Gary Player, a 9-time major winner and golf’s premier global ambassador, calls Nicklaus the greatest sportsman he’s ever met. That’s good enough for me.

And so, without further ado, I give you a limited sampling of the collective wisdom of Jack William Nicklaus…

“Focus on remedies, not faults.”

“Writers have told me more than once that I’m a better interview in defeat than in victory, which is a compliment I am extremely proud of.”

“The older you get, the stronger the wind gets and it’s always in your face.”

“I’m a firm believer in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don’t enjoy.”

“Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation.”

“Don’t be too proud to take lessons. I’m not.”

“The best way to cope with trouble is to stay out of it as much as possible.”

“I don’t believe in luck. Not in golf anyway. There are good bounces and bad bounces, sure, but the ball is round and so is the hole. If you find yourself in a position where you hope for luck to pull you through, you’re in serious trouble.”

“My ability to concentrate and work towards a goal has been my greatest asset.”

“Through my years of experience, I have found that air offers less resistance than dirt.”

And finally, as he enters the twilight of his life at age 84, there is this…

"Once a time is past, it's past. I have to look to the future. I have to see what skills I have now. I can't look backwards, because that man doesn't exist anymore."