Jack Nicklaus

Jack William Nicklaus was born on January 21, 1940 in Columbus, Ohio, to Louis Charles, Jr. (a pharmacist) and Helen Nicklaus. The young Jack first took up the game of golf when he was ten, and it took scarcely any time for people around him to realize that there was something special about his golf game. He won the first tournament he entered at the Scioto Country Club Juvenile Championship in Columbus, and soon thereafter began lessons with the local club pro, Jack Grout, who became one of the major influences on Nicklaus, both the man and the golfer. By the time he was 13, Nicklaus had already broken 70 for eighteen holes and held a 3 handicap (better than many serious adult golfers ever achieve).

As an amateur player in Ohio he took home every major trophy he could, winning the Ohio State Junior Championship in 1953, 1954 and 1955, as well as the Ohio State Open Championship in 1956. When he took his first shot at the United States Amateur Championship in 1955 (and many critics rank the U.S. Amateur

Jack Nicklaus

right up there with the "majors" on the PGA Tour), Nicklaus failed to win, but he returned to the championship in 1959, winning the U.S. Amateur that year.

Nicklaus played his collegiate golf at Ohio State, remaining in his hometown and majoring in pre-pharmacy. His world seemed to be falling into place. At school he met Barbara Bash, whom he fell in love with and ended up marrying in 1959 (together they would eventually have five children). Nicklaus won most of his college tournaments, and then won his second U.S. Amateur in 1961.