Jack Nicklaus gave fascinating advice to five elite college players

The final series of collegiate awards was delivered this week with five Jack Nicklaus Awards announced on Tuesday. A player of all levels of college golf has earned the honor, but they have also been treated for a virtual banquet where Nicklaus has conveyed much wisdom that he has gained throughout his career.

At the top of the list was this simple Jack mentality: “To become a golfer, you have to be responsible for your game.” It was wisdom imparted to Nicklaus by Bobby Jones, which Jones told him in 1959 when Nicklaus competed for the first time in the Masters as an amateur.

“You have to understand who you are, what you can do, what you can’t do, and so on,” said Nicklaus. According to Nicklaus, Jones was seven years old when he was too dependent on working with his teacher, aged 14 to 21. “He said, ‘I once stopped running at [his teacher] Stewart Maiden, and I learned to correct myself on the golf course, and I learned to manage myself, that’s when I became a golf player. “”

We will gladly take your word for it.

Nicklaus challenged the five winners of his namesake award by saying he hoped they weren’t the generation who runs to their teacher whenever there is a problem in their golf swing.

“I didn’t care if it was the second hole or the seventh hole in a golf tournament,” said Nicklaus. “If I had something in my swing I didn’t like it, I corrected it at that moment.

“I hope you don’t fall into the running category for your teacher for five minutes,” he continued. “Many guys do it. A lot of kids have their teacher on the practice shirt every day. I just think it’s wrong because he can’t go out on the golf course with you. You have to bring your game on the golf course. “

Nicklaus pointed out that his trainer, Jack Growt, has never stopped tinkering with Nicklaus’ swing on the practice field. Nicklaus’ range sessions would have been largely spent on their own, and would have attracted Growt if he ever had a question. “Basically, I liked being able to correct myself, manage me, control me – that package is what takes you to the next level and you can learn to win.”

Nicklaus Companies and GOLF.com are affiliated with 8AM Golf.

Golf.com

Zak, senior editor for GOLF.com, joined the GOLF staff three weeks after graduation. It is the production utility of the brand, which deals with digital, print and video. Its main job is to host various video properties of GOLF.com and its award-winning podcasts. When the Masters arrives, be sure to tune in to hear it and other staff members tell about the most memorable tournaments in Augusta’s national history on A Pod Unlike Any Other.