Jack Nicklaus
April 20, 2027 | 7:30 p.m.
Individual event tickets on sale August 1
Jack Nicklaus
Champion Golfer and Philanthropist
MORE ABOUT JACK NICKLAUS
No name is more synonymous with greatness in the sport of golf than the name Jack Nicklaus, and no single person has changed the face of the sport more than Jack Nicklaus – the player, the course designer, the philanthropist, and the global goodwill ambassador.
Jack was named “Golfer of the 20th Century” or “Golfer of the Millennium” by almost every major golf publication in the world. He was also named Individual Male Athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated, and one of the 10 Greatest Athletes of the Century by ESPN.
The excellence associated with Jack Nicklaus transcends what he did on the golf course. He became the first athlete/sportsperson and just the fourth person in history to be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005), the Congressional Gold Medal (2015), and the Lincoln Medal (2018).
Jack’s competitive career spanned five decades, and his legend has been built with 120 professional tournament victories worldwide, including a record 18 major-championship titles (six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens, three Open Championships) won over a 25-year period (1962-1986). He
is one of only six golfers who have won all of golf’s modern majors—referred to as the career “Grand Slam.”
The legacy Jack has left as a player can be rivaled only by the legacy he is leaving as a golf-course designer and philanthropist.
For a record six consecutive years, Golf Inc. magazine ranked Jack “The Most Powerful Person in Golf,” due to his impact on various aspects of the industry through his course design work, his ambassadorial role in promoting and growing the game worldwide, and his involvement on a national and global level with various charitable causes.
Jack has designed close to 325 golf courses over a career that has touched parts of seven decades. He is still very active today, with courses under development in and outside the United States.
Among his more recent work, Jack has donated his design services to a number of courses that impact charities.
Included is the reimagining of Normandie, located in North St. Louis County. Opened in 1901, Normandie Golf Club is one of the oldest public golf courses west of the Mississippi River, and Jack’s redesign is part of a massive community revitalization project.
The other course with a cause is American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Michigan, which benefits Folds of Honor—a non-profit that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of our fallen or disabled military and first responders. American Dunes has been an overwhelming success. Since opening May 2021, the course has sold out all available tee times and donated back to Folds of Honor over $5 million. It hosts the annual Folds of Honor Collegiate, the most-watched college tournament on Golf Channel. Jack has been a longtime “Wingman” (supporter) for Folds of Honor. Since 2014, he has served as Honorary Chair of Patriot Golf Days—the golf industry-wide campaign around
Memorial Day that has raised tens of millions for Folds of Honor.
Tireless philanthropists, Jack and wife Barbara are the guiding light for the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, which supports numerous pediatric health-care services in South Florida, as well as nationwide, and has raised over $215 million since its inception in 2004. Renowned Miami Children’s Hospital and Miami Children’s Health System have been re-branded to Nicklaus Children’s, and along with the flagship hospital, there are over 30 Nicklaus Children’s Centers spread across Florida. Nicklaus Children’s Hospital has treated children from over 120 countries and every state in the union. Recently, the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation of Canada was established.
Residing in North Palm Beach, Fla., since 1965 and in the same home they have lived in since 1970, Jack and Barbara Nicklaus are parents to five children, grandparents to 24, and great-grandparents to 7.
Learn more about our other speakers
