ORLANDO--Jack Nicklaus, one of golf's most influential forces on and off the course, received the 2005 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) on Thursday before a standing-room-only crowd of 2,500 gathered in Orlando for the GCSAA Opening Session held in conjunction with the Golf Industry Show.

Jack Nicklaus, Old Tom Morris recipient, with Mark Woodward, CGCS, GCSAA president. Nicklaus receives Old Tom Morris Award Courtesy of GCSAA.org Jack Nicklaus urged GCSAA members to add new meaning to golf course management by playing a key role in maintaining the growth of golf during his acceptance of the 2005 Old Tom Morris Award. "When we talk about growing the game, we need to do it not just with the idea of bringing people into the game, but you want to keep them in the game and we want to make it affordable," Nicklaus said during the highlight of Thursday's Opening Session of the inaugural Golf Industry Show. Nicklaus' remark reflected a recurring theme during the Session and he added that the superintendent's role in retaining golf participation is a key one - doing the best they can given their respective budget and resources to maintain both playability and affordability. GCSAA President Mark Woodward, CGCS, in presenting the Old Tom Morris Award, said that, "On and off the course, Jack Nicklaus stands alone" while leaving his mark on nearly every aspect of golf. Woodward also announced that the association was donating $10,000 to Jack and Barbara Nicklaus' main charity, the Nicklaus Children's Hospital at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. Nicklaus also participated in a televised Golf Channel "chat" during the Session with the network's Adam Barr, complete with commercial breaks and including a question-and-answer segment with GCSAA members. The program will be aired several times on the Golf Channel beginning sometime this spring. "Golf is a wonderful, a game I love," Nicklaus said, noting that all those in the golf course industry - superintendents, architects, builders, etc., are one big family. "That's why this honor is important to me - it's recognition from my peers."

"Contrary to popular belief, I did not not play golf against Old Tom Morris," Nicklaus joked before the packed room.

Nicklaus went on to thank and applaud the efforts of the GCSAA's 21,000 members, including the combined 17,000 who serve as head or assistant golf course superintendents.

"Whether it's in sport or business, any time you receive an honor presented by your peers, it's truly significant," Nicklaus said. "And this is special, because I like to think that each of you out there today is a peer, and in our business of building and maintaining the finest golf courses in America, I like to think of you as an ally. We're in this together."

In addition to honoring Nicklaus with the Old Tom Morris Award, the GCSAA thanked him with a donation of $10,000 to the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation.

The Golden Bear has been named "Golfer of the Century" or "Golfer of the Millennium" by almost every major golf medium in the world. He was also named the Individual Male Athlete of the Century by Sports Illustrated, and one of the 10 Greatest Athletes of the Century by ESPN. In 2001, he was honored with the first-ever ESPY Lifetime Achievement Award and became the first golfer - and only the third athlete - to receive the Vince Lombardi Award of Excellence. In 2003, he was honored with the Muhammad Ali Sports Legend Award.

Nicklaus' illustrious competitive career has spanned five decades, and includes 105 professional tournament victories worldwide and a record 18 professional major-championship titles. He is the only player to have won each of the game's majors at least twice (six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens, and three British Opens) and is a two-time U.S. Amateur champion. He is the only player to have completed the career "Grand Slam" on both the regular and champion tours.

A five-time winner of the PGA Player of the Year Award, Nicklaus has been the PGA Tour's leading money-winner eight times and runner-up six times. He has played on six Ryder Cup teams, captained two others, and served as U.S. Captain for the 1998 and 2003 Presidents Cup competitions. He will serve in that role again next year.

"Jack Nicklaus truly embodies the spirit of the award," said GCSAA President Mark J. Woodward, CGCS. "Few, if any, rival his lifetime contributions to the game. He has touched nearly every aspect of the game, and has done so with the utmost class, integrity and excellence."

Considered one of the world's leading golf course designers, Nicklaus was named GolfWorld Architect of the Year in 1993, and in 1999, Golf Digest named him the world's leading active designer. In 2001, he was named recipient of both the Donald Ross Award (American Society of Golf Course Architects) and the Donald Rossi Award (Golf Course Builders Association of America). Nicklaus has been involved in the design of 235 golf courses around the world, while Nicklaus Design, the privately owned golf course design firm led by Jack and the Nicklaus family, has 281 courses to its credit. Close to 500 professional golf tournaments have been staged on as many as 77 Nicklaus-designed courses, including 18 PGA Tour and Champions Tour events in 2004, as well as the Ryder Cup, the PGA Championship and World Golf Championships.

He and his wife, Barbara, reside in North Palm Beach, Fla., and have five children.

Nicklaus joins a list of highly respected past honorees, including Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Tom Fazio, Gerald Ford, Bob Hope, Byron Nelson, Ken Venturi, Ben Crenshaw, Jaime Ortiz-Patino, Nancy Lopez, Tim Finchem, Walter Woods, Pete Dye and Rees Jones.

The Golf Industry Show runs Feb. 10-12 in Orlando. Representing the merged trade shows of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and the National Golf Course Owners Association, it is the premier business-to-business golf trade show focusing on solutions to achieve success for each participant. Both organizations will continue to host their respective educational conferences, which will run concurrently with the trade show, but separate from each other. Networking, innovation and education converge to create an interactive trade show with on-floor programming to direct all audiences to the best solutions, whether it's for professional improvement or a better bottom line.

Since 1926, GCSAA has been the leading professional association for the men and women who manage golf courses in the United States and worldwide. From its headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., the association provides education, information and representation to more than 21,000 individual members in more than 65 countries. GCSAA's mission is to serve its members, advance their profession and enhance the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the game of golf. Visit GCSAA at www.gcsaa.org.