Nicklaus' focus on designing

By Dave Lubach
Sheboygan Press staff

SHEBOYGAN FALLS - With few exceptions, Jack Nicklaus' playing days are deep into the back nine of his career.

At age 63 and a few years removed from hip replacement surgery, Nicklaus' primary focus in golf is designing.

He acknowledged that during Monday's Grand Opening at The Bull at Pinehurst Farms, where Nicklaus played his first Signature Course in Wisconsin for the first time.

"I enjoy what I do; I do it a lot better than I play golf now," Nicklaus said. "It's a nice legacy to leave. My golf game is a nice legacy, but the courses will be here a long time too. It's neat to do courses in different places."

Golf has taken Nicklaus to all corners of the world. He's currently working on a project in Russia, and has a dozen courses in China.

"In Thailand, we had 11 contracts in one year," he said.

When Bull owners David Bachmann Jr. and David Bachmann Sr. approached Nicklaus about designing their course, he didn't take on the project until he was convinced it was a worthy one.

"(My design associate) said it was a nice piece of ground, and there should be a golf course on it," Nicklaus said.

Following his round, Nicklaus appeared pleased with the finished product. There are four greens on the front nine that had trouble growing grass, but Nicklaus didn't appear too concerned that the problem would linger.

Jack on PGA

Nicklaus talked about the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

"Some of the players will say 'What are we doing here?' Others will just say, wow," he said.

Nicklaus has never been to the Straits, but he knows all about Pete Dye layouts.

"Everybody wants to compare us to Whistling Straits," Nicklaus said. "I grew up working with Pete and Pete's wild like that. But that's not what I want to do. I want to have a good, solid golf course. I know Pete likes to do different things. He's bored with conventional stuff."

Presidents Cup

Nicklaus also announced his captain's picks for the United States Presidents Cup team during a teleconference along with International team captain Gary Player, who was calling in from South Africa.

Nicklaus named veteran Americans Fred Funk and Jay Haas to his list of 10 players who qualified. One of the qualifiers was Madison's Jerry Kelly.

Player named K.J. Choi and Tim Clark to the International team.

The Presidents Cup is set for Nov. 18-23 in South Africa.