Jack Nicklaus went to a high school called the Golden Bears, fittingly
Long before golf fans called him the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus played basketball for a high school whose mascot was, by coincidence, a golden bear. He was good enough at hoops to draw college interest. Golf won out, and he went on to collect a record 18 major championships across nearly a quarter of a century.
He grew up in Upper Arlington, a Columbus suburb, the son of a pharmacist who had played football for Ohio State and been a scratch golfer. Charlie Nicklaus rejoined Scioto Country Club to rehabilitate a volleyball injury, and ten-year-old Jack came along, shooting 51 for his first nine holes. The club professional, Jack Grout, became his teacher for life. At 13 the boy shrugged off a mild bout of polio and broke 70 at Scioto; at 16 he won the Ohio Open against professionals, powered by a third round of 64.
At Ohio State he took the U.S. Amateur in 1959 and 1961, and in 1961 became the first to win that event and the individual NCAA title in the same year. He finished second to Arnold Palmer at the 1960 U.S. Open while still an amateur, turned pro at 21, and won his first professional title at the 1962 U.S. Open by beating Palmer in a playoff. That launched a rivalry, and with Gary Player the pair formed the so-called Big Three who helped popularise golf in the 1960s.
The wins stacked up. In 1966 he became the first to win the Masters in consecutive years, and at 26 the youngest at the time to complete a career grand slam. By 1980 he had 17 majors, passing Bobby Jones's 13, and he was named the Associated Press athlete of the 1970s. His final major, the 1986 Masters at 46, was a record sixth green jacket. He kept playing senior events, winning eight senior majors, and made his last major appearance at St Andrews in 2005.
Off the course he built Nicklaus Design into one of the biggest course-design firms in the world, hosts the Memorial Tournament at his own Muirfield Village, and wrote Golf My Way, often ranked among the finest instruction books.
Source: Jack Nicklaus
