Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1112638
The Legend of the Golden Bear C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 9 145 Jack Nicklaus' Influence on Golf B Y A L A N M A R T I N J ack Nicklaus arrived at Pebble Beach for the 1961 U.S. Amateur already the toast of the golf world. He was a mere 21 years old, but had thighs like redwood trunks and could hit the ball unprecedented distances with his persimmon driver. Two years earlier, he had won the Amateur—which in those days was still one of the game's marquee events—and at the 1960 U.S. Open was part of an epic multi-generational battle with Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan. As Dan Jenkins later wrote in Sports Illustrated, "On that afternoon, in the span of just 18 holes, Nicklaus' game traveled — while at Ohio State he became the first player to win both the NCAA Championship and U.S. Amateur. Photo: Bill Foley / The Jack Nicklaus Museum