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Nicklaus
Design Again Leads the Way with More Courses on
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2017-18
PGA Tour Schedule Than Any Other Design Firm
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North
Palm Beach, FL – September 2017 / Newsmaker Alert / The PGA TOUR has
released the full 2017-18 season schedule and it includes six tournaments
to be contested on layouts designed by Jack Nicklaus and Nicklaus Design
– more than any other designer or firm. Since beginning his golf course
design career in 1969, the Golden Bear has taken great pride in creating
memorable, playable and fun layouts, which with their emphasis on strategy
and shot values, can also test the world’s finest players. Annually, Nicklaus
Design has more courses hosting professional tournaments worldwide than
any other design firm, and to date, the number of courses on Tour is more
than 145, and the total tally of tournaments staged exceeds 900.
Nicklaus
Design has created over 410 golf courses, spread across 44 countries
and 39 states. Of those, Jack Nicklaus has personally been involved in
the design of nearly 300 courses open for play.
Here
are some notable notes from the just-released 2017-18 PGA TOUR season schedule:
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The 2017-18
season is made up of 49 FedExCup tournaments, and the first to be played
at a Nicklaus Design course is just two weeks into the New Year, when the
CareerBuilder Challenge tees off from Jan. 15 to 21 at PGA West’s Nicklaus
Tournament Course. The tournament was first played in 1960. It moved to
PGA West for the first time in 1987-the same year the Nicklaus Tournament
Course opened for play. Nicklaus won the event in 1963, formerly called
the Palm Springs Golf Classic early in the event’s history.
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The Honda
Classic tees off from Feb. 19 to 25 on the Champion Course at PGA National
Resort & Spa as part of the TOUR’s Florida Swing. In 1990, Nicklaus
redesigned the layout, now known for the daunting stretch of Holes 15,
16, and 17 called “The Bear Trap.” The Golden Bear’s layout isn’t his only
connection to one of the TOUR’s most fan-friendly events, which set an
attendance record in 2017 with 203,815 spectators. When The Honda Classic
was moved to Palm Beach Gardens in 2007, it began to support the Nicklaus
Children’s Health Care Foundation. The 2017 winner, Rickie Fowler, will
try to join the Golden Bear, who was the first of only four players to
win the event twice (1977 and ‘78).
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The RBC
Heritage takes place just one week after the Masters Tournament in April
at Harbour Town Golf Links, located in Hilton Head Island, S.C., and the
first golf course to be designed by Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear collaborated
with Pete Dye and the course opened in 1969. In 2018, the event will be
played for a banner 50th time-making the RBC Heritage one of the longest-running
events on TOUR. That’s not all that distinguishes the RBC Heritage. Included
on its list of past winners are major champions Jack Nicklaus (1975), Arnold
Palmer, Hale Irwin, Greg Norman, Johnny Miller, Payne Stewart, and Tom
Watson. Plus, Harbour Town Golf Links-known for the iconic candy cane-striped
lighthouse visible from its 18th hole-was recently included on GOLF Magazine’s
biennial list of the Top-100 golf courses in the United States.
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The TOUR
makes its way to Muirfield Village Golf Club May 28 to June 3, with the
43rd playing of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. Founded
and hosted by Jack Nicklaus-with Jack Nicklaus II as Chairman, Steve Nicklaus
as President, and Barbara Nicklaus a member of the Captains Club-the Nicklaus
family works year-round to make sure the Memorial is a can’t-miss event
for the best players on TOUR. Muirfield Village Golf Club, located in Dublin,
Ohio, just outside Nicklaus’ hometown of Columbus, opened for play in 1974
as a collaboration between the Golden Bear and the late Desmond Muirhead.
It is consistently ranked as one of the Top-100 golf courses in the world.
Fans love the event at Muirfield Village for its excellent hospitality,
as well as for its support of charities, including Nationwide Children’s
Hospital and the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation. There’s also
the great competition. Jack Nicklaus won the event in 1977 and 1984, and
the roster of past winners totals a staggering 68 major championships won.
Other past winners include Ernie Els, Matt Kuchar, Hideki Matsuyama, Tiger
Woods, and Jason Dufner, whose victory in 2017 snapped a streak of three
consecutive Memorial Tournaments decided in a playoff.
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The PGA
TOUR heads to its only event in Canada from July 23 to 29 for the Canadian
Open, which has been played at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario
28 times-more than any other course in the event’s history, which dates
back to 1904. Glen Abbey, which opened for play in 1976, represents Nicklaus’
first solo golf course design. Glen Abbey and Muirfield Village Golf Club
are credited as the first examples of courses designed with tournament
galleries in mind. Nicklaus was on-hand for the 2017 event, speaking at
the opening ceremonies, where he was presented with a hockey jersey to
hit a ceremonial slapshot.
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The Barracuda
Championship is played at Montrêux Golf and Country Club from July
30th to August 5th. Chief among its list of distinguishing factors-the
Barracuda is the only PGA TOUR event played with a Modified Stableford
format, meaning rather than counting the total number of strokes taken,
as in typical stroke play, points are scored based on the number of strokes
taken at each hole. Good play earns points and poor play takes away points,
and unlike conventional tournament golf, the objective is to have the highest
score. Montrêux Golf and Country Club opened for play in Reno, Nev.,
in 1997, and Golf Digest named it among the 10 Best New Private Courses
for that year.
In 2017
alone, Nicklaus Design courses hosted a total of 17 sanctioned events on
the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Web.com Tour, and LPGA Tour. For more
information on Nicklaus Design, please visit nicklaus.com/design. Visit
pgatour.com for the full 2017-2018 PGA TOUR schedule.
About
the Nicklaus Companies
The
Nicklaus Companies is dedicated
to promoting excellence in the game of golf, preserving its great traditions,
and growing the game. For nearly 50 years, the mission of the Nicklaus
Companies has been to enhance the golf experience, and to bring to the
national and international consumer, golf-related businesses and services
that mirror the high standards established in the career and life of record
18-time major champion and golf course designer Jack Nicklaus.
In
2007, Jack Nicklaus partnered with Howard Milstein to help further the
growth of the company and to realize the full potential of the brands and
branded businesses. Howard Milstein is Chairman of New York Private Bank
& Trust and is actively involved in the Nicklaus Companies serving
as Co-Chairman along with Jack.
Products
and services include golf-course design, development of golf and real estate
communities, and the marketing and licensing of golf products and services.
Nicklaus-branded products have been marketed worldwide since 1962. The
Jack Nicklaus and Golden Bear-branded lifestyle collection of products
include: ice cream; restaurants; beverages and beverageware; wine; golf
academies; home appliances; flooring; cabinets; apparel; footwear; and
golf equipment.
For
more information on the Nicklaus Companies, please visit Nicklaus.com.
Media
Contact:
Scott
Tolley
Senior
VP, Corporate Communications
Nicklaus
Companies
About
PGA TOUR
The
PGA TOUR is the leading global platform in professional golf, showcasing
the highest expression of excellence, both on and off the course. The PGA
TOUR’s mission is to entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial
value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, generate
significant charitable and economic impact in the communities in which
it plays, grow and protect the game of golf and provide financial opportunities
for TOUR players.
The
PGA TOUR co-sanctions more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR
Champions, Web.com Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA
TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR China. Its members represent the world’s best
players, hailing from 24 countries (89 members are from outside the United
States). Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to more than 1.1
billion households in 227 countries and territories in 23 languages. Virtually
all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations in order to maximize
charitable giving. In 2016, tournaments across all Tours generated a record
of more than $166 million for local and national charitable organizations,
bringing the all-time total to $2.46 billion.
The
PGA TOUR’s web site is PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization
is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. |