Nicklaus makes Site Visit
By Dave Lubach
of The Press Staff March 10, 2001
There have been a lot of happy days for Dave Bachmann Jr. since
he decided to turn his family farmland into a world-class golf
course.
But some days are better than others.
Friday was one of those days.
Jack Nicklaus, the golfing legend whose design company is taking
on the project at Pinehurst Farms outside Sheboygan Falls, was
on site Friday checking out progress on the development.
When The Golden Bear happily departed later that afternoon,
Bachmann knew an important test in the courses growth was
passed.
It was like going to a pep rally, said Bachmann. Things are
going good, and we have accomplished a lot of things the last
couple of weeks...
Its is pretty exciting all the time, but you need a lift every
couple of weeks.
Nicklaus spent a couple hours touring the 418-acre plot of land,
changing some tees and establishing where sand traps will be
located.
The best news of all perhaps is that the course, named The Bull,
survived the winter well.
December was so overwhelming, Bachmann said. We expected to get
more done before Christmas, but we got more done after Christmas
than we expected to. Whatever we lost, we made up for in January
and February.
This was the second time Nicklaus was on site to visit; the
first time was last June.
A lot has changed on the areas golf landscape since that trip.
Kohler Co. opened a new course at Whistling Straits (the Irish
Course) and in August the area was rated the seventh-best golf
destination in the world, according to Golf Digest.
With the addition of the Irish and The Bull, which is on
schedule to open in June of 2002, that ranking is poised to go
nowhere but up.
Jack is aware (of the ranking) and excited about being a part of
that, said Bachmann.
Nicklaus relives Milwaukee
memories
| Golf
Beat |
 |
| Gary
D'Amato |
Last Updated: March 13, 2001
From the March 13 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
www.jsonline.com
Jack Nicklaus hasn't
played much tournament golf in Milwaukee over his 40-year
career, but he has a couple of vivid memories of Beertown.
This is where he forgot his first
wedding anniversary and where he almost got mugged.
Fortunately, his life was never
in danger . . . well, at least not during the mugging attempt.
Nicklaus, winner of 18 major
championships, was in town Friday at the Pfister Hotel to accept
the Vince Lombardi Award of Excellence. His memories of
Milwaukee are stories worth repeating.
In 1961, Nicklaus competed as an
amateur in the old Milwaukee Open. After three rounds, he was in
contention, trailing leader Bruce Crampton by five
strokes.
"I called Barbara on
Saturday night, July 23, 1961," Nicklaus said. "I
talked to her for a half-hour, 45 minutes, told her how excited
I was about the golf tournament, how I had a chance to win and
so forth and so on.
"The next day, I got out to
the golf course and somebody said, 'How was your first
anniversary? Did you talk to Barbara?' I said: 'Yeah, I talked
to her. I talked to her for 45 minutes.' "
He had neglected, however, to
tell his wife of one year three very important words:
"Happy anniversary, honey."
"Needless to say,"
Nicklaus said, "that cost me a lot."
Twenty-four years later, he
returned to play in the 1985 Greater Milwaukee Open. After
dining at Ratzsch's, he was walking down the street when a man
grabbed him by the arm and demanded his wallet.
"I paid no attention. I
said, 'Just go away,' " Nicklaus said. "And the guy
says, 'Give me your money or I'll shoot you.' I said, 'Go away,'
and I just kept walking. And the guy says, 'Well, if I'd had my
gun, I would have shot you.'
"Luckily, he didn't have
one."
Nicklaus tied for sixth place in
1961 and finished second, three strokes behind Jim Thorpe, in
'85.
Special award
As one might guess, plenty of
charitable organizations seek to honor Nicklaus with various
awards. He turns down most of the offers that require his
attendance.
The Vince Lombardi Award of
Excellence, however, was another story. Nicklaus said he was
honored to accept the award because of his admiration for
Lombardi and his friendship with Bart Starr.
In 1965, Nicklaus played a golf
exhibition with Lombardi at the Oneida Golf & Riding Club in
Green Bay. They became friends and after Nicklaus' father died
in February 1970, Lombardi sent him a letter of condolence.
"It touched me, that he
would sit down and hand-write a letter to me after my father's
passing," Nicklaus said. "I still have that letter,
and I'll never forget the gesture.
"So I had that feeling for
Vince and, of course, Bart Starr has been a favorite of mine for
years."
Lombardi died later that year at
age 57.
Sneak peak
Nicklaus, who flew to Milwaukee
in his private jet, first made a stop in Sheboygan, where he is
designing a golf course for cattle breeder David Bachmann Jr.
"It's a beautiful piece of
property," Nicklaus said. "There's 75 feet of
elevation change through it. It's got a lot of old, mature trees
and the (Onion) river. It's going to be a very nice golf course.
We drove over the snow today and did a little work, a few
strategic things."
The 18-hole championship course,
to be named "The Bull," tentatively is scheduled to
open in 2002.
Feeling fit
Nicklaus, 61, feels good about
his health and optimistic about his game as he prepares for the
Masters, April 2-8. He will make his 42nd appearance at Augusta
National, where he has won six times.
"Physically, I'm good,"
he said. "I've lost probably 18, 19 pounds. I've been going
to the gym every other day and walking for half an hour to an
hour after dinner seven days a week."
Nicklaus said it had taken him
two years to fully recover from hip replacement surgery.
"Whether I can play or not,
I don't know," he said. "But I want to give myself
every opportunity. I don't want to just sit around and become a
deadbeat and not give myself a chance to play well, if my skills
start to come back."
He played a practice round last
week at Augusta National and shot a 76.
Touch of class
The 31st annual Vince Lombardi
Golf Classic, one of the oldest and best-run charity golf
tournaments in the nation, is scheduled for June 9 at North
Hills Country Club.
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on March 13, 2001.
Sheboygan
County ranked #3 Golf Destination
in the US and #7 in the World!
Reprinted from Sept. 2000 Golf Digest
www.golfdigest.com
Local newspaper article below
Great destinations
Going on a golf vacation? For our 50th anniversary, we rank the 50
best places
By John Barton
Golf Digest
When Golf Digest began 50 years ago, there were just 5,000 courses in
the United States, and almost two-thirds of them were private. Golf
vacations—and places to take them—were rare. Today, America has more
than 16,000 courses, more than two-thirds of them are public, and many
of the best ones are clustered in wonderful parts of the country. The
game has boomed internationally, too, so there are a lot of great new
foreign golf destinations. Never have so many had so much choice of
places to visit and play.
To mark our 50th anniversary, we decided to rank for the first time
the best golf destinations in the world, from an American perspective.
We compiled a ballot consisting of 95 golf-travel destinations—with
space for write-in candidates—and sent a copy to each of our 700-plus
low-handicap, avid course-ranking panelists. We asked them all to rate
each destination they had visited in the previous two years, or were
very familiar with, on a scale of 1 (very bad) to 10 (very good). What
are the ingredients of a good golf destination? We left it up to the
panelists to decide, but suggested that a good golf destination might be
one that has:
· A good variety of
terrific courses
· A strong "golf
ambience"
· A great setting
· Other area
attractions/amenities
· A good variety of
quality accommodations
· Good value
· Good service
· Easy travel, both to
and from the destination, and also within it.
The most important question we told the panelists to ask themselves
for each destination was this: "How much would a typical reader of
Golf Digest enjoy a trip there?"
The response was terrific. We received an avalanche of ballots,
averaged the scores, and ranked them.
The results include many great talking points—look at the
incredibly tight photo finish between Monterey and St. Andrews for top
honors—and some surprises. Northern Ireland, for instance, did better
than anyone could have expected. Kauai ahead of the Big Island? Austin
ahead of San Antonio? Everyone will have an opinion. Here are the top
ten:
1. Monterey, Calif.
Average score: 9.309
Perhaps the world’s most sublime landscape for golf. The pinnacle is
Pebble Beach; nearby are Spyglass Hill and The Links at Spanish Bay.
Cheaper options abound inland in Carmel Valley.
2. St. Andrews, Scotland
Average score: 9.304
The fountainhead: Golf has been played here since at least the 15th
century. Play the revered Old Course, but don’t miss the New and
Jubilee, too. Great additions nearby such as Kingsbarns.
3. Pinehurst/Southern Pines, N.C.
Average score: 9.137
Golf is Pinehurst’s raison d’être. Pinehurst Resort alone has eight
courses, including famed No. 2. Countless other great layouts in the
vicinity such as The Plantation, Mid Pines and Pine Needles.
4. Northern Ireland
Average score: 9.017
Forget "The Troubles": Royal Portrush and Royal County Down
are the two best courses in Ireland. Others worth a visit: Castlerock,
Portstewart and Royal Belfast.
5. Southwest Scotland/Ayrshire Average score: 8.775
Play the holy trinity of Turnberry, Prestwick and Royal Troon, about an
hour south of Glasgow, with 34 British Opens among them. Western Gailes
and Macrihanish are must-plays, too.
6. Southwest Ireland/County Kerry
Average score: 8.750
Ballybunion, Dooks, Killarney, Tralee, Waterville—these are the
experiences of a lifetime. Be sure to hop across the Shannon to County
Clare and play Lahinch.
7.
Sheboygan County, Wis.
Average score: 8.697
What it lacks in quantity of golf it more than makes up for in quality:
two five-star courses at Blackwolf Run and the magnificent two-year-old
Whistling Straits. All three classic Pete Dye designs.
8. Phoenix/Scottsdale
Average score: 8.607
This part of the desert is packed full of super-deluxe, perfectly
manicured courses such as The Boulders, Grayhawk, The Raven at South
Mountain and Troon North. Keep away from the cholla cacti.
9. Greater Myrtle Beach, S.C
Average score: 8.577
Golftown U.S.A. More than 100 courses along the strip, and it’s still
growing. Quality, quantity, affordability—it’s all here. Try
Caledonia, The Dunes, Heritage, The Legends, Tidewater and Wild Wing.
10. Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Average score: 8.402
Not quite as much golf as Myrtle Beach, but not nearly as many T-shirt
shops, either. Play PGA Tour stop Harbour Town or Palmetto Hall, then
take the ferry to the peaceful Daufuskie Island Resort.
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