Prepare yourself to add it all up: 18 majors won during a 25-year career on the PGA Tour. Another eight as a veteran on the Champions Tour, between 1990 and 1996. The first to win the four majors twice. Five American League championships in the bag; four US Opens, three British Opens, and no less than six Masters on the mythical course of the Augusta National. When he retired in 2005, at the age of 65, Jack Nicklaus continued to be the best player in the history of golf
And that will eventually happen, but there is no looking back for the Golden Bear, because he is focused on breaking his next record: to be the best and most prolific golf course designer in history. And it would seem that in Latin America he has found fertile territory for an aggressive strategy to position Nicklaus Design, the company that he manages, together with his sons Jack II, Steve, Gary and Michael, as well as his sonin- law Bill O’Leary.
Although it is far from the United States and Europe, the region is already one of Nicklaus’ best markets. Mexico has the greatest fascination in Latin America for the Golden Bear, who has become as ubiquitous as local tamales, stamping his seal on 14 courses in the last 14 years. Outside Mexico, Nicklaus’ only operating courses are in Argentina, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
But that is just for the time being, because the Golden Bear plans to cover the planet with the Nicklaus Signature. Nicklaus has shown a canny ability to integrate the landscape into the courses, so that the geographical features are also part of the players’ game. And beyond the cachet that his design gives to a course, it may be this combination of factors —which attracts the tourists— that helps developers to choose him.
Withal, Nicklaus is becoming as popular as a Ford car, and although that could be a risk, he seems willing to deal with the growing demand for his courses, including from this region. In fact, of the 160 projects that Nicklaus Design has underway, 40 are in Latin America and the Caribbean —and 18 of them are in Mexico (see table). These numbers, equivalent to 24% of the courses on the drawing block, make the region the second-largest market for the Golden Bear’s company, after the United States (49 projects; 29.5% of the total) and slightly ahead of Asia (34 courses; 20,4%).
