FSU Gets Golf Icon Jack Nicklaus to Help Redesign School Golf Course

FSU has been something very important to Jack Nicklaus – one of the best golfers of all time and the man who will help redesign the school’s golf home.

When you think about the sport of golf, the name Jack Nicklaus is one of the first names – if not THE first name – mentioned when talking about the greats of the sport. The legend won a record 18 major tournaments over his 25 years on the PGA Tour to go along with countless other wins before retiring to a life of leisure, golf course designing – and producing FSU alumni.

Nicklaus settled in the West Palm Beach area when he became a success, sending his son Steve to play football for the Seminoles as well as five grandchildren who graduated from Florida State – including recent star tight end Nick O’Leary (you might have heard they were related once or twice on TV when he was playing recently).

That relationship is benefiting FSU as Nicklaus recently announced that his group will be the ones doing a revamp of the Don Veller Golf Course, home of the Seminoles’ mens and womens golf teams. The project, expected to be completed sometime in 2018, will give the course south of campus a makeover that could rival some of the top courses – and is being done out of love by Nicklaus according to the Tallahassee Democrat:

"“We’ve got a long history here and we enjoy it,” Nicklaus said.  “We love Florida State. It’s a great University. We’re very honored to be a part of it and do the golf course.”"

Nicklaus and his son, Jack Jr., were on campus this week to announce the move – saying they will work to add more balance to the course and make it more “enjoyable” for those coming out to play 18 holes.

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Nicklaus, himself a former golfer at Ohio State, admitted that the project is being done out of his ties to FSU – saying that because the school is “family”, it’s a project he wanted to be a part of.