Success came early to Nicklaus when he carded 51 in the first nine holes he ever played and won the Scioto Club Juvenile Trophy at the age of ten. At the age of twelve he won the Ohio State Junior Championship and continued to win this tournament for the following five years from 1952 to 1956. Aged seventeen he qualified for the US Open for the first time and at the age of twenty he came runner-up to Arnold Palmer in the US Open by two strokes and in the process established a record 282 for an amateur entry.

Since joining the PGA Tour in 1962 he has established himself as the most successful golfer ever. His impressive array of Professional Titles include 6 Masters (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986), 5 PGA Championships (1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980), 4 US Open Titles (1962, 1967, 1972, 1980) and 3 British Opens (1966, 1970, 1978). He won on his debut in the US Senior Tour (over-50) in 1990 and continued to win the title. He is the only player in history to have won each of the games majors at least twice and is the only player to have completed the career “Grand Slam” on both the regular and senior tours.

Arguably his finest hour in golf came in 1986 when he won the Masters by playing the last 10 holes in seven under par. He was then aged 46 and regarded by many as “past it”. In summary his major championship statistics comprise of 20 wins, 19 second place and 9 third place which is a truly remarkable career history.

Jack Nicklaus has also enjoyed huge success as a Golf Course Architect and has gained a number of honours in this field including: Architect of the Year 1993 (Golf World), Environmental Recognition Awards 1996 (John James Audubon-Links Magazine), Environmental Leaders in Golf Award 1998 (Golf Digest), ING Achievement in Golf Course Design 2000-2001 (International Network of Golf), Donald Rossi Award 2001 (Golf Course Builders Association of America) and the Donald Ross Award 2001 (American Society of Golf Course Architects). He has been involved in the design of 243 courses worldwide, some of the highest calibre including Muirfield Village and Glen Abbey. His business “Nicklaus Design” has 294 courses open for play around the world.

Jack Nicklaus played his 38th and final British Open in 2005 and to commemorate his incredible career achievements the Royal Bank Of Scotland issued a £5 Bank Note bearing his image and recognising his Open Championship victories at St Andrews in 1970 and 1978. Two million Jack Nicklaus Bank Notes were issued into circulation in Scotland on July 14th 2005, the first day of the Open Championship. Apart from Her Majesty The Queen and the late Queen Mother, Jack Nicklaus is the only living person ever to have appeared on a Scottish Bank Note.

In November 2005 after leading the United States to a victory in The Presidents Cup he was honoured by President Bush at the Whitehouse with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom – the highest US honour given to any civilian.

Jack Nicklaus lives in North Palm Beach, Florida with his wife Barbara. They have 5 children and 19 grandchildren.

Let’s face it, the golf season in most areas of Canada and the U.S. runs from mid-April to late October. To make the best of the golf season, hone your game in your backyard by practicing with used golf balls. You can lower your golf score. If the golf season is seven months long, it can seem even longer when your scores don’t improve and when you don’t practice.

Who wants to trudge down the fairway feeling bad because hitting topped balls, shanks, or slices that only look good on watermelons? Isn’t it embarrassing to admit to friends and family that you had the same lousy round yesterday as you did three or four months ago. Guess what – you get better by practicing golf shots. And you don’ t have to spend tons of money by going to the golf driving range every day. You can set up your own mini golf range right in your own yard.

Here are tips to improve your golf score, impress your friends and smile when you look at the scorecard after your round of golf.

1. Put an easy-to-use golf practice area in your backyard.
For less than $100, you can buy quality used golf balls, a golf practice mat, a golf practice net, or even a golf practice cage. Just set them up in your back yard. Then, practice your golf swing with every golf club you have, from a driver to a sand wedge. When you set up your own practice area, you don’t have to worry about waiting in long lines at the golf range; you can practice when you want.

2. Target your short game with practice games.
Get a basket, used tire, or a hula hoop. Practice your chipping by hitting used golf balls into the chosen the target. You will develop a feel for how hard to hit a golf ball. When you improve your aim, you will improve your game.

3. Practice often.
If you think you only need to take a couple of swings, hit ten golf balls and feel you are ready to take on Tiger Woods, think again. In fact, just what are you thinking? Golf pros hit hundreds of practice shots a day to hone their aim, distance and muscle memory. If you can’t commit to a two hour practice session, break it up. Hit used golf balls into a net for 30 minutes in the early morning, chip into a tire for 15 minutes at noon and hone your short game in the evening.

4. Master one club at a time.
Do you want to shave off strokes quicker than a triple blade razor on a soft beard? Try this. Think about your last ten rounds of golf. What money shots did you miss that would have lowered your score? If you are like most golfers, you probably realize that you could have saved dozens of strokes from shots that were under 100 yards from the green. Here’s what to do. Tell yourself “I’m getting down in two” to get a can-do mindset. Practice those shots. Expect to hit good shots, take only two strokes to put your golf ball in the hole and guess what? That is exactly what you will do.

5. Visualize your perfect golf shots.
Many golf pros have a “mental” coach, a sports psychologist, to visualize a positive outcome. Here is what to do. Invest 10 minutes a day in sitting in a comfortable chair, closing your eyes and watching a mental movie of yourself driving straight and long down the middle of the fairway, or hitting a nine iron within twelve inches of the cup. Imagine leaping into the air or making a “YES!!!” fist pump with a lot of emotion. You will amaze yourself at the results.

When you use quality used golf balls and practice these five tips, your golf score can only improve. All you need is reliable golf practice equipment to make your practice sessions effective.

But let’s just take a step back for a moment. Is distance the ultimate way to become a better golf player, or are we deluding ourselves because we just want to out-drive our friends. It might just be the latter, and this could be the reason why we never improve to the best of our ability.

The top two ranked drivers for distance on the PGA tour are, Bubba Watson and Robert Garrigus, with driving averages of 310yrds and 309yrds respectively. Tiger Woods averages 294yrds and is ranked overall the #1 player in the world. Bubba Watson and Robert Garrigus overall rankings are #75 and #273 respectively.

I don’t want to bore you with statistics to get the message across, but I can tell you that Tigers driving accuracy is over 10% better than the two longest drivers on the PGA tour.

Accuracy is the best way to lower your scores and you get accuracy from a repetitive, smooth swing, which feels natural to yourself.

We all need to remember as golfers, that driving is part of the game, but not all the game, and that golf shot distance doesn’t win tournaments. It’s the person that gets the lowest score that wins and feels good about his or her-self.

Moving on from golf shot distance, we all need to think about our golf shot management also. You need to know what golf shots to play at the right times. If you can manage your shot selection correctly, then your scores will reflect the decisions you make.

Example:

So I have just drove my ball into the heavy rough and the ball is sitting down with about 200yrds to the green. I need to make a decision on whether to go for the green in one so I can hit the green in regulation, or whether to play down the fairway for an easy chip onto the green, with a chance to still save par. I know which shot I would take, but how many people do I know that go for the big shot. I can tell you, it’s a lot of people. You can often get into further trouble by taking this long shot on and still not be able to hit the green.

This is just one example, and this example is made all the more real when you remember, that one time, you actually did hit a 200yrd shot, from the rough, with the ball sitting down. We just seem to forget about all the other times that we either topped the ball or took a big chunk out of the golf course.

Golf shot management also comes into play when you are within distance to hit the green. Like par 3’s or within 200yrds on the fairway. To have good golf shot management you need to know how far each of your clubs will go. You can only have consistent distances if you have a consistent swing. Keeping your swing mechanics the same for each club, will give you an indication of the distance the ball will travel. There are other factors included, such as wind and what trajectory you are hitting to, but consistent distance is a major weapon on your side.

Just remember that the game of golf can be very cruel, and sometimes having the ball on the fairway and the correct distance from the green, is better than being closer to the green, but in a world of trouble.

In learning a new challenge, you have to take one small step at a time. Start off with the smaller steps, or goals, and slowly working towards the bigger goals. The game of golf has a short, medium and big swing. Once you learn the short swing and game, work your way up to the big swing and game. Golf is all in finding the feel of your golf swing. This golf tip will surely improve anyone’s game, once they find the balance and feel of a pendulum golf swing in motion. The following golf practice tip will help you understand the golf swing and what it takes to make it work effectively.

Place yourself around a green or a target with a 7 iron, pitching wedge and approximately 10 to 15 golf balls. If you are on a practice range, try and find an obstacle to go over during the practice. It will boost your confidence on the golf course. Step away from the golf balls and practice short swings with your feet together glancing at your attended target. Do not attempt to hit a golf ball until you feel comfortable with your short swing. If you must, hit one golf ball with your desired club to find and feel the distance for your attended target. Use very little wrist action on the take-away and follow through creating a v shape with the arms. Try to find and feel the pendulum motion of the golf club by grazing the grass, as you swing away glancing at the attended target.

Your goal is to find and feel the pendulum motion of the golf club making contact with the ball with your feet together. You will notice how your upper portion of the body will automatically coil on it’s own, and you lower body will move in unison with your upper body. Once you find the pendulum feeling of the golf club and swing, take a bigger swing. Gradually learn to sweep the grass with a quarter, half, three quarter and a full swing. You will notice yourself losing balance as you take fuller swings, and have to gradually move your feet apart until you find a balanced comfort zone.

With enough practice and effort, your golf score will improve dramatically with the knowledge of what it takes to make a ball bounce off the face of a golf club with a pendulum motion of the golf swing, once you find the balance and feel of a short swing and game. Practicing this golf tip frequently will also help in choosing the right club and swing, for distance in your short game.