Former Buckeye will be the fourth Lifetime Achievement honoree by the Golf Coaches Association of America

NORMAN, Okla. – Jack Nicklaus has been named recipient of the GCAA Lifetime Achievement Award. Nicklaus, who will be become the fourth Lifetime Achievement honoree by the GCAA, will receive the award at the GCAA Hall of Fame Reception and Awards Banquet Monday, Jan. 26, at the Doubletree Hotel at the entrance to Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla.

“I have always embraced and respected collegiate golf for its purity and competitiveness,” Nicklaus said. “My college experience was something I still cherish to this day. So to be recognized by college coaches across America is a very special and humbling honor for me.”

One of the game’s all-time greats, Nicklaus has left an indelible mark as a player, course designer and good-will ambassador. He was a decorated collegiate golfer, having won the Big Ten and NCAA Championship in 1961 while at The Ohio State University—along with two U.S. Amateur titles—before embarking a record-setting professional career. His competitive career spanned five decades when he won 118 professional tournaments worldwide, including a record 18 professional major championship titles. He is the only player in history to have won each of the game’s majors at least three times and is the only player to have completed the career “Grand Slam” on both the regular and senior tours.  Nicklaus was a five-time winner of the PGA Tour Player of the Year Award and was the leading money-winner eight times. He played on six Ryder Cup teams, served as captain on two others and served as captain for four Presidents Cup teams.

Nicklaus was been named Golfer of the Century by virtually every major golf publication in the world and was named Individual Male Athlete of the Century by Sports Illustrated. In 2005, He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor awarded to a civilian.

Also considered one of the world’s top golf course designers, Nicklaus was recently named by Golf Inc. magazine as “The Most Powerful Person in Golf” for the fifth consecutive year, due to his impact on various aspects of the industry, particularly through his course design work, He was also awarded the 2005 Old Tom Morris Award by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. In 2001, he was named recipient of both the Donald Ross Award by the American Society of Golf Course Architects and the Donald Rossi Award by the Golf Course Builders Association of America. Nicklaus has also been honored with the International Network of Golf’s Achievement in Golf Course Design Award and GolfWorld’s Architect of the Year.
 
Nicklaus has also received The Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. The honor recognizes leaders in business and public service from around the world that exemplify a commitment to the common good and that demonstrate stellar citizenship.

Namesake of the GCAA’s player of the year awards in Divisions I, II and III and the NAIA, he welcomes annually the four Nicklaus Award recipients as his guests during the final round of The Memorial to present them with their awards.