An Incredible Story From When a 13-Year-Old Jack Nicklaus Broke 70 for the First Time

Jack Nicklaus is one of the greatest golfers of all time. He has 73 PGA Tour wins and 18 major championships in his career. Unlike many who mastered the game as adults, Jack was an exceptional golfer from a very young age. 

Notably, Jack Nicklaus broke 70 as a mere teenager, even though his father disrupted his momentum. He recently narrated the epic story of his sub-70 round at the Generational Salute, a military fundraiser in Dallas, and we can’t get over it.

Jack Nicklaus explains his epic story of a sub-70 round

Jack Nicklaus recounted the incident, which took place in Ohio in the 1950s. Aged 13 then, Nicklaus was a talented golfer but had never broken 70. One day, Jack, along with his father, slipped off to a course in the afternoons to have a round of golf before sunset. 

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Jack had an excellent front nine as he shot 35 and had a vision of breaking 70 for the first time. But after front nine, Jack’s father looked at the watch and said, “All right, let’s go, we’ve gotta get home for dinner,” Jack recalled. “I said, ‘Dad, I got a chance to break 70, I’ve never broken 70.'” However, his dad refused as he had promised to be home for dinner. 

While this brought tears to the eyes of young Jack, his father offered him a compromise. “He says, ‘I tell you what, why don’t we rush home. We will grab a really quick dinner, and we will come back.”‘ 

Young Jack agreed, quickly finished his dinner, and got back to course. He continued his great run and was brilliant thru back nine as well. However, on the 18th green, there was something wrong. “I knocked it on the green to about 35 feet from the hole, and I was one stroke under par. There was a water sprinkler and hoses all across the green. We dragged the sprinkler off the green, and there was water all over.”

Hence, Jack had to make 35 feet out to break 70 for the first time in his life. But the water-logging on the green meant he did not know the pace and break of the green. “Well, I holed the 35-footer,” Nicklaus said with a laugh. Notably, he admitted that more than his sub-70 round, it’s the time with his father that sticks with him to date.

Well, that was some anecdote from the legend’s past, wasn’t it? What are your thoughts about the same? 

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