Jack Nicklaus, while a great golfer – what’s he like as a designer?

[Michael Goldstein]

Lots of positive comments on this thread.  I'm not going to get all negative on it for various reasons but Tiger, I wouldn't hold your breath.

[Don_Mahaffey]

 couldn't sell snatch to a troop train.

Hadn't heard that one before...now that's a bad salesman....pretty darn funny

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Don I wanted to jump on that one too. That is a funny line. Michael, I will not hold my breath. I am just being hopeful. I went through many years of keeping quiet while a proud host took me around one of his really average courses that were well maintained and had incredible club houses. There is worse way to spend the day, but one would rather do the same thing on a well designed course. Then when you say thank you for a wonderful day. You are not just being a gentleman you think about each shot and hole for weeks as well as the goodwill built with the host.

[Andy Troeger]

Nicklaus' courses IMO tend to be pretty consistent, for better or worse. I can't think of any that I really disliked, but there are only a few that were truly inspiring. Looking at my stats, I've played 30 of his or his firms courses and 368 overall. Only three make my top fifty, and only two are outside the top 200. The other 25 are all between 51-200.  I compare that to someone like Pete Dye that IMO takes more chances, and out of 23 courses played he's got eight in my top fifty and four outside the top 200. 

[Forrest Richardson]

I have not worked with Jack, but there are many out there who have. One thing seems certain — a good site and routing will usually produce a well above average result. Not always, but this has long been the case no matter who is designing. Another observation, and this one directly related, is that Jack is very focused on design and has been for the past several years. This was not always the case. My perspective is that the projects he puts his own name on (especially those during the past 10 years) are very thoughtful designs, and they tend to show his passion for the game and his experiences playing and working around the globe.

[Kalen Braley]

Sherwood has always looked really good on TV.  For those who have played it and a good sampling of his other works...where does it fit in on the big scheme of things...

[Adam Clayman]

Melvyn, I'm not sure if any of them are walkable, for anyone but the best fit. So, you'd likely loathe them.

There's a piece on Jack, following him around while he went on a site visit. He was very thoughtful of the owner, and the details in the design.

There's a ton of stories about him, some are likely true but most are probably from someone who he rubbed the wrong way.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Interesting article on the evolution of 2 Nicklaus' designs in Tucson- Dove Mountain and La Paloma:

http://www.travelgolf.com/articles/comparing-nicklaus-designs-la-paloma-dove-mountain-tucson-arizona-12392.htm

I've played them both. If I remember correctly, La Paloma has more forced carries and less interesting greens.