He looked as good as ever.
One never would have known Jack Nicklaus was some four months removed from major hip replacement surgery – even though he heeled his tee shot into the left fairway bunker with the ceremonial first crack off the first tee in yesterday’s official opening of the Mansion Ridge Golf Club.
Nicklaus, who designed the marvelous Mansion Ridge layout in Monroe, about an hour north of Manhattan, was present yesterday to throw out the so-called ceremonial first pitch at the upscale public facility.
While at the club, Nicklaus took time out to make a few significant pronouncements, such as his plan for the upcoming golf season and his ultimate goal for the year 2000 – playing in all four majors.
Earlier in the day, Nicklaus toured the entire course and was complimentary of the way it looked so early after development.
“It looks like it’s been here a long time,” Nicklaus said. “It looks like we just plucked it out of Westchester County and it’s been here for about 50 years.”
Nicklaus, who’s designed or had a hand in designing 172 courses worldwide, spoke of “a shortage of public-access golf” in many areas – including ours.
“Private versus public is still very lopsided,” he said.
Nicklaus, who snapped his long-time streak of major tournaments when he didn’t play in the British Open last summer, said he plans to play at the Memorial, the U.S. Open, the Senior Players Championship and the U.S. Senior Open.
“That,” he said, “may be about it.”
He did, however, leave the door open for this summer’s British, saying, “I probably won’t play the British … unless I play well at the U.S. Open.”
Asked how he’s playing since having hip replacement surgery in January, Nicklaus joked that he’s “a solid 4” handicap. Asked the last time he was a 4, Nicklaus said sometime before he was 12, adding, “I was a plus-3 when I was 13.”
He said, “I didn’t have any idea if or how I’d play” after the hip surgery. Now, though, he sounded encouraged by the results, saying he shot 71 at Muirfield Village last Sunday.
Usually, Nicklaus is too proud to play when there’s a possibility he won’t be competitive. Now, however, he said he plans to play his way back into shape.
“I’m getting bored being at home and playing golf without the competition,” he said. “If I shoot 78, I shoot 78. I’d rather play my way back.”