Link Ahead with the City of Dublin, Ohio
Link Ahead with the City of Dublin, Ohio
Barbara Nicklaus: From College Sweethearts to Golf Royalty
75 episodes is a milestone worth celebrating, and we've marked the occasion with quite possibly our most distinguished guest to date: Barbara Nicklaus, the 2025 Memorial Tournament Honoree and affectionately known as the "First Lady of Golf."
Barbara takes us back to 1957 when she met a young Jack Nicklaus on the steps of Mendenhall Lab at Ohio State University – a meeting that would change both their lives forever. With refreshing candor and warm humor, she shares how their relationship blossomed despite her initial unfamiliarity with golf. "I didn't know golf existed when I met Jack," she reveals with a smile, before recounting her first golf lesson that left her wondering why Jack practiced so much after she made several pars on her first outing.
Throughout the conversation with Lindsay and Bruce, Barbara offers fascinating glimpses into life beside one of sports' greatest champions. She speaks of their mutual commitment to family, with Jack vowing never to be away for more than two weeks at a time so their five children would never say, "I wish I knew my dad." She recalls Jack's extraordinary awareness of her presence, sharing the astounding moment when he noticed her missing from one specific hole among 40,000 spectators at the US Open. These stories reveal the deep connection that has sustained their partnership through decades of triumph and challenge.
Most moving is Barbara's account of their daughter Nan's health crisis. Sitting beside an oxygen tent, praying for their child's recovery, Jack and Barbara made a promise back then: "If we're ever able to help someone, we want it to be children." That commitment has since transformed countless young lives across 120 countries.
As Dublin prepares to celebrate the 50th playing of the Memorial Tournament with Barbara as the 2025 Honoree, we invite you to listen to this remarkable conversation that spans golf history, family values, philanthropy, and the growth of Dublin to the community we love and cherish today!
Hello and welcome to Link Ahead the City of Dublin podcast. Well, bruce, this is our 75th episode, the 75th anniversary of Well, anything calls for a diamond jubilee, and so we can't have kind of a big deal today.
Speaker 2:That is amazing 75 episodes Wow.
Speaker 1:I know it's hard to believe, and I think this might be our biggest ever. So, for a hint on one of the most prestigious and well-known guests we've ever had, here's a hint from Dublin Life Magazine. Put it this way the 2025 Memorial Golf Tournament has plenty of highlights, but nothing shines brighter than this year's tournament honoree. This year, the first lady of golf, barbara Nicholas, is that honoree and she joins us now on Link Ahead. Welcome, barbara. Thank you for being here.
Speaker 3:What a nice introduction. I'm having trouble believing that.
Speaker 2:This year marks the 50th plane of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. Can we ask how you found out that you were this year's honoree?
Speaker 3:Well, I think it was at the Captain's Club meeting last year and I had walked out of the room for some reason. I was coming back in and sort of helping them clear plates. So I picked up a plate and started walking and Jack said wait just a minute, we want you to know you're next year's honoree. And I about dropped the plate and fell over and was in a state of shock. So kind of heard it casually from the captains.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's wonderful, Barbara. Tournament time kind of starts in April around here with the Legends Luncheon. I've had the honor of attending this event many years now and I have to say this year was one of my favorites. You and Jack were here in Central Ohio with three of your five children who took part in a panel honoring you. It was awesome to watch. What did it mean to you this?
Speaker 3:honor is just. I mean, I'd rather be on the other side of this and hear three of my children speak. It was all I could do not to cry. They have been so dear and so sweet about all this that it just boggles my mind.
Speaker 2:Well, let's stay with the family theme here for a bit, because last May your son, jack II, joined us here and we asked him what's the best piece of advice you ever received from your mom? And he said it's advice and the modeling of behavior. He called you the kindest person he's ever known and said you instilled the golden rule on all the kids. Now, coming from a child to a parent, that has to feel like a job well done as a mom.
Speaker 3:Well, it's just magnificent. Some of the things that the kids have said. It just boggles my mind. And we had such fun growing up. I kind of feel like we all grew up together and we're all still friends. And then to hear my kids talk like that, it's just just.
Speaker 1:I'm in awe. Well, let's go back to in the way back machine here and give our listeners some perspective and maybe a couple nuggets that they didn't know. So, barbara, do we have this right? You and Jack met the first week of freshman year at the Ohio State University on the steps of Mendenhall Lab. That was in 1957. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3:Exactly. Well, I was walking along on campus and was just going past Mendenhall Lab and I looked up and I recognized a girl that I had known from high school. We kind of had little sororities in high school back then. She was president of her sorority at her high school and I was president of my sorority at my high school, so I stopped to say hello to her. She was talking to Jack, so she introduced me to Jack. She had to go to class, so she walked me to the theology department where I was working to pay my way through college and called me up that night.
Speaker 2:Aw, Now this might be some inside information, but can you tell us anything about that early courtship, what that was like?
Speaker 3:I think it was just typical college dating. We dated until about Christmas and you know, you kind of run out of Mickey Mouse things to say in a couple months. So we kind of just thought those separate ways. And then all of a sudden my birthday's in February and a card came from his mom and dad and got a card from his sister and a card from him, and I thought, hmm, and that's really kind of how we got back together. And then, just from then on we just dated and married between our junior and senior year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you got married three years later and then welcomed five children in the following years. When Jack turned pro, you both made a pact with each other about how long he would be away from you and the kids. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3:Well he said I refuse to have my kids go away to college and say, gee, I wish I knew my dad. So he made a pact right at the beginning that he would not be gone longer than two weeks at a time, because some of the guys out there they're eight and 10 weeks away, which is real tough. So we kept that, except for one time. We took both sets of parents to South Africa. We were gone 17 days. Other than that, neither one of us was ever gone more than two weeks and it was easy. When you want to do something, it's easy.
Speaker 2:I like that. So you've been right there by Jack's side through an historic career, a record 18 major championship titles, 120 pro victories, including 73 tour wins. In fact, you only missed one of his 18 majors and that was in 1963, masters, when you were pregnant with Steve, who was born less than a week later. So you've been there through everything. How have you handled all this over the course of his career?
Speaker 3:You know I don't really think you think about it that way. I really didn't know golf existed when I met Jack, so you know he played in a few tournaments and on my sophomore year, when we were still dating, I thought, well, maybe I better take golf and learn something about this sport. So I took it in college and at the end of the quarter they let us play five holes on the grade course at Ohio State University and I actually made three pars and two bogeys, I think it was. So Jack came to pick me up and I said I don't know why you practice golf, wow.
Speaker 3:So, what did you end up?
Speaker 2:getting in that class, do you?
Speaker 1:remember it was just pass, fail, break and um and Jack had a sense of whether you were there or not, right, and so one time I think you were maybe um, not near him on the course, and he knew it. This was at the US Open at Oak Hill where you got held up and missed the eighth hole. We hear there's a story there. What happened and what did Jack say?
Speaker 3:I think that was one of the biggest shocks Jack ever told me. He said where were you on the eighth hole? There's 40,000 people out there. What do you mean? Where was I on the eighth hole? How did you know where I would be? And he said I know how you walk and where you walk and where your stops are. And you weren't there. I said you've got to be kidding, don't ever call me a golf widow anymore. And I had one of the other wives that stopped to talk to her and missed the eighth hole, which I didn't think anybody, particularly one person, would know.
Speaker 1:Probably never did that again. Huh, and there's another great story where Jack II was three and by his dad's side at a country club in Miami. You led your toddler off the course to give Jack a little space and someone asked your little boy a question at that time about his father's profession. Could you share that memory?
Speaker 3:Well, jack was taking a lesson from his teacher, jack Rout, and we were just kind of hanging out. So I said to Jackie go on, let's go over to the putting green and give dad some space. So we go over there and he's just putting around and one of the members came over and said hello to him and said well, hello, young man, what does your daddy do? He said nothing. He just plays golf. What does?
Speaker 1:your daddy do? He said nothing. He just plays golf. Oh, it's amazing.
Speaker 2:Speaking of family, how did you try to keep your kids grounded in those formative years when their dad kept coming home with more trophies, more victories and be honest, worldwide recognition?
Speaker 3:Well, this may sound silly to you guys, but he was just dad and he was such a good supporter of all of them and I don't think we had to ground him. I think they were grounded, knew they were loved and knew they were supported. And the kids now, our married kids, will say to me they'll say we had no idea what dad sacrificed for us. He said he was at more games than the dads that had local jobs and he would fly across country for a baseball game or a football game and they just thought that's what dads do.
Speaker 1:Well, what great role models you both have been. I think a lot of parents and spouses can relate to this. It's been said that watching loved ones compete can be more nerve wracking than it is for the competitor. So how did you handle the nerves, anxiety, the pressure, all of that that comes with being outside of the ropes and basically helpless?
Speaker 3:Well, I think actually, probably it's a good thing. I didn't know golf existed when I met him and I've always really enjoyed watching him. Now, when you get to the kids, that's really different, because then you really you can't help them, but you think you can.
Speaker 2:We mentioned Ohio State as a founding force for your courtship relationship and marriage to Jack. Let's fast forward a bit to the foundings of Muirfield and this tournament. How did Jack share his grand vision for all this with you and what were those early conversations like?
Speaker 3:We didn't know, it was just all a dream and he'd had a lot of success in Columbus and we both grew up in Columbus and loved Columbus and I think he really had that thought. Very young Cliff Roberts, who ran the Masters when our first year was there, Jack had him come up to me and look at the property and Mr Roberts said to Jack he said, Jack, you can do in five years what it took us 30 to do. And he really gave him a lot of support and credibility and so he was a big one. That got us both started and said well, we want to give back and we want to do it right here at home.
Speaker 1:Well, we are so glad you found Dublin. The entire Nicholas family is so beloved here and, speaking for the city of Dublin, we truly feel like we grew up with this tournament. So what's it like coming back to central Ohio? You guys is home for this tournament every year.
Speaker 3:Well, actually, when you said, that reminds me of Dublin, driving through Dublin and it was a one-stop sign town. I mean the way it's grown, but it's grown up nice, it's just. Dublin's just a great place.
Speaker 1:Well, and you guys kind of set the standard with Muirfield, I think.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. Another reason you're so beloved here and worldwide is your unwavering commitment to giving back. In 2004, you co-founded the Nicholas Children's Healthcare Foundation. In 20 years, you've helped raise close to $220 million for pediatric healthcare, which is amazing. What people may not know, though, is this your passion for best-in-class healthcare started in a health crisis with your daughter Nan. Can you tell us what happened there?
Speaker 3:We always kind of go back to that story, but it's very personal and very true. Nan was choking and by the time I would get her to the doctor she'd be fine, or actually then he would stop at the house and she'd be fine. Well, after about six or seven sessions of this, the doctor said Barb, there's something wrong with this child. We need to get her to Children's Hospital and do a bronchoscope. Well, ended up, she had inhaled pieces of blue crayon. So of course when it got in her windpipe she choked, but it would go loose and she'd be fine.
Speaker 3:So they did that, picked about seven or nine pieces of blue crayon and of course she was fine. But doing the bronchoscope they dropped a piece in the lung and of course that went into pneumonia. So when this, all our thoughts all kind of started, jack and I were sitting out of an oxygen tent that she was in, just praying that she would be okay, and we looked at each other, said if we're ever able to help someone, we want it to be children. So we were children from day one, and it's hard to say no when you're trying to help a child.
Speaker 1:Oh, and that's exactly what you've done. You've helped young people nationwide and worldwide, in as many as 120 countries. I'm curious what kinds of correspondence have you received from parents or the kids themselves over the years?
Speaker 3:Well, we've gotten some really wonderful letters and really on both sides, when you know, they felt like they really had gotten good care. I think probably, if I had to look back, it probably wasn't one of the letters I received, but a woman came up to me in the grocery store and she had tears in her eyes. She said I just wanted to thank you, you saved us three days a month at home and they had to go to Miami for a treatment and you know that took a day driving. He was too tired for the treatment, so he'd get the treatment the next day and then have to spend the night because he was so tired and drive back up to West Palm Beach. He said we had just opened a critical care clinic and she said you know, so you've saved us three days a month at home. I think about that a lot. I mean it sounds small, but it was so important to that family and gave them a lot of stability.
Speaker 1:Wow, what a rewarding experience.
Speaker 2:Barbara, as we start to wrap up a little bit here, let's tee up the 2025 tournament again.
Speaker 1:Here is a quick rundown of this year's festivities. Check out this lineup. Tournament festivities kick off Thursday, may 22nd, with the four miler a four mile road race through Dublin. Practice rounds are May 26th to the 28th. Family night at Safari Golf Club is May. Practice rounds are May 26th through. The 28th. Family night at Safari Golf Club is May 27th, followed by Junior Golf Day on May 28th. Salute to Service Day, also May 28th. Your Ceremony, barbara, the Memorial Honoree Ceremony, is also on the 28th.
Speaker 1:First round of golf competition starts on May 29th. Then, something really neat, the Folds of Honor are Friday, may 30th, when players and fans are encouraged to wear red, white and blue to pay tribute to those who serve our country and communities. Then we have Four Fest that's May 30th and 31st, right here in the heart of Dublin's Bridge Park. A lot of fun. I know there's going to be another drone show this year, which was a really big, fun, exciting time last year. And then the tournament concludes on Sunday, june 1st, which also is Play Yellow Sunday, where fans and players are asked to wear yellow to support the more than 170 Children's Miracle Network hospitals throughout North America, with nationwide children's being one of them.
Speaker 2:What a lineup You're cramming so much into a week. That should be over the course of two months, but it is such a great time and everyone in Dublin loves the tournament. A week Like that should be like over the course of two months, but it is such a great time and everyone in Dublin loves the tournament a lot. Before we wrap up, we end every episode with some rapid fire questions, so I hope you're ready for it Just a few, just a few so here we go.
Speaker 2:A couple of travel questions. Favorite place you traveled for golf.
Speaker 3:Probably St Andrews because it's the home of golf and so much history and you know, you just walk on there and, as I say, you feel like you're walking on hallowed ground. So probably St Andrews from that point. Pebble Beach, muirfield Village I think those three are pretty special.
Speaker 1:So if you're traveling for fun. What is your favorite place? You know that tees up the last question pretty perfectly. So last year we asked Jackie his favorite place to eat in Dublin and he said my mom's kitchen. So tell us what's on your menu this year, when it's just you and your family.
Speaker 3:I'm not so sure I'll be cooking this year, but I think probably one of Jackie's favorites was chicken parmesan. So you know, when you have four boys you do cook a lot.
Speaker 1:Right? Well, we're gonna have to get that recipe from you. That sounds delicious. Barbara Nicholas, what an honor to have you join us. But, way more importantly, thank you for your steadfast commitment to family, to golf, to philanthropy and health care, your commitment to the city of Dublin and for making life better for so many people.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. I appreciate you taking the time and, as you can tell, Newerfield Village Golf Club is the labor of love and anything we can do to make it better for all of you. We're going to try.
Speaker 2:Outstanding and to our listeners. Thank you as well for taking the time to connect with your city. Tune in next time as we continue to explore the many personalities and experiences that make Dublin a thriving place to live, work and grow.