Golf icon and legendary sportsman Jack Nicklaus joined Golf Digest writer and editor Jaime Diaz in an “A Conversation on Golf” in front of a packed house at Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst, N.C. The kickoff lecture for the 26th year of the Ruth Pauley Lecture Series became so popular in the Pinehurst area that tickets were gone within seven minutes, prompting the evening to be broadcast live to several communities and another school in the Sandhills region.
Topics of discussion included Jack’s upbringing and deep-rooted family values, his love for all sports, Jack’s commitment to philanthropy, and the future of the game of golf. Jack shared memories of his golf instructor Jack Grout, his long-time competitive rival and dear friend Arnold Palmer, and playing golf in Pinehurst. Before concluding the evening’s program, Nicklaus took several questions from the audience.
“I’ve never seen someone with more energy than Jack,” said Peggy Kirk Bell, the longtime golf instructor at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club and a Nicklaus friend.
In January of 2012, co-lecturer Jaime Diaz was named as the 23rd recipient of the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism. Beginning with the 1985 U.S. Open, Diaz has covered more than 100 major championships. He has been awarded first place six times in the Golf Writers Association of America’s Annual Writing Contest. Currently, Diaz is a writer and editor for Golf Digest and GolfWorld magazines.
Previous Ruth Pauley Lecture Series speakers have included Sandra Day O’Connor, Stephen Ambrose, George McGovern, Ossie Davis, Patty Duke, Jack Hannah, Nicolas Sparks and Newt Gingrich.
