Golf legend Jack Nicklaus and his wife, Barbara, will be honored with the 2009 National Pathfinder Award at the annual Pathfinder Awards Banquet on Sunday, June 28, 2009Â at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Pathfinder Awards annually recognize individuals for their contributions and dedication to youth.
The awards banquet is held in conjunction with the 22nd anniversary Youthlinks Indiana Charity Golf Tournament, co-presented by Indiana Sports Corporation and Indiana Black Expo. Over the years, more than $5.7 million in event proceeds has been distributed back into the community to support youth-based sports programs and initiatives through CHAMPS (Champions in Life) grants and other programs.
“We are extremely pleased to honor Jack and Barbara Nicklaus with the National Pathfinder Award,” said Youthlinks Indiana Chairman Dennis Bassett. “The Nicklaus name is synonymous with both golf and charitable giving, much like Youthlinks Indiana. We would be hard-pressed to recognize two more deserving people.”
Jack and Barbara have focused their charitable concerns on children in need. They have a long history of involvement in a variety of charitable activities, from junior golf to children’s hospitals to several scholarship foundations.
The couple is the guiding light for the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, which supports numerous pediatric health-care services in a five-county area of South Florida. The Foundation has raised more than $10 million since its launch in 2004. This includes proceeds from The Jake, the annual golf fundraiser named in honor of the couple’s late grandson. The Foundation supports activities that advance and enhance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of childhood diseases and disorders and supports not-for-profit programs and projects aimed at children’s health, safety, and well-being. It provides programs and services to more than 4,000 hospitalized children and their families, free of charge, through the creation of the Child Life Institute in 2007.
In 2000, Jack was named a national co-chair of The First Tee’s “More Than a Game” campaign. The First Tee is a national program created to provide learning facilities and educational courses for young people to promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. He has spoken twice in front of Congress on behalf of The First Tee, and supported a number of events—from Salt Lake City to New York to Northern Virginia.
For decades, the Barbara & Jack Nicklaus Junior Golf Endowment Fund has supported youth programs across the country. From that support of junior golf was born a partnership between the Nicklaus’ and the PGA of America that led to the creation of a $2 million endowment to provide teaching grants to certified Chapters of The First Tee. To date, 163 of the 207 active Chapters of The First Tee worldwide have been recipients of either a PGA of America or Nicklaus/PGA teaching grant. The combined Nicklaus/PGA grants total $1.9 million.
Because of their contributions to golf and to the community, Barbara and Jack were honored twice in 2007—the first being The Boys Scouts of America Distinguished Citizens Award, and then the Francis Ouimet Lifelong Contributions to Golf Award. Most recently, Jack was honored on the eve of the Masters by the Golf Writers Association of America for his long-standing and unselfish contributions to the betterment of society.
Regarded by most historians as the greatest player in golf history, Jack’s competitive career has spanned five decades with 105 professional tournament victories worldwide and a record 18 professional major-championship titles. He is the only player in history to have won each of the game’s majors at least three times (six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens, three British Opens), and is the only player to have completed the career “Grand Slam” on both the regular and senior tours.
He played on six Ryder Cup teams, captained two other Ryder Cup teams, and served as U.S. captain for the 1998, 2003, 2005, and 2007 Presidents Cup teams. Early in 2001, Jack was honored with the first-ever ESPY Lifetime Achievement Award, and he became the first golfer – and only the third athlete – to receive the Vince Lombardi Award of Excellence. In November 2005, Nicklaus was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civil award, which was presented by President George Bush.
Barbara has also been recognized for her achievement including the 2004 Woman of Distinction Award at Palm Beach Atlantic University and the inaugural 1998 First Lady of Golf Award presented by PGA of America.
The Youthlinks Indiana Charity Golf Tournament will take place Monday, June 29, 2009Â at four premier Indiana golf courses: the Broadmoor Country Club, The Country Club of Indianapolis, Wolf Run Golf Club and Woodland Country Club.
