Jack Nicklaus regains the right to continue designing courses in his own name
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Jack Nicklaus, pictured here at the 2024 Memorial Tournament, recently regained the right to use his own name to design golf courses.Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR
A six-month chapter in a saga that has dragged on for years in the business life of 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus recently ended in relative triumph.
Last Wednesday, an arbitrator in Florida rendered a decision in the Golden Bear’s favor, restoring to him the right to continue designing golf courses using his name after a contentious period of limbo that lasted just over two years, effectively isolating him from the Nicklaus Companies, the collection of businesses he founded after his main playing days.
Originally begun in 2000, Nicklaus Companies has been controlled since 2012 not by Nicklaus himself, but by Howard Milstein, a New York banker and real estate developer whose holdings also include GOLF Magazine, True Spec Golf, Miura golf and the Nicklaus Design entity. In stages, Nicklaus had cashed out his majority interest in the business in phases to the tune of some $175 million.
A previously amicable relationship between Nicklaus and Milstein soured and deteriorated to the point where, in late 2017, Nicklaus cleared out his space in the Nicklaus Companies office, though he would remain involved with Nicklaus Design projects.
Further strife between Nicklaus and Milstein led to Nicklaus cutting ties with the Nicklaus Companies altogether in May of 2022. Milstein responded by suing Nicklaus. In the interim, the 84-year-old all-time major champion had been barred by a judge’s ruling from using his name in association with any design or consulting work, instead having to establish himself under the cryptic brand “1-JN.”
That weird nomenclature has proved temporary, as last Wednesday’s arbitration decision loosened those restrictions, permitting Nicklaus to continue his decades-long career in golf course design under his actual name.
Nicklaus has been involved in more than 300 golf course designs over more than 55 years. His current projects include Jack’s Bay on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.
In a press release from the Nicklaus Family Office in Juno Beach, Fla. detailing the arbitration victory, the Golden Bear signed off on on a positive note. “If you want a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus,” he said, “give me a call.”
