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Jack Nicklaus wins amateur title....



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September 17, 1961

THE DETROIT FREE PRESS, Michigan, September 17, 1961

* Golfer Jack Nicklaus wins amateur title
* Roger Maris hits # 57

This 40 + page newspaper has a two column headline on page 2 of the sport's section (inside): "It's Nicklaus In Waltz, 8-6" with caption: "King Of Amateurs"

Tells of Jack Nicklaus winning the Amateur golf championship at Peeble Beach California.

Also the latest news of Roger Maris' charge to break Babe Ruth's single season home run record with nice front page headline with photos.

Other news of the day. Light browning with some small binding holes along spine and a few small tape mends at the right margin, otherwise good.

wikipedia notes: Nicklaus was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of a pharmacist. He was raised in the suburb of Upper Arlington, and attended Upper Arlington High School. Overcoming a mild case of polio as a child,[3] he took up golf at the age of ten, shooting a 51 at Scioto Country Club for his first nine holes ever played.

At 13, Nicklaus broke 70 at Scioto Country Club for the first time. He won the first of five straight Ohio State Junior titles at the age of twelve. He won the Ohio Open in 1956 at age 16 punctuated with a phenomenal third round of 64, competing against professionals. In 1957, Nicklaus won the U.S. National Jaycees Championship having lost the previous year in a playoff. Nicklaus also competed in his first of 44 consecutive U.S. Opens that year, but missed the cut. In 1958 at age 18, he competed in his first PGA Tour event at Akron, Ohio tying for twelfth place and made the cut in the U.S. Open before tying for 41st place.

While attending Ohio State University, he won the U.S. Amateur Championship twice (1959, 1961), and an NCAA Championship (1961). In the 1959 U.S. Amateur, Nicklaus defeated two-time winner and defending champion Charles Coe in the final 36-hole match 1-up with a birdie on the final hole. This was significant not only due to Coe's proven ability as a player, but Nicklaus became the then-youngest champion in the modern era and second only to Robert A. Gardner who won in 1909. In 1961, Nicklaus became the first player to win the individual title at the NCAA Championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year. He was followed by Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1996), and Ryan Moore (2004). In his second and last U.S. Amateur win in 1961, Nicklaus convincingly defeated Dudley Wysong 8 & 6 at Pebble Beach in the 36-hole championship match.

At the 1960 U.S. Open, Nicklaus shot a two under par 282, finishing second by two strokes to Arnold Palmer, who won the tournament with a final round charge of 65. This score remains the lowest ever shot by an amateur in the U.S. Open and he did so playing the final 36 holes with Ben Hogan who later remarked he had just played 36 holes with a kid who should have won by ten shots. In 1960, Nicklaus tied for thirteenth in the Masters Tournament and tied for fourth in the 1961 U.S. Open. Each of these three major championship finishes designated Nicklaus as Low Amateur. However, Nicklaus' one under par 287 tie for seventh in the 1961 Masters Tournament was second that year only to Charles Coe's low amateur mark when he tied for second with Arnold Palmer at seven under par 281, one shot behind champion Gary Player.

Nicklaus represented the United States against Great Britain and Ireland on winning Walker Cup teams in both 1959 and 1961, decisively winning both of his matches in each contest. He was also a member of the victorious 1960 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team, winning the unofficial individual title by 13 shots over teammate Deane Beman with a four-round score of 269, a record which still stands and that broke Ben Hogan's earlier U.S. Open mark of 287 at the same site.[5] Nicklaus was named the world's top amateur golfer by Golf Digest magazine for three straight years, 1959-1961. Nicklaus also won two Trans-Mississippi Amateurs in 1958 at Prairie Dunes Country Club and 1959 at Woodhill Country Club.

Category: The 20th Century