Papa Golden Bear and his cub are returning to Ohio State to restore the work of a legendary golf course designer.
Former Buckeyes Jack Nicklaus and his son Gary have been chosen to renovate the Ohio State Scarlet Course, designed by noted architect Alister MacKenzie in the mid-1930s.
"We'll try to bring it up to date and use the MacKenzie look, which we call a Nickenzie -- my interpretation of what MacKenzie does," Jack Nicklaus said.
The renovations, to begin this fall, include a redesign of every bunker, expansion of the driving range, a review of existing greens for possible recountouring, and rebuilding the back tees to add about 300 yards to the 7,141-yard course.
Funding for the estimated $1.2 million restoration will come from a $10 million endowment gift from the Al and Martha Phipps Golf Course Fund.
Nicklaus is doing the work for $1, a source said.
"It will be a labor of love," said Nicklaus, an Upper Arlington native who won the 1961 NCAA championship while at OSU. Gary also played for the Buckeyes, who call the Scarlet Course home. "Here's a university that has given me so much over time. I can't give to it financially the way I'd like to, for what they've given me. But I can give them something that's better than money, if I can create something out there."
Nicklaus stressed that the original MacKenzie routing will remain intact, with bunkers being brought up to the MacKenzie standard.
MacKenzie designed two of the world's most famous courses -- Augusta National, site of the Masters, and Cyprus Point, located next to Pebble Beach in California. He died before the Scarlet Course was completed in 1938.
"I'm not going to change the golf course," Nicklaus said. "I don't think there's a better college course in the country. But I think when we're done with this, I hope to make it the best."
The Nicklauses will be joined by Greg Letsche, a Nicklaus senior design associate who also attended Ohio State.
Nicklaus has helped design more than 230 courses in 36 states and 27 countries, with 36 being named to various national and international top-100 lists.
Gary Nicklaus recently earned praise for his design of Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo., which Golf Digest named one of the 10 best new private courses in America for 2003.
Renovations are expected to be completed by the time the NCAA women's golf championship returns to Scarlet in 2006.
Source: Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch