On Tuesday, November 17, Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) continues a tradition dating back to 1984 with American Free Enterprise Day (AFE). This annual celebration honors individuals whose hard work and achievements exemplify the best of the American free enterprise system.
This year’s lead medalist is golf legend, course designer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Jack Nicklaus. The PBA team recently interviewed Nicklaus to learn more about his storied career and what it means to do good for others—on and off the course.
With a record 20 professional major championships, a golf course design company with more than 450 courses worldwide (325 of those personally designed by you), and a foundation that serves children across the country, you’ve built many careers in one lifetime. What does the American Free Enterprise system mean to you?
To me, it means having the opportunity and the freedom to choose what you want to do with your life. I was able to choose to not only play golf at the highest level, but also to design golf courses, build a business and a brand, and help my wife, Barbara, with charitable efforts, particularly the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation. Those are all choices the free enterprise system made possible.
Many people know the champion, but fewer know the entrepreneur. Was there a moment in your business life that tested you the way a final-round Sunday did?
I don’t think anything in business tested me quite the way the final round of a major championship did. In business, I was fortunate to have good people around me—employees who have been with me for decades — and we worked together to make the right decisions. On the golf course, coming down the stretch of a tournament, the decisions were mine, as were the golf shots and putts I had to execute. Nobody else could do that for me. But one thing was the same in golf and business: I always tried to treat people fairly. When I made a business deal, I wanted the other person to feel like they got a good deal — if not a little better deal than I did. It was important to me to walk away with my head high, knowing we created something that could succeed for everybody involved.
You and Barbara have made giving back central to your legacy. How do business success and service fit together in your view of free enterprise?
I think they’re very much connected. If you’ve been fortunate enough to have success, you’ve also had the opportunity to establish credibility through the way you’ve conducted yourself and your business. You can then use that credibility to help other people.
When Barbara and I started our foundation, we had to earn that trust. In some ways, it wasn’t that different from standing over a putt on the 18th hole to win a tournament. You still had to deliver. Over time, we had to do enough good things for other people — and demonstrate that we were good stewards of their trust — to earn that credibility and longtime support. To me, that’s part of free enterprise, too. You have the freedom and opportunity to become successful, but also the opportunity to use that success to do good for others.
Professional golfer, PBA alumnus, golf content creator and entrepreneur Grant Horvat will also be honored with a companion medal at PBA’s 42nd annual American Free Enterprise Day.
AFE Day will take place at 11 a.m. at the Rubin Arena in the Greene Complex on PBA’s West Palm Beach campus. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public.
AFE is proudly supported by Kibler Construction, SROA Capital, and Sara and Jim McCann as Innovation Sponsors.
Click here for more information and to save your seat for AFE Day.
