Jack Nicklaus has won 18 majors and is one of the very best golfers of all time so if he’s telling you, the amateur golfer, not to do something, then it’s worth noting down.
Nicklaus’ glittering career has seen him do it all in golf and now at 85, he has a wealth of knowledge to pass on to everyone who will listen.
For the amateur golfer, listening to someone like Nicklaus can be a goldmine of information and tips.
Of course, we’ve heard countless instruction type tips from Nicklaus over the years but what is interesting is a conversation he had with Sir Nick Faldo at The Memorial in 2022, where he very much disagreed with what the Englishman was suggesting.
Jack Nicklaus says what amateurs shouldn’t do even though Ben Hogan suggested it
With The Memorial being Jack Nicklaus’ tournament, he’s always good for a quote or two during that week.
Nicklaus often takes up a spot in the announcers’ booth during the event and this time, in 2022, he was in there alongside six-time major champ, Sir Nick Faldo.
During that time, Faldo mentioned how he had heard Ben Hogan tell people to hit towards trouble at times on the golf course.
However, Nicklaus vehemently disagreed.
“I would be playing right at the middle of the green,” Nicklaus said in reply to Faldo. “I would let the ball turn a little bit left. But I don’t think you should be playing left to right in there.”
“Why wouldn’t you fade it in there, Jack?” asked Faldo, “I would think that’s the hold-off, one-yard fade.”
“Don’t ever aim the ball at trouble,” Nicklaus continued. “Don’t ever aim the ball at out of bounds. Don’t ever aim the ball at a lake. You always aim away from it. And if you have to play back towards it, make sure that you can’t hook it enough to get there or make sure you can’t fade it enough to get to it.
“Mr. Hogan said you aimed at the trouble and then worked it off the trouble,” Faldo added. “Like you’d aim it at the lake and fade it off it.”
Responding directly to that point, Nicklaus then suggested it was all down to trust in your own game.
“If you were sure you were going to do that,” he continued. “And that’s what I did. I thought I was pretty good at what I did, but I didn’t trust it that much.”
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Jack Nicklaus’ advice is exactly right for amateurs
For the professional golfer – who knows exactly how they’re going to strike the ball on most occasions – Ben Hogan’s idea is probably a good one.
However, for the average amateur player, it is more than wise to listen to what Mr Nicklaus is saying here.
Put simply, an amateur golfer is just not as in control of their golf swing and ball as a PGA Tour pro and aiming at trouble is effectively asking for danger.
As Nicklaus says, it comes down to trust and for an amateur, they simply won’t have the trust in their game to risk such shots.
Ultimately, it’s down to the player to decide on what route they take but in the main, avoiding anything that looks remotely bad is the wise idea.
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