Jack Nicklaus adds 'Golden Bear' touch to The AmFam Champ Celebrity Foursome By Brian Weis

Jack Nicklaus adds 'Golden Bear' touch to The AmFam Champ Celebrity Foursome

Nicklaus and Brett Favre will take on Andy North and Toby Keith in 9-hole exhibition

By Brian Weis

Jack Nicklaus, widely recognized as golf's greatest player of all time, will play in The AmFam Champ Celebrity Foursome, hosted by Andy North, at this year's American Family Insurance Championship, tournament officials announced today.

Nicklaus will join local favorite and two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North, Green Bay Packers great Brett Favre and country music star Toby Keith. The foursome will play in a 9-hole exhibition on Saturday, June 22, part of the second round of the PGA TOUR Champions event at University Ridge Golf Course.

"Our celebrity foursome has quickly become a major attraction, but Jack's presence, along with Andy, Brett and Toby, will make it even more special for our fans," said Nate Pokrass, American Family Insurance Championship tournament director. "You can be sure they'll entertain the crowds, and help us raise even more money for charity. We're honored and thrilled to have them."

A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Nicklaus has 18 major championships (six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens and three Open Championships) among his 73 PGA TOUR wins, in addition to 20 international victories. He's also a 10-time winner on PGA TOUR Champions, including eight major championships. Nicklaus played on the U.S. Ryder Cup team six times, and captained the team twice. He's also captained the U.S. Presidents Cup team four times.

Nicklaus's accomplishments extend far beyond his play. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 "in recognition of his service to the nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship." He is one of the world's leading golf course designers, with more than 600 professional golf tournaments staged on as many as 90 of his courses.

He continues to host the PGA TOUR event he founded, The Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, won in 2011 by American Family Insurance Championship player-host Steve Stricker.

Brett Favre and Andy North return

Favre and North have played in every American Family Insurance Championship celebrity foursome since the tournament started in 2016. Last year, the two paired up to defeat World Golf Hall of Famer Lee Trevino and baseball legend Derek Jeter in the friendly competition.

This year, Nicklaus and Favre will take on North and Keith, who will perform the night before at the sold-out tournament concert at Madison's Breese Stevens Field. An avid golfer, Keith is a regular playing partner with Stricker at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The star-studded foursome will play in a 9-hole scramble on Saturday. The players will tee off from the 10th hole at approximately 2:30 p.m., following the final tournament group for the day.

Celebrity foursome named to honor Andy North

In recognition of North's contributions to Wisconsin golf, his support for the American Family Insurance Championship, and his shared philanthropic passions with the Steve Stricker American Family Insurance Foundation, the celebrity foursome will now have an official name. It will be known as The AmFam Champ Celebrity Foursome, hosted by Andy North.

"Andy's accomplishments on the course and in the community are legendary, and his enthusiasm and advocacy for the championship - to the tour, the players and fans - is one of the reasons we've been successful," Pokrass said. "He's been a true ambassador for our event and its positive impacts on our community."

Special tickets discounts still available

Tickets for the American Family Insurance Championship are available from the home page of AmFamChampionship.com under the "Get Tickets" link, with special discounts for certain tickets purchased before June 1, including:

• $5 off a $25 general admission ticket
• $5 off a $20 Champions ticket (50 years +)

Active duty, reserve and retired military personnel can again enjoy a free three-day pass and any child 15 and under gets free admission to the tournament with a paid adult admission.

More Information:
https://www.amfam.com/sponsorships/amfamchampionship

Revised: 06/03/2019 - Article Viewed 15,165 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.