Barbara Nicklaus was named recipient of the 2019 PGA Distinguished Service Award.
She will be honored on Nov. 5 at the PGA of America’s 103rd Annual Meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The Distinguished Service Award “honors outstanding individuals who display leadership and humanitarian qualities, including integrity, sportsmanship and enthusiasm for the game of golf.”
Nicklaus, 79, was named the inaugural PGA First Lady of Golf in 1998. She and her husband Jack are the second husband-wife duo to have earned the PGA Distinguished Service Award. Mark and Debi Rolfing were jointly honored in 2017.
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“Barbara Nicklaus exemplifies what the words ‘giving back’ truly mean,” said PGA President Suzy Whaley in a statement. “From the platform of golf, her unlimited energy and passion for serving as a philanthropist has offered hope and a pathway to vital healthcare for countless children. We are extremely proud to present Barbara with the PGA Distinguished Service Award as she joins her husband, Jack, among those honored for an amazing commitment to elevating society and humanity.”
Barbara is the chair and co-founder of Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, which was established in 2004 to support numerous pediatric healthcare services in South Florida and across the U.S.
“Golf has made so many things possible,” she said. “Jack and I could never give back as much as we have been blessed to receive from this amazing game. The PGA of America has been and is the ‘heart and soul’ of the game of golf. I am so honored, so touched and so very proud to receive this phenomenal award.”
