Nine months after launching the Pro Shop, GOLF.com editors have learned a lot about what you, the reader, loves to buy — and what you don’t love. One takeaway that’s become abundantly clear is that you appreciate exclusive, limited-edition merchandise.
Our first crack at an exclusive drop was the 2020 Nicklaus Collection, which included a few different types of hats, a shoe bag, golf gloves and a blanket. Ninety-five percent of those items sold out within the week, and we even brought back two of the most popular hats to sell them on a more consistent (albeit still exclusive) basis.
That’s why we’re excited about the second iteration of that drop — the 2021 Nicklaus Collection. Nobody is more synonymous with the Masters than Jack Nicklaus, and we’re committed to designing and selling all-new collections of Nicklaus merchandise to launch during every Masters for the foreseeable future.
This year, along with designing a unique set of Masters-themed hats, valuable pouches and belts, we’ve created a capsule collection within the greater collection that celebrates Jack’s 1966 Masters win. That week in ’66, a 26-year-old Jack won his third Masters and became the first golfer ever to defend his title as Masters champion.
“Augusta National had been toughened after the 1965 Masters, where I set the Masters scoring record at 271,” Nicklaus told GOLF.com. “In 1966, I shot 17 strokes higher, but was fortunate to still win, after a playoff with Gay Brewer and Tommy Jacobs. Becoming the first back-to-back Masters winner, and getting my third green jacket in four years, was certainly meaningful and a wonderful personal accomplishment.”
Throughout the course of the week, Nicklaus wore a variety of pieces that were monogrammed with his initials, JWN. He told GOLF.com this wasn’t necessarily an intentional choice — these were simply the items he had on hand and preferred. “More than likely, it was a sweater I picked up in Scotland — perhaps a Pringle sweater,” says Nicklaus. “Our apparel company was always experimenting with different looks and logos, but I am not sure if we were offering sweaters at the time or how that particular monogrammed sweater came to fruition.”
As a nod to simpler times when golfers — even stalwarts of the game like Nicklaus — could wear whatever they felt most comfortable in, even if that meant being free of sponsor logos, we created a glove, hats, yardage book covers and scorecard covers that all feature Jack’s initials in a similar strong and clean typeface.
Since most of the items in the 2021 Nicklaus Collection are available in limited quantities, you’ll want to act quickly with pieces that speak to you because we’ll likely never bring them back. And keep your eyes peeled for more limited-edition drops coming soon.
(Nicklaus Companies is an affiliate of GOLF.com’s parent company, 8AM Golf.)
