The 1957 Kentucky Amateur brought together one of Louisville’s best golf courses and one of its best golfers for an intersection of greatness. The venue, Big Spring Country Club was fresh off its hosting of a major championship, while the champion, Bobby Nichols would soon find major championship glory himself.

Bobby Nichols’ triumph at Big Spring was the biggest win of his career at the time. At 21 years old, Nichols was home for the summer while completing his collegiate career at Texas A&M. From a golfing standpoint, Nichols was most known at this point for winning the Southwestern Conference individual championship early in his career as an Aggie, while locally he had won the high school state championship at St. Xavier in 1953 and 1954. The fact Nichols was even able to compete in these tournaments, let alone win them was a miracle itself. Prior to his junior year, a single car accident where Nichols was riding in the passenger seat nearly removed his ability to walk. It took him 13 days to wake up and kept him in the hospital for a total of 97 days.

Nichols recovered after completing physical therapy and several years later in the same city would be celebrating the signature moment of his amateur career. Then contested under match play, Nichols emerged as the last man standing and captured what would be his lone Kentucky Amateur title. He turned professional three years later and launched a career that stands as one of the best any Kentucky golfer has ever had. Nichols won on the PGA Tour a dozen times, with the crown jewel being his triumph in the 1964 PGA Championship. Held at Columbus Country Club in Ohio, Nichols went wire-to-wire to defeat Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus by three strokes for his first and only major championship victory. Nichols would also beat Palmer by one stroke a month later in the Carling World Open. He played in the 1967 Ryder Cup in Houston, where the United States defeated Great Britain & Ireland 23 ½ to 8 ½. It was a decadent career for Nichols, one he now enjoys in retirement from his Florida home. On Tuesday, April 14^th, he will celebrate his 84^th birthday.

For Big Spring, the 1957 Kentucky Amateur was only the second biggest match play championship the club hosted that decade. Five years prior, it hosted the 1952 PGA Championship, the first time the state of Kentucky hosted a major. Jim Turnesa prevailed that week for his sole major victory which came via defeating Chick Harbert 1 UP. 1957 marked the third of what is now seven Kentucky Amateurs to be held at Big Spring. It previously hosted the tournament in 1937, 1948 and then went on to host future editions in 1979, 1990, 2007, and 2015. Only Audubon Country Club (11), Louisville Country Club (9), and Lexington Country Club (8 with a 9^th coming this year) have hosted the championship more times than Big Spring.

Seldom does it happen when the game’s best win at its best venues, but from a Kentucky golf standpoint, the 1957 State Amateur certainly saw it happen. Nichols is one of the elite few Kentuckians to have won a major championship and Big Spring is the only other golf course in the state aside from Valhalla to host a major. The fact they both crossed paths in 1957 makes the 43^rd Kentucky Amateur one of the most historic.