The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., steps into the international spotlight this week as it hosts the WGC-Workday Championship. The private club is located in the Tampa area, and it's a relatively new club, opening in 2006.
The club's name, The Concession Golf Club, is a unique name in golf. Lots of fans have been wondering why the club is called The Concession and how the club got its name.
How did The Concession Golf Club get its name?
The Concession Golf Club got its name from a notable moment in Ryder Cup history involving the two men credits as the course's architects.
Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin are listed as the architects of the private club, and they were competing against each other in a final-day singles match of the 1969 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale in England. Nicklaus, who was playing in his first Ryder Cup, was in the hole on 18 and looking on as Jacklin faced a 3-foot putt that, if missed, could have swung the Ryder Cup to the American team. In an act of sportsmanship, Nicklaus gave Jacklin the putt, allowed under the rules of match play golf, so the Englishman wouldn't have to face the putt and the potential embarrassment of missing it in front of his home-nation fans. The team-based match ended in a 16-16 tie.
The move came to be known as the Concession in golf circles. While it's been lauded over the years into perhaps a bigger act than it really was, it carries quite the weight -- despite American Ryder Cup captain Sam Snead being furious with Nicklaus about giving away the potential to win the Ryder Cup outright.
When looking for a name for their jointly designed course, the owners leaned into the history between Nicklaus and Jacklin and named their property The Concession Golf Club.
A number of the younger PGA Tour stars were asked ahead of the WGC tournament if they knew the story behind the name. They didn't, across the board. However, golf history fans know the reason for the name.
