John Konsek swings away in 1957, three years before his showdown with Jack Nicklaus in the Big Ten Championship. Courtesy The Konsek Family
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Jack Nicklaus headlined the marquee pairing on the final day of the 1960 Big Ten championship at Forest Akers Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan. The blond, burly Ohio State sophomore was the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and was favored to win the Big Ten individual title.
His adversary, John Konsek, was well-known to Nicklaus, as they had been competing against each other since their adolescent years. Konsek was just four months older, but a senior at Purdue University (he started kindergarten when he was not quite 4 years old and throughout his schooling always was the youngest in his class). Both were 5 feet 10 inches and sported the then-fashionable crewcut. However, Nicklaus looked like the football player he had been in high school, wher...
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