BRADENTON, Fla. – The inspiration behind The Concession Golf Club can be traced all the way back to 1969.
If you had asked Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin what their act of sportsmanship would bring, Nicklaus and Jacklin probably wouldn’t have said the course that they designed together would take center stage on the PGA Tour.
The Concession Golf Club was inspired by what is considered one of the finest acts of sportsmanship in golf history. On the final hole of the 1969 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Nicklaus conceded a 2-foot putt to Jacklin for the first of only two ties in Ryder Cup history. The United States went go on to retain the Cup with a tie, but the gesture would be known as “the concession.”
Decades later, the two golf legends would team up to design and create The Concession Club. Jacklin has seven course designs listed on his resume, while Nicklaus has personally designed over 300 courses worldwide.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WGC-Mexico Championship was played at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton. The WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession was contested this past weekend and included 48 of the top-50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, including the top 15.
This change got the Florida swing started a week early this year, following the WGC Championship will be the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players Championship and The Honda Classic.
The Concession is built over a variety of landscapes and is where “the natural setting is the star”, while featuring no houses lining the course. It was named the Best New Private Course in America by Golf Digest, when it opened its doors in 2006.
The course is known for being very difficult with a slope rating of 155 from the back tees, and was named as one of America’s 75 Toughest Golf Courses in 2012 by Golf Digest. The course plays very firm and fast and puts a premium on hitting accurate iron shots, as well as having a great short game.
At the same time that Nicklaus was working on The Concession, he was also teaming up with Tom Doak to design Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, New York. The small, heavily contoured greens are reminiscent of those at Sebonack, as Nicklaus has said to have to have been inspired by those at the Long Island course.
The Concession hosted the 2018 Florida Amateur Championship, where Gabriel Lench raised the 101st Florida Amateur trophy. Lench survived a playoff against Marc Dull to take home his second Amateur victory in four years.
The Bradenton club also hosted the 2015 Men’s and Women’s NCAA National Golf Championships, as well as the biennial Concession Cup.
Two Florida Junior Tour alums were in the field at The Concession, Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger. Koepka finished the weekend in a tie for second, three shots behind the winner, Collin Morikawa, while Berger ended the tournament in a tie for 35th.
