How Jack Nicklaus Built a $400M Empire

Local News

There’s a house on Avery Road where you might notice something different every time you drive by.

For the second year in a row, one Dublin mom is changing the skeleton display in her front yard every day. And apparently, people have started making a point of driving by just to see what she's come up with next.

It all started when her daughter asked a pretty simple question: “Can you make our house look a bit more scary?”

She got some inspiration from a friend in Worthington and someone from her hometown in southern Ohio who had done something similar. Then she started finding more ideas online and coming up with plenty of her own.

Sometimes the skeletons even follow what's happening in the news. Last year there was a Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce scene, and when that awkward Coldplay concert moment involving two company executives went viral, the Avery Road skeletons got their own version.

Now the display is back for another October, with a new scene appearing each day.

So if you find yourself on Avery Road this month and notice a yard full of skeletons, it might be worth another drive past a few days later. Chances are they'll be up to something completely different.

And if you don't want to drive by every day, you can follow what the skeletons are up to on Instagram.

Local News

Dublin Jerome’s boys golf team is heading to the state championship.

And they’re getting there as the best team in Central Ohio.

The Celtics won the Division I Central District championship this week, shooting a combined 280, or eight strokes under par.

Only three teams were moving on to state. Jerome finished first.

And one Celtic finished on top individually too.

Harrison Young shot a 67, five under par, to finish with the lowest score of anyone in the tournament. Teammate Blaise Barnum wasn’t far behind with a 69.

Next up: the Division I state championship at NCR Country Club.

Local News

We obviously know Jack Nicklaus pretty well around here. He built Muirfield Village, started the Memorial Tournament and has been part of Dublin’s story for more than 50 years.

But most of us probably don’t realize just how big the business he built around golf has become.

A story published earlier this week estimates Nicklaus is now worth about $400 million. And while his 18 major championships made him famous, much of the business he built afterward came from something we’re pretty familiar with here in Dublin: designing golf courses.

Nicklaus Design has now worked on more than 425 courses in over 45 countries and 40 states. The larger Nicklaus business has also expanded into real estate, licensing and all sorts of products carrying his name and Golden Bear logo.

And Muirfield Village was there near the beginning. Nicklaus acquired the land in 1966, construction started in 1972 and the course opened in 1974.

So that golf course tucked into Dublin didn’t just become one of the most famous courses in the country. It was also an early chapter in what eventually became a worldwide business.