Aviation is not such a long shot for these professionals in the golf world.

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More than any other athletes, golfers have always been associated with the jet set. Whether it’s PGA Tour players hopping from one tournament to another or a group of executives flying off to a far-flung golf destination, private aviation is synonymous with the game.

And no one is more representative of this privileged means of travel than the “King” of golf himself, Arnold Palmer.

Palmer first flew solo in a Cessna 172 50 years ago and holds the distinction of becoming the first athlete in the world to buy his own jet aircraft when he acquired a Rockwell Jet Commander in 1966. To this day Palmer, 77, still pilots his Citation X and maintains all the appropriate ratings and certifications.

Influenced by Palmer’s affection for aviation, fellow Hall of Fame golfer Jack Nicklaus logged about 800 hours in the cockpit in the early 1960s, but he never acquired a license. Nicklaus purchased his first plane, a twin-engine Aero Commander 680FL, in the summer of ’64. Three years later the Golden Bear traded in his Aero Commander and leased a Lear Model 24 twin-engine jet. Nicklaus, who now jets around in a Gulfstream IV affectionately known as Air Bear, has often said that his most essential business tool has been the series of airplanes he has owned.

Nowadays nearly every top professional golfer owns an airplane, not only for convenience and comfort, but also for security. Many others regularly charter private jets. Like Palmer, there have been a number of other golfer-turned-pilots, including Johnny Bulla from the game’s Golden Era and modern-day players such as Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson, Bobby Clampett, Scott McCarron, Bill Glasson, and Mike McCullough to name a few.

“I am truly not aware of what other players own or have,” Nicklaus recently said. “You don’t hear other players talk about what you might consider ‘toys.’ But I don’t view an airplane as a toy. You might call a boat a toy, but I consider an airplane a business tool. Just look at how many players have an airplane or some affiliation with a jet service. There might be a hundred or so players who fit into that category,” Nicklaus estimates. “My airplane is perhaps the best business tool I have. I probably save about a month or so a year in travel time by owning my own airplane.”

In the following pages you will read about how private aviation plays into the lives of a foursome of golf figures.

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