Ernie Els is without a doubt a man of the world. He’s South African by birth, and as an adult he’s also lived in London and in Florida. And he plays golf all over the globe on a regular basis.

On Monday alone, he finished up his final round of the BMW Championship in the Chicago area in the morning, flew to Denver to become the youngest recipient of the Nicholson Award (given for a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the game of golf), then took a red-eye flight back home to Florida. (Els is pictured Monday at Lakewood Country Club with Will Nicholson Jr.)

In Lakewood, Els noted that he loves Colorado so much from his visits to play The International at Castle Pines that he very nearly became a resident of the state — at least part-time.

“I made so many great friends here,” the 43-year-old said. “I was this close to buying a house at Castle Pines about 10 years ago. I used to stay with a heart specialist here in town — he’s an ex-South African — and he had a house on the 11th tee. (My) whole family came every year; we’d come on a Sunday and stay until Tuesday (of the following week).

“I saw his kids grow up and he’s seen my kids grow up. He lives near Cherry Hills here now. I said to Liezl (Els’ wife), ‘You know, next year we’re going to come to Cherry Hills (for the BMW Championship) and maybe I’ll still buy that house.'”

Colorado reminds Els a great deal of his native land — “You can take a picture of this and Johannesburg and it’s absolutely the same; everything is just unbelievable here.” — but his fondness for the state is understandable for another reason.

The International PGA Tour event was held in Colorado for 21 years, from 1986 through 2006, and in many respects Els was the king of Castle Pines. He won the tournament in 2000 and finished in the top 10 a remarkable nine times. He’s also the top money winner in the history of the event (more than $1.8 million) and the top cumulative point scorer (with 371) in the Stableford format.

And it doesn’t hurt that Els, who now has four major championships and 19 PGA Tour titles overall to his credit, has a soft spot in his heart for The International because it gave him an opportunity to compete before just about anyone else on the PGA Tour would.

When The International invited the Big Easy to play in 1991, he had competed in a grand total of one previous PGA Tour event, the 1990 Buick Southern Open.

“I didn’t even have a card — no Tour card, no nothing,” Els remembers. “I was as green as they come.

“That was the great thing about The International — it was truly an international tournament. They invited guys from everywhere around the world. I remember they invited Carlos Franco from Paraguay and the Argentine guys. (The officials from The International) were the first guys with this World Championship mindset, letting international players play.”

All things considered, it’s little wonder why Els ended up competing at The International virtually every year from 1991 until the tournament folded after it was played in 2006. When the event left the schedule for good, Els felt the departure down deep.

“I miss this place like I can’t tell you,” he said. “I have so many memories here. Kaye Kessler, Jack Vickers and the Vickers brothers, they invited me to play in 1991. I was absolutely nowhere. I was playing my first big event and I missed the (54-hole) cut, but the impression Castle Pines left with me — it’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. I came back every year.

“I was absolutely heartbroken when the tournament got canceled or whatever happened. I remember speaking to Tommy (Vickers) just before they saw (PGA Tour commissioner) Tim Finchem and he was in tears — we were both in tears — that the tournament wasn’t going to make it. To this day, I miss it. It’s been a big loss for the Tour and for the area because obviously it was an unbelievable event.”

In fact, before lousy weather Sunday led to a Monday finish for the BMW Championship, Els said he was planning to arrive in Colorado Sunday evening and spend the night at Castle Pines, then perhaps play some golf there on Monday.

“It’s really one of our favorite places,” he said. “(Unfortunately) it didn’t work out that way, so it’s a short visit.”

One of the people who Els got to know through The International — as well as through his longtime leadership role at the Masters — was Nicholson, the onetime USGA president. This is the eighth year for the Nicholson Award, and Els was a natural to receive it, with all he’s done in golf, as well as for the betterment of society through golf.

Ernie and Liezl have been major fundraisers for autism-related matters since their son Ben, now nearly 11, was diagnosed with the disorder. And Els put his name on the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation, which provides major support to selected disadvantaged South African youngsters who demonstrate talent and potential in golf. Louie Oosthuizen, winner of the 2010 British Open, is the most notable success story of the foundation.

Previous recipients of the Nicholson honor are Nicholson himself, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, former USGA president Judy Bell and Hale Irwin.

The last seven who have received the Nicholson Award are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame, including Els, who was inducted two years ago. Els subsequently won the 2012 British Open, making him the first male inductee to go on to win a major since Lee Trevino claimed the 1984 PGA Championship title.

Asked about his relationship with Nicholson, Els said, “We’ve known each other for most of my career. Will is one of the pioneers in our game through the USGA, really leading the game into the direction it should be going — the right direction. The fundamentals — he’s a stickler to that. He’s basically showing the young (administrators) the way. I’ve always admired Will with his work at Augusta, with the Colorado Golf Association and the USGA.”

Though Els hasn’t visited Colorado much since The International departed, he’s looking forward to playing in the state next September when Cherry Hills hosts the BMW Championship, the third stop in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Els hasn’t ever competed at Cherry Hills, but he’s no stranger there either.

“What a place,” he said. “I played it a couple of times back in the day when we used to come out here for the International. My great friend Tommy Vickers (and I) used to play a lot of golf around here and Cherry Hills was probably my favorite.”
 

Hamer was a very good player back in the 1960s and was toying with the idea of making a run at the PGA Tour. Then came the 1963 CGA Stroke Play. Hamer finished the 72-hole event with a 6-under-par total — and was happy with it.

There was only one competitor in the field that posted a better score. The only problem was, it was a guy named Irwin, and that score was 15 strokes better than Hamer’s.

“I remember thinking there was probably a few other guys out there like Hale, so that ended those thoughts (of turning pro),” Hamer said. “If I had known how good Hale was, though, I might have tried it.”

Indeed, after a golf career that’s included 20 PGA Tour victories, including three in U.S. Opens, and a record 45 on the Champions Tour, there aren’t many players in golf history who can claim they’ve had a better career. And that’s to say nothing of Irwin’s 1967 NCAA title while at the University of Colorado, his four CGA state amateur wins in the mid-1960s, or his state high school championship while at Boulder High.

On Tuesday night at the University Club, 20 years after being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, Irwin was honored for all those credentials and more. The soon-to-be 67-year-old received the Nicholson Award, given for a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the game of golf. He joins a golf who’s-who who have earned the honor, including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson.

Irwin only lived in Colorado — Boulder, to be exact — for about eight years, but he’s certainly made an impact in this state and far beyond.

It was in the Centennial State that Irwin really started cultivating his success. In fact, after playing just three rounds of golf on grass before moving from southeast Kansas to Boulder, he entered his first tournament at age 14.

And he won it, capturing the title in the local Jaycees event at what is now Flatirons Golf Course. He ended up parlaying that success into a berth in the national Jaycees tournament.

“I look back and that’s really where I got the injection of the tournament blood,” Irwin said Tuesday. “I thought, ‘This is my first tournament and a won it.’ I can remember being so excited.

“Then there was the rapid success of going on and seeing what golf could do. I had gone from southeast Kansas to Boulder, then in three (Jaycees) tournaments from Boulder to Denver, then on to Virginia (for the national event). So it was pretty exciting stuff.”

Flatirons — what was then known as Boulder Country Club — was where Irwin started really stoking his competitive fire. Whether it was ideal weather or there was snow on the ground, he practiced, determined to get better than the next guy.

“That just comes down to the ‘These guys aren’t going to beat me’ attitude,” Irwin said. “They could certainly outplay me but they weren’t going to beat me. They might win the battle, but I was going to win the war.”

He can still recall hitting his own practice balls at the course, and his dreams back then.

“I can remember thinking this is the shot to win the U.S. Open because that was the one tournament for which I could qualify,” he said. “That was the dream.”

As a 21-year-old amateur in 1966, Irwin qualified for his first U.S. Open, and he went one step further by making the cut. Coincidentally, that Open was contested at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, where it will be held again next month.

But it wasn’t just on the golf course that Irwin made himself what he is. He was also a standout on the football field at both Boulder High and CU, where he was a two-time All-Big Eight defensive back.

“There can be an argument that football was a hiccup in (my golf) development, but I think it was a necessary and good hiccup,” he said. “I think I learned a lot from football and seeing the vast difference between football and golf and what it took to play golf. I applied a lot of what I learned from football to golf. Some people say I took that attitude with me to golf but it was just a very competitive environment. When I got on the Tour, that’s the arena (football) from which I drew that experience.

“I looked at every golf course as a football field. It was me or them. I say that somewhat jokingly because the thing I had more of than the other fellas was effort. I point back to the football background. Look at me — I was a little guy even then, and I wasn’t terribly fast. So I had to read keys and be in position and play technically better than the next guy. Then I had to play over my weight. I had to hit harder. All that effort is what you could take to the golf course. So when you got to Winged Foot or those hard courses — where others guys might let up because they thought it was too hard — that was right up my alley.”

Though Irwin is more than five years removed from his last Champions Tour victory, he’s not ready to call it quits competitively. If he does win again, he’ll be the oldest champion in the history of the tour.

“The hardest thing for me is not ‘Can I hit the shot?’; I can hit any shot out there,” he said. “But I don’t have the intensity level that I once had, the concentration level I once had to carry through with that predictably time and time again.

“Particularly at nearly 67 I need to be more tolerant of things. But I still can do that. But is that going to be enough to win against the Michael Allens, the Fred Couples, the Tom Lehmans? There’s some good golf being played out there.”
 

Including this year’s honoree, the last six recipients of the award are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. And the inaugural honoree — Denver’s Will Nicholson Jr., who the award is named for — will be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame next month.

This year’s Nicholson Award winner, like last year’s, has long since been enshrined in the Colorado Sports Hall. Hale Irwin, who graduated from Boulder High School and the University of Colorado before embarking on a career in which he won three U.S. Opens, will receive the Nicholson honor May 8 at the University Club in Denver.

Irwin will follow this stellar cast in earning the Nicholson Award, which is given for a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the game of golf: Nicholson himself, a former USGA president and a man who for many years was responsible for setting up Augusta National for the Masters; Arnold Palmer; Jack Nicklaus; Tom Watson; Ben Crenshaw; and Colorado Springs resident Judy Bell, the only woman ever to serve as USGA president.

Add it up and those honorees account for a combined 38 major championship victories and two USGA presidencies.

“When informed (about receiving the 2012 award), I was surprised and honored,” Irwin said in a recent e-mail. “To be in that illustrious company is wonderful stuff! … I am delighted.”

Irwin’s credentials fit in quite nicely with his predecessors. With his U.S. Open victories in 1974, ’79 and ’90, only four players in history have won the national title more times (Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson claimed four victories each). And, in capturing the crown in 1990 at age 45 (pictured), Irwin remains the oldest U.S. Open champion.

Beyond that, Irwin owns a total of 20 PGA Tour wins, a record 45 Champions Tour victories (16 more than all-time runner-up Lee Trevino) and the 1967 NCAA title while at CU. He also played on five U.S. Ryder Cup teams and captained the American squad in the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994. He’s competed in more than 1,000 tournaments on the PGA and Champions Tour combined.

Besides all his accomplishments in golf, Irwin quarterbacked the Boulder High football team as a senior and led BHS to the 1963 state golf title while winning the individual championship, and he was an All-Big Eight safety at CU.

As an amateur golfer, Irwin claimed three straight CGA Stroke Play championships (1963-65) and a Match Play crown in 1966.

On top of everything else, Irwin has made his mark as a golf course architect. Among the Colorado courses he’s designed are Indian Peaks in Lafayette, the Mountain Course at Cordillera in Edwards, and Highlands Ranch Golf Club.

Though Irwin now lives in Arizona, his Hale Irwin Golf Services and Irwin Golf Management, with Irwin’s son Steve as vice president, are based in Colorado. The latter company was recently selected to manage Terradyne Country Club in Andover, Kan., near Wichita.

With their prominent positions in golf, and their strong ties to Colorado, Hale Irwin and Nicholson are certainly no strangers to one another.

“I have known Will for a long time,” Irwin said. “He is a man of great integrity and has shown that by example with all the positions in business and golf that he has held.”

Those who wish to attend the seventh annual Nicholson Awards dinner on May 8 (reception at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30) can contact Gary Potter at gpotter@mho.com or at 303-885-4538 for more information. The cost is $125.