Jack Nicklaus, one of the sport’s true greats, was in Marshall on Thursday to get a close-up look at the production

of his ice cream at Schwan’s.

MARSHALL – Every golf fan knows the name Jack Nicklaus, The Golden Bear. Many know he won 18 majors in his career, including six Masters, and is the only golfer to win each of the Grand Slam tournaments at least three times. Some may even know he finished his career with 73 victories – nine more than Ben Hogan and second only to Tiger Woods’ 79 and Sam Snead’s 82. But how many know just how much the golfing great craves ice cream?

Nicklaus never really transitioned from birdies to budgets, from Green jackets to blue suits, as he’s been a businessman almost as long as he’s been a golfer. But now he is all business, and his latest foray in the business world brought him to Marshall this week.

Nicklaus has partnered with The Schwan Food Co. of Marshall to produce a new ice cream – Jack Nicklaus premium ice cream – that is sold in select markets across the United States. The new Jack Nicklaus pint-sized ice cream is available at Winn Dixie, Bi-Lo and Kroger in select markets. It is also available at some outlier stores such as Tracy Food Pride. The golfing legend paid a visit to Marshall on Thursday to take a tour of Schwan facilities to see the place that creates his new tasty venture – and his main vice.

He said he’s proud to be involved in a venture that can simply bring happiness to people.

“It’s a happy product,” he said in an interview with the Independent at the Schwan’s Research & Development facility. “I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘Well, I don’t like ice cream.'”

Nicklaus, who said he still plays golf “once or twice a month,” said he’s always been involved in business, but leaving the game he has played all his life was quite a challenge for him. He started Ohio Promotions when he first turned pro, and his business has morphed into Golden Bear.

A designer of premiere golf courses all over the world, Nicklaus has said playing competitive golf was just one part of his business life. He’s now fully engulfed in the second phase. Nicklaus’ life today is less about golf and more about building his company to the point where it sustains itself well into the future. Besides ice cream, Nicklaus also has his own line of golf balls, as well as lemonade and clothing, among other items.

“My transition out of golf was harder than my transition into business,” said Nicklaus. “My transition out of golf – you’re playing golf all your life and pretty soon you lose your skills I play golf for the competition. I love competition, whether it’s on the golf course or in the ice cream factory. I love competing.”

Flavors of the Nicklaus brand include Warm Spiced Butter Pecan, Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl, Salted Caramel Toffee, Strawberry Lemonade, Triple Chocolate, Coffee and Donuts and Homemade Vanilla.

Not only does this partnership put the Nicklaus name on a Schwan product, Nicklaus gets something out of it too, as Schwan has become a supporter of the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation that provides families access to world-class pediatric healthcare. The ice cream introduction extends the Nicklaus Companies’ efforts to introduce consumer products with a philanthropic tie-in. Beyond the ice cream pilot program in 2015, Nicklaus and his wife, Barbara, hope to tie in other children’s charities to sales of the product.

By all appearances, Nicklaus is thrilled with his relationship with Schwan’s. He said out of all his business ventures, he’s having the most fun with ice cream. He introduced the ice cream at the recent Honda Tournament where 40,000 scoops were handed out.

“I’m a connoisseur of ice cream,” Nicklaus joked. “It’s fun for me. It’s a great fit. You’re putting a smile on a kid’s face, and I love that. And Schwan’s will be a major, major part of what we’re doing for a long time.”

Dimitrios Smyrnios, who took over as CEO of The Schwan Food Co. in the fall of 2013, said any company would jump at the opportunity to work with someone so well known, whose name is synonymous with greatness.

“Everyone knows what he’s done in golf, but when you learn about how he’s lived his life, his value system it aligns very closely with the Schwan Food Company’s core values,” Smyrnios said. “As you know, the Schwan Food Company started as an ice cream company, so this was a pretty easy decision for Schwan’s to be affiliated with Nicklaus Companies.”

Nicklaus, who joined the Senior Tour in 1990, has joked that most people work all their lives so they can eventually stop and play golf, while he played golf his entire life, then stopped so he could go to work. And he takes his new venture very seriously.