Thursday's golden threesome of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer will draw great interest at both ends of Magnolia Lane.

Galleries ready for nostalgia will gather around the first tee today at 1:23 p.m. and Friday at 10:12 a.m. to watch the renowned Big Three play together for the first time in the Masters Tournament. They have a combined 13 Masters titles.

``We thought at the end of the 20th century we'd put three of the greatest players on the golf course together,'' said Will Nicholson, chairman of the Masters Tournament Competition Committee. ``And we thought it was a great tribute to them over the years they've been playing here for the 20th century.''

Down Magnolia Lane and across Washington Road, at The Clubhouse, organizers of a possible new golf course in neighboring Columbia County, called The Big Three Golf Club, are hoping to draw more attention because of the pairing. They are wooing possible corporate members all week for the proposed 27-hole course that will have each player design nine holes.

``I thought it was breathtaking,'' Big Three project manager Wayne Millar said Wednesday afternoon. ``But the recognition is well deserved for those players. We're very excited that it's happening.''

The Big Three project would be the first course the threesome has collaborated on, though they've been rivals since the early 1960s. The concept is unusual in that membership will be built on corporate interest. Millar is trying to assess the interest this week in close proximity to Augusta National, with videos of The Big Three matches from The Golf Channel playing and numerous pictures of the three together. In large part, Player's company is pushing the effort to build the course.

Millar says he hopes the project can return to The Clubhouse for the 2001 Masters with the news that work has begun. Millar said it was too early to predict a date for groundbreaking at the site 12 miles down Washington Road.

``I'd say I'm encouraged by our marketing efforts,'' Millar said.

Back on the grounds at Augusta National, Nicklaus and Palmer were jovial about the pairing.

``We've played together a thousand times,'' Nicklaus said. ``All of us are tired of looking at each other. No, we'll enjoy it. We'll have a good time.''

``The problem is, the first day we play at 1:23,'' Palmer said Tuesday. ``I go to bed at 5 o'clock, so we've got to play fast.''