Truckee, Calif. ? The 18th hole at Old Greenwood rises softly up a hillside, with breathtaking views of Mount Pluto behind it. The fairway climbs past lavish mountain homes to a picturesque green in front of a spectacular clubhouse.

Right now, the 18th itself is a morass of loose dirt, trees and irrigation pipe. The splendor is in Jack Nicklaus’ mind — and in the notebooks of his designers on this arid hillside in the Sierra Nevadas, just a few elevation-aided tee shots from Lake Tahoe.

“I really enjoy this part of the process,” said Nicklaus, who parlayed his peerless golfing career into a thriving course-design business. “Designing is really just common sense. You apply what you know to what you see out here, and you try to make something that people can enjoy.”

Nicklaus pours most of his passion for golf these days into designing courses, not playing them. When it opens next summer, his latest venture — located east of Truckee, a thriving ski town 30 minutes west of Reno — will be just the second public course designed by the Golden Bear in the Golden State.

Nicklaus’ design company has created 260 courses open for play in 27 countries at last count.

The 63-year-old did a bit of everything on a recent trip to Truckee, where he surveyed the site of Old Greenwood for the second time.

“I’m a busy guy, but that’s all right,” Nicklaus said. “I enjoy that.”

Though younger men might shrink from the challenge, it was a fairly typical Monday for Nicklaus, who shot a 69 in the final round of the U.S. Senior Open last month before flying to his vacation home in Vail, Colo., on his private jet.

After rolling up to Old Greenwood in an SUV, Nicklaus stepped into the back of a large pickup truck. In addition to a handful of developers and engineers, he was joined by Jim Lipe, Nicklaus Design’s top mind, and Chris Rule, the onsite manager of the project.

Nicklaus leaves much of the nuts-and-bolts work to his employees. But he has plenty of thoughts on the subject that has become another passion ever since he won the last of his 18 major titles at the 1986 Masters.

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus, second from left, discusses plans during a tour with, from left, Chris Rule, the on-site designer; Jim Lipe, senior designer with Nicklaus Design; and Roger Lessman, an owner and developer of the Old Greenwood golf course. The course was under construction during the tour June 30 near Truckee, Calif.

“One thing you learn is that you shouldn’t ever design a golf hole for a tree,” Nicklaus said, drawing chuckles from his team. “A group of trees, that’s fine. But if you lose that one tree, you’re dead meat.”

Dodging bulldozers and cranes working amid the aging pines, the truck rolled out to the first tee, where Nicklaus chats with Rule — a former Ohio State golfer who became a course designer.

At the second hole, Nicklaus engages Lipe and Rule in an animated discussion about the difficulty of the long, rolling fairway on the par 5. Nicklaus proves to be a staunch advocate for the average golfer.

“Will that be too easy?” Rule wondered about one suggestion.

“If you’re going to make this a public golf course, people have got to be able to get to where they want to go,” Nicklaus said. “I’m trying to get the weekend guy to have it a little bit easier.”

Nicklaus personally opens about 15 golf courses every year — something he describes as his favorite part of course design. He’ll be back in Truckee three more times before Old Greenwood opens in July.

After shaking every hand and signing every autograph, Nicklaus hopped back in the SUV for a ride back to his jet — and a dinner date with his wife, Barbara.

“You don’t get an opportunity to work on a beautiful piece of property like this very often,” Nicklaus said. “So when you do, you want to do your best.”