By JOHN LENTZ

Staff Writer

Those not fortunate enough to have obtained a free ticket to tonight's lecture by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus will have a second chance to (almost) attend.

Moore County School officials have announced that the auditorium at Pinecrest High School will host live streaming of the event at the Robert E. Lee auditorium beginning at 7:30 p.m. Nicklaus is scheduled to speak at nearby Sandhills Community College, where he will share the stage with Jaime Diaz, senior writer for Golf Digest magazine.

Titled "A Conversation on Golf," the event will be the first Ruth Pauley Lecture of the 2012-2013 season.

"As a board member with the Ruth Pauley Lecture Series, I attended a meeting in which we (the board) discussed the possibility of live streaming the event, since many people were unable to obtain tickets," said Moore County Schools Superintendent Aaron Spence.

"Because Pinecrest has the largest auditorium in the area, and because we always strive to be good community partners, I asked the schools' chief technology officer, Tony Tuso, if this could be done. He said yes, and plans are now under way to project the event on screen in the Pinecrest auditorium."

Last week, 480 tickets for the event were given away at three area locations: Given Memorial Library in Pinehurst, Sandhills Community College, and The Country Bookshop.

Large numbers of Nicklaus and Diaz fans stood in line in the hope of receiving tickets, but many left disappointed when supplies became quickly exhausted.

With each person in line able to get two tickets, all three venues reported tickets were gone within the first five or 10 minutes.

Some tickets also were held back for special guests.

Seats at the Pinecrest auditorium will be "first-come, first-served" Spence said. No tickets are necessary.

The Robert E. Lee auditorium has a capacity seating of 1,300.

Pinecrest is located off of U.S. 15-501, at 250 Voit Gilmore Lane in Southern Pines.

Contact John Lentz at (910) 693-2479 or jlentz@thepilot.com.