GOLF: The Business and the Game

MOE NORMAN AND THE MASTERS

Now that he is gone, the late Moe Norman, the eccentric Canadian golf pro, gets more recognition than he ever got while he was alive. I have a little guilt about appreciating his greatness myself, because I had a whole summer with the greatest ball striker ever and didn't realize it.

I was a member of the Canadian PGA, and pro manager of a golf center in Peterborough, Ontario. My boss at the time was PGA Pro, Bert Turcotte, who was considered the first real golf business entrepreneur in Canada. Moe Norman worked for Turcotte's company, Eglinton Golf Enterprises, at the time and Bert thought it would be good publicity for his fledgling golf center in Peterborough for Moe to 'play' out of the golf center. So I saw Moe every day during the 1964 golf season. I even played a few rounds with him - just the two of us. Moe and I played Peterborough's Kawartha Golf Course, par-70. He was never over par. Always somewhere between 60 and 65. 

So, Moe came into the Peterborough golf center every morning and hit hundreds of balls, then left to play Kawartha Golf Course on the other side of town. He always had a Coke in his hand. Picking the range after his practice sessions - up to 500 balls - was easy, because it took about three passes of the ball picker to bring them all back. In fact, it looked like someone dumped a 500-ball bucket of balls in one spot. Later in the day Moe would disappear somewhere, then show up on the range next morning. He never spoke much, except to razz me about one thing or another.  

Moe kept his entire life in the trunk of his car - a Cadillac - even his cash! 

But this is about Moe Norman’s one-time participation in the Masters. I heard the truth directly from the man in the middle of the controversy, the late Sam Snead (May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002).

Sam Snead and me at Homestead in '99

Back in 1999 I was invited to Homestead for a business meeting with Anne Snead and his son Sam at the Homestead in West Virginia. While there we got to hit balls on the range with Sam Snead himself. I had a chance to talk to Mr. Snead and I mentioned I had a year with Moe Norman as my playing pro in 1964 in Canada. Sam did a double-take and told me he believed Moe to be the best golfer ever. I asked what he (Sam) knew about Moe’s withdraw from the Masters. This is what Sam Snead told me;

“On the night before the first round Moe and I talked about the golf swing and I gave him a tip about the grip. Moe went to the practice tee and hit balls all night. The next day his hands were raw and bleeding so badly he could not play.”

History says Moe Norman played nine holes on the first day of the 1957 Masters and withdrew. He never played there again.

Too bad, because Lee Trevino, a golf legend himself, said in an interview that, “Moe Norman should have won every major tournament in the world.”    

Anyway, there’s confirmation of what Sam Snead told me on a CBC program: http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/sports/golf/on-the-ball-canadas-golfing-greats/moe-norman-my-way.html.

I would love to hear anyone’s experiences playing or watching Moe Norman. I will repeat them here from time-to-time. However, be advised; Most people don’t believe half the stories about Moe, because they are unbelievable. But in my experience after a year with Moe Norman, I can believe them! 

Mike