One of my favourite golf stories

[Scaldy]

Moe Norman did an interview with Golf Digest and here's part of that.

 

In the 1980s and early '90s I went through another hard time. The Canadian tour lost its sponsor, and for a while I had to sleep in my car. Then I went to the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. I was at the Titleist booth when Mr. [Wally] Uihlein, the CEO, walked up to me. "I see you're still wearing our visor and wear our FootJoy shoes," he said. "You've played our ball for 40 years. Has anyone done anything for you?" I told him nobody had done anything, and that I'd never asked. Mr. Uihlein said, "Give me your hand." He gave me a handshake and said, "You're going to get $5,000 a month from us for the rest of your life." That was a big help. Between that and the start of the Natural Golf teaching program, I opened my first bank account.

[kujosit]

Thanks for sharing... $5,000 in the 80s/90s was substantial.

[ebrasmus21]

Moe was a legendary ball striker right? But, he never found financial success on tour?

[Vardon Grip]

That's a good story. Thanks for sharing.

 

Feel bad for Moe, pro golf is hard.

[bladehunter]

always one of my favorite stories too..... several others ive heard of Mr Uilhein regarding local folks around the Mass area...

[PGArox]

Moe was a legendary ball striker right? But, he never found financial success on tour?

 

Let's just say that Moe wasn't cut out for that type of life.

[BenHoganSlam1953]

Moe was a legendary ball striker right? But, he never found financial success on tour?

 

Let's just say that he did not fit the image of the tour at the time and was told so by the tour and a few players ... he may or may not of made it ... the lifestyle is hard and the competition is fierce.

[ebrasmus21]

Moe was a legendary ball striker right? But, he never found financial success on tour?

 

Let's just say that Moe wasn't cut out for that type of life.

Moe was a legendary ball striker right? But, he never found financial success on tour?

 

Let's just say that he did not fit the image of the tour at the time and was told so by the tour and a few players ... he may or may not of made it ... the lifestyle is hard and the competition is fierce.

 

Care to elaborate? I know nothing of Moe other than people marveled at his swing.

[BenHoganSlam1953]

Moe was a legendary ball striker right? But, he never found financial success on tour?

 

Let's just say that Moe wasn't cut out for that type of life.

Moe was a legendary ball striker right? But, he never found financial success on tour?

 

Let's just say that he did not fit the image of the tour at the time and was told so by the tour and a few players ... he may or may not of made it ... the lifestyle is hard and the competition is fierce.

 

Care to elaborate? I know nothing of Moe other than people marveled at his swing.

 

I read (may have also been in a video I watched) an interview he did a while back where after he was trying his hand at the tour he was approached by the tour officials and a few players about his approach to the sport (his dress, mannerism, and willingness to play differently to entertain the crowds - putter, wedge, driver from tee to green and still make par) as the tour had an image to uphold for the sponsors and such. Being his nature he took it to heart and quit the tour ... however, the fact was that he was having problems with the speed of the greens, especially at Augusta when he played, so one can never know if he could have figured out the greens eventually - I would like to think so.

 

Some of the old footage from his first Masters is pretty sweet - nothing at all like the swing people associate him with.

Fact is, even the Royal Canadian Golf Association was afraid of him embarrassing them (has the game really changed that much even today at the $$$ level) ...

 

He used to be a regular fixture at the Canadian Open on the practice range each year until the event asked him to not come anymore (I believe it was image related again as he was likely living out out his car at the time). Imagine some of the world's best golfers getting ready for the tournament, all standing around, watching him hitting balls on the range - the best of the best - they all stopped practicing to watch this rough-kept nobody hit balls who wasn't even in the top professional tours.

 

This article is a good read : https://moenorman.or...played-augusta/

I'll see if I can get the interview he did a while back - what I learned from it has helped my game quite a bit, as well as, help me understand just how much golf meant to him and that he only wanted to play his game, his way.

[NCLancer]

I enjoyed this book very much as I learned just how complicated Moe's life was. Great read...

 

 

 

[cardoustie]

Spent time with him on three occasions. Once when I was 17 or 18 at a big junior tourney and hung with him on the putting green and range. You had to spend a little time with him to understand his "quirks"

 

He was almost "Autistic / Socially Awkward" on some level but he was hit in the head by a car bumper when tobogganing as a kid, so it could've been that

 

One of my college golf teammates was the Asst Super at the course he hung around at all summer up here in Canada. I've told a few of these stories on wrx before

 

Best one is him walking in after 4 holes. He was saying the game was "tooo easy .. tooooo easy today." He'd hit the first 4 pins. This is not hyperbole

 

He had a unique sing songy higher pitched voice and said everything twice. He had to like you to talk with you a little and being buds with the Asst Super helped. He also prefered talking with younger golfers, better players and juniors . .me being mid 20's and a former university golfer was a good combo for him

[ebrasmus21]

Spent time with him on three occasions. Once when I was 17 or 18 at a big junior tourney and hung with him on the putting green and range. You had to spend a little time with him to understand his "quirks"

 

He was almost "Autistic / Socially Awkward" on some level but he was hit in the head by a car bumper when tobogganing as a kid, so it could've been that

 

One of my college golf teammates was the Asst Super at the course he hung around at all summer up here in Canada. I've told a few of these stories on wrx before

 

Best one is him walking in after 4 holes. He was saying the game was "tooo easy .. tooooo easy today." He'd hit the first 4 pins. This is not hyperbole

 

He had a unique sing songy higher pitched voice and said everything twice. He had to like you to talk with you a little and being buds with the Asst Super helped. He also prefered talking with younger golfers, better players and juniors . .me being mid 20's and a former university golfer was a good combo for him

 

Lol walked in after 4 holes. Man, I've never even dreampt of hitting four flags in a row.

 

 

Sounds like a very interesting guy. Maybe almost like a golfing autistic savant?

[cardoustie]

This other range story was good when I was kid, tells you a bit about him and his mind

 

I asked him on the putting green (where, by the way, he worked on the EXACT same uphill 15 foot putt for 30 mins with 3 balls) how he hits fades and draws. He goes on and on about changing his grip strength "weaken the hand for a fade, that's all I do, all I do" "Strong right hand for a draw, see, strong right hand, that's it, that's it, so simple, so simple" etc

 

Another kid asks the same question during the range session and he said "just change my stance, change my stance .... open it for a fade, close it for a draw. that's all, that's all"

 

By the way he could hit draws and fades on command even with a driver off the deck. And when I say on command .... if he wanted 40 yards of hook he had it bang on, 10 yards of fade, right on point. It was a sight to see live for the first time. Especially when he rotated back and forth. He could also control trajectory like a champ.

 

This would have been 1984 I believe. Kind of an eye opener. I'd been to Canadian Opens and played with lots of CPGA pro's in Pro Junior events but this was at a far FAR different level, coming from a fella with a very different personality. It struck a chord. FWIW, my head pro back in the day was a Florida State grad and no slouch by any means

[ebrasmus21]

This other range story was good when I was kid, tells you a bit about him and his mind

 

I asked him on the putting green (where, by the way, he worked on the EXACT same uphill 15 foot putt for 30 mins with 3 balls) how he hits fades and draws. He goes on and on about changing his grip strength "weaken the hand for a fade, that's all I do, all I do" "Strong right hand for a draw, see, strong right hand, that's it, that's it, so simple, so simple" etc

 

Another kid asks the same question during the range session and he said "just change my stance, change my stance .... open it for a fade, close it for a draw. that's all, that's all"

 

By the way he could hit draws and fades on command even with a driver off the deck. And when I say on command .... if he wanted 40 yards of hook he had it bang on, 10 yards of fade, right on point. It was a sight to see live for the first time. Especially when he rotated back and forth. He could also control trajectory like a champ.

 

This would have been 1984 I believe. Kind of an eye opener. I'd been to Canadian Opens and played with lots of CPGA pro's in Pro Junior events but this was at a far FAR different level, coming from a fella with a very different personality. It struck a chord. FWIW, my head pro back in the day was a Florida State grad and no slouch by any means

 

Your story had me laughing, thanks for sharing.

[Stonewalled]

Moe Norman did an interview with Golf Digest and here's part of that.

 

In the 1980s and early '90s I went through another hard time. The Canadian tour lost its sponsor, and for a while I had to sleep in my car. Then I went to the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. I was at the Titleist booth when Mr. [Wally] Uihlein, the CEO, walked up to me. "I see you're still wearing our visor and wear our FootJoy shoes," he said. "You've played our ball for 40 years. Has anyone done anything for you?" I told him nobody had done anything, and that I'd never asked. Mr. Uihlein said, "Give me your hand." He gave me a handshake and said, "You're going to get $5,000 a month from us for the rest of your life." That was a big help. Between that and the start of the Natural Golf teaching program, I opened my first bank account.

 

The Globe and Mail wrote an article about Moe. This part of the article describing what they found in Moe's car speaks of someone who just loved Golf.

 

 

 

On the morning that Canadian golf legend Moe Norman died, Gus Maue was asked to go through his good friend's belongings.

In the pants pockets of the 75-year-old Norman, Maue found a couple of Titleist golf balls, three or four tees and a watch. In the trunk of his car, he discovered more than 1,000 golf balls, most of them Titleist Pro V1s, rolling around loosely, 10 pairs of golf shoes, two to three sets of irons and $20,000 in cash hidden throughout the Cadillac.

Norman hated banks.

 

[ebrasmus21]

Moe Norman did an interview with Golf Digest and here's part of that.

 

In the 1980s and early '90s I went through another hard time. The Canadian tour lost its sponsor, and for a while I had to sleep in my car. Then I went to the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. I was at the Titleist booth when Mr. [Wally] Uihlein, the CEO, walked up to me. "I see you're still wearing our visor and wear our FootJoy shoes," he said. "You've played our ball for 40 years. Has anyone done anything for you?" I told him nobody had done anything, and that I'd never asked. Mr. Uihlein said, "Give me your hand." He gave me a handshake and said, "You're going to get $5,000 a month from us for the rest of your life." That was a big help. Between that and the start of the Natural Golf teaching program, I opened my first bank account.

 

The Globe and Mail wrote an article about Moe. This part of the article describing what they found in Moe's car speaks of someone who just loved Golf.

 

 

 

On the morning that Canadian golf legend Moe Norman died, Gus Maue was asked to go through his good friend's belongings.

In the pants pockets of the 75-year-old Norman, Maue found a couple of Titleist golf balls, three or four tees and a watch. In the trunk of his car, he discovered more than 1,000 golf balls, most of them Titleist Pro V1s, rolling around loosely, 10 pairs of golf shoes, two to three sets of irons and $20,000 in cash hidden throughout the Cadillac.

Norman hated banks.

 

 

 

 

Would have loved to seen him play and hear him speak. Sounds like a truly interesting man.

[staffbagpro]

Thanks for sharing... $5,000 in the 80s/90s was substantial.

Is 5k a month not a lot today? Not everyone is a big baller

[Scaldy]

Here's a little more info. on the original story from the Globe and Mail.

 

 

In Moe & Me, I relate a conversation I had during the 2011 Masters with Wally Uihlein, Titleist's chairman and CEO. Titleist gave Moe $5,000 a month during the last years of his life, which Uihlein referred to as a "back-end scholarship" during our discussion in the clubhouse at Augusta National. Uihlein was emotional while speaking about Moe, and said that Moe was the only golfer Titleist ever tested who had zero sidespin on the ball. Later I spoke with Karen Gray, Titleist's supervisor of research. She watched Moe hit balls during testing.

"To this day I've never seen anything like it," Karen told me. "I couldn't believe that he could hit shots with zero sidespin. You don't see robots with zero sidespin."

[ebrasmus21]

Here's a little more info. on the original story from the Globe and Mail.

 

 

In Moe & Me, I relate a conversation I had during the 2011 Masters with Wally Uihlein, Titleist's chairman and CEO. Titleist gave Moe $5,000 a month during the last years of his life, which Uihlein referred to as a "back-end scholarship" during our discussion in the clubhouse at Augusta National. Uihlein was emotional while speaking about Moe, and said that Moe was the only golfer Titleist ever tested who had zero sidespin on the ball. Later I spoke with Karen Gray, Titleist's supervisor of research. She watched Moe hit balls during testing.

"To this day I've never seen anything like it," Karen told me. "I couldn't believe that he could hit shots with zero sidespin. You don't see robots with zero sidespin."

 

Didn't even know that was possible.

[Rob McHugh]

Here is all you need to know about Moe Norman, he shot 59 when he was 62 - fact.

 

(As an added bonus - once after a practice round with Ben Hogan they were asked to go around again with a couple of members but declined saying they hated playing out of their own divots ha ha ha).

 

Rob from Sydney

[ebrasmus21]

"The ball goes dead-straight every time." Oh my, Moe has me laughing in this video.

 

Move to 3:10 to see and hear Moe talk about the swing.

 

 

 

This video is pure gold. Please you guys, watch this video and listen to Moe as he answers questions.

[lowheel]

Moe Norman did an interview with Golf Digest and here's part of that.

 

In the 1980s and early '90s I went through another hard time. The Canadian tour lost its sponsor, and for a while I had to sleep in my car. Then I went to the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. I was at the Titleist booth when Mr. [Wally] Uihlein, the CEO, walked up to me. "I see you're still wearing our visor and wear our FootJoy shoes," he said. "You've played our ball for 40 years. Has anyone done anything for you?" I told him nobody had done anything, and that I'd never asked. Mr. Uihlein said, "Give me your hand." He gave me a handshake and said, "You're going to get $5,000 a month from us for the rest of your life." That was a big help. Between that and the start of the Natural Golf teaching program, I opened my first bank account.

 

The Globe and Mail wrote an article about Moe. This part of the article describing what they found in Moe's car speaks of someone who just loved Golf.

 

 

 

On the morning that Canadian golf legend Moe Norman died, Gus Maue was asked to go through his good friend's belongings.

In the pants pockets of the 75-year-old Norman, Maue found a couple of Titleist golf balls, three or four tees and a watch. In the trunk of his car, he discovered more than 1,000 golf balls, most of them Titleist Pro V1s, rolling around loosely, 10 pairs of golf shoes, two to three sets of irons and $20,000 in cash hidden throughout the Cadillac.

Norman hated banks.

 

 

 

 

Would have loved to seen him play and hear him speak. Sounds like a truly interesting man.

 

He rarely played later in life. He literally lived on the range and would talk to anyone who would listen to him wax poetic in his own quirky way. As everyone here says he was very socially awkward and obviously suffered from something at that time undiagnosed. The last time I saw him in person was 1996. He laid 2 towels down at around 175 yards if I recall and proceeded to hit 10 5 irons in a row. 7 landed in the 2 beach towels the other 3 were 2 feet outside the towels. He was pissed he missed the 3! He played a 340 yard par 4 as an exhibition in reverse. He teed off with if I remember a wedge then hit a 3 wood on the fringe of the green. He said “this is how I played on the tour”. Quite the character and tremendous talent.

[lowheel]

 

[AndersUK]

I find Moe’s story one of the saddest in sporting history. Best ball striker ever, most likely. Most accurate, most definitely. I don’t think there was any other player in history that could strike a golf ball with absolute confidence and zero negative considerations, not even Hogan. He could hit a golf ball to a target with the same level of certainty as you or I carrying out a ridiculously simple task such as folding a piece of paper in half.

 

Phenomenal ability hidden from the masses because of obvious mental fragility. An awful upbringing combined with a potential brain altering accident and other factors meant he was socially uncomfortable at best and more often than not socially terrified, particularly in the presence of large audiences.

 

Moe explains that his family discouraged his love for golf. Not only did he never receive any support or encouragement but he was oppressed and bullied on his endeavour. Furthermore, Moe reported that not one member of his family ever saw him play.

 

Ask Rory if he would be where he is today without the support of his parents? Or, ask Phil if he would have won this weekend if none of his family had ever made the effort to see him play, ever?

 

Moe lacked much needed support from his family and the Tour, thus he developed into a loner. The guy just wanted to play golf and be accepted. Even though he sometimes spoke in riddles and contradictions, in his mind he was right and now and then it would have been nice to have been validated on his thoughts and ideas rather than ridiculed and cast out.

 

Moe, you find golf easy and want to tee off with a wedge and follow up with a driver, go right ahead my friend.

[cardoustie]

Yes the Maue family owned Foxwood GC, 27 hole facility in Western Ontario. Gus's kids could really play, one of the sons Danny played at Ohio State and roomed with John Cook

 

The other son Mark played the Canadian Tour and I played a few scrambles with him. He was one of the longest natural hitters I've ever seen, surreal. He hit the best shot I have ever seen in my life to this day

 

You could always find Moe at the end of the bar with a coke and french fries

[Stonewalled]

Moe Norman did an interview with Golf Digest and here's part of that.

 

In the 1980s and early '90s I went through another hard time. The Canadian tour lost its sponsor, and for a while I had to sleep in my car. Then I went to the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. I was at the Titleist booth when Mr. [Wally] Uihlein, the CEO, walked up to me. "I see you're still wearing our visor and wear our FootJoy shoes," he said. "You've played our ball for 40 years. Has anyone done anything for you?" I told him nobody had done anything, and that I'd never asked. Mr. Uihlein said, "Give me your hand." He gave me a handshake and said, "You're going to get $5,000 a month from us for the rest of your life." That was a big help. Between that and the start of the Natural Golf teaching program, I opened my first bank account.

 

The Globe and Mail wrote an article about Moe. This part of the article describing what they found in Moe's car speaks of someone who just loved Golf.

 

 

 

On the morning that Canadian golf legend Moe Norman died, Gus Maue was asked to go through his good friend's belongings.

In the pants pockets of the 75-year-old Norman, Maue found a couple of Titleist golf balls, three or four tees and a watch. In the trunk of his car, he discovered more than 1,000 golf balls, most of them Titleist Pro V1s, rolling around loosely, 10 pairs of golf shoes, two to three sets of irons and $20,000 in cash hidden throughout the Cadillac.

Norman hated banks.

 

 

 

 

Would have loved to seen him play and hear him speak. Sounds like a truly interesting man.

 

 

 

Moe left the world of golf a better place with his uncanny ability and love of Golf.

 

Would have loved to have seen him hit a few.

 

Always nice to read the personal stories from people that had the chance to meet and play with Moe.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[ebrasmus21]

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Moe could work through 50 balls in no time at all. The camera guy could hardly keep up with all those shots.

[AceCatKY]

I find his story fascinating. Was he essentially told his "style" wasn't welcome or told to at least change it, and with the mental state he had he just decided to not be on Tour?

[ry1808]

Didn't Tiger once say "I want to own my swing like Moe Norman" or something along those lines?

[Scaldy]

I find his story fascinating. Was he essentially told his "style" wasn't welcome or told to at least change it, and with the mental state he had he just decided to not be on Tour?

 

He didn't have any support on the PGA Tour, after one tournament a PGA player and several Officials cornered him and told him to stop his erratic behaviour and basically to tone his quirks down. It upset him so much he never went out to another PGA event. On the Canadian tour people let him be and even supported his differences. They were welcoming and he had a support system of both players and officials. I would love to have seen what he could have done if the PGA Tour was a little more inclusive at that time.