Mr. Palmer, It was an Honor to Meet You!

I never really expected to meet Mr. Palmer in his home office near Latrobe CC. Here is my story on how it happened and what the experience has meant to me.

It was one of those things were a seed is planted in your mind, germinates for a few years and suddenly sprouts out into your life and becomes a reality. I remember the media announcement at the 2012 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, the one where Keegan Bradley won a Major in his first Major, that Arnold Palmer was opening up a Springhill Suites near Latrobe CC. Guests would have access to play the childhood and adulthood (summer, Bay Hill Lodge & Club in the winter) home course of the legendary golfer. I made a note in my mind that day that hopefully one day I would get the chance to visit Latrobe, stay at the Springhill Suites and play Latrobe CC. Maybe even meet Mr. Palmer himself.

Earlier that year I had met Chris Rodell, a writer for Palmer’s Kingdom Magazine, on a fam golf trip to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. Long story short, we hit it off, my knickers and his crayons and kept in touch. Fast forward two years, the PGA Championship is at Valhalla outside Louisville, Kentucky. My next gig is at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in my hometown of Binghamton, New York. Okay, so En Joie is next door in Endicott, still the Triple Cities (including Johnson City) is my hometown. You do the Google Maps and see that to get from Louisville to Binghamton you pretty much pass right by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Something watered my brain a bit and the seed started to germinate.

I had built the two gigs and some golf travel stops into an ‘East Coast Golf Journey,’ which turned out to be a 5-week, 8-state/Commonwealth, 4,243-mile odyssey. Why a Commonwealth? Because I flew down to San Juan, Puerto Rico from JFK for the inaugural Caribbean Golf Merchandise Show. I shouldn’t just say ‘some golf travel stops’ as my visit to Cronin’s Golf Resort in the Adirondack’s and Sunny Hill Resort & Golf Course in the Catskills were quite extraordinary. With the DSGO a Friday start there was plenty of time to overnight in Pittsburgh. I was on it early in the week at the PGA which is long term planning for Andy’s Golf & Travel Diary as many of you who have hosted me well know.

The kicker came while working in the DIRECTV Par 3 broadcast booth with host Andrew Catalon (backed up by Grant Boone and Australia’s Luke Elvy) and analyst Billy Ray Brown (backed up by Rich Beem, Bobby Clampett and Brian Crowell) while researching some statistics on the best Club Professionals to play in the PGA Championship. There was Bob Ford’s name near the top of the list of ‘Most Appearances by a Person that Qualified as a Club Professional’ with 10. Wow, that is pretty impressive. Add in three U.S. Opens and making the cut in all three and you have a guy that can compete at the highest level with the best in the game. But his day job is Head Golf Professional at Seminole in the winter in South Florida and at Oakmont CC in the summer. Oakmont CC is outside Pittsburgh. Now there are two reasons to stop in Pittsburgh on the way home. The course was closed for maintenance but Bob set up a tour for me which was remarkable in of itself.

There are no appointments with Mr. Palmer, at least not for someone with my credentials, or lack there of. I had tried to work my magic at the Springhill Suites and Latrobe CC to no avail. When I arrived and met my friend Chris Rodell I learned why- it was the Steelers’ training camp at Saint Vincent College. Evidently football is big in Latrobe too? I sat next to a guy at the bar wearing a Super Bowl- retired Wide Receiver Coach of the Green Bay Packers Jimmy Robinson. In 2010, Robinson’s final season in Green Bay, the Packers won Super Bowl XLV, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 31-25. Wasn’t this Steeler Country? Yes and he was here to play golf and visit with his Steeler coaching friends. Plus he was waiting for a room to open up that never did, even with the help of Arnold’s brother Jerry Palmer. We both had to find shelter elsewhere.

My friend Chris Rodell introduced me to Mr. Palmer, brother Jerry. Often times you find in golf the low key brother slightly behind-the-scenes is just like the public brother except, for whatever reason, he did not excel to the same level on the world stage golf course as his brother. Brothers support and love one another and sometimes the lesser known brother is the driving force behind the other brother’s success. I remember my first World Golf Hall of Fame Induction in 2009 when Lanny Wadkins called out his younger brother Bobby for doing just that. Ditto for Curtis Strange and his identical twin brother Allan. I know it to be true for Chi Chi and his younger brother Jesus Rodriguez. Jerry Palmer is a heck of a guy and not just because he invited Chris and I to visit the Palmer home office the next day.

From the moment we drove up the hill and Chris started pointing out the buildings, that’s Winnie’s House, that’s the house where Arnold and Kit live and there’s the home office time slowed down to barely moving and became completely surreal. Jerry greeted us at the door and introduced us to a few staff members and began to take us through memorabilia.  This was historic and as well preserved and displayed as the World Golf Hall of Fame where I volunteer. We could hear Arnold stirring and talking a bit in his office and then Jerry asked if we would like to meet him. I smiled immediately and said yes that would be a great honor. I learned my lesson at Kenny Perry’s Country Creek on the way to the PGA. Mr. Perry, Kenny’s father asked me if I wanted to meet his son. He had stopped in to regrip his clubs after winning in Minnesota and before heading up to Valhalla. I deferred since I did not want to distract him from his craft. I didn’t want to distract Mr. Palmer from his business either but I did not want to miss out on a lifetime opportunity to meet and say hello to the King.

I have to admit I was quite nervous though prepared with some questions if he cared to let me interview him on camera. The opportunity never arose and I did not ask. Since I failed to pack any dress shoes I wore my knicker outfit with some nice matching Vecci gold tipped blue and white shoes. Actually it worked out well. Mr. Palmer was as gracious and kind as ever with his smile, gestures and warm greeting. He got up and came out from behind his  desk for a picture. I spoke of my father, the son of a dirt poor coal miner in eastern Pennsylvania who came to golf at an early age as a caddie at Scranton Country Club. My father loved golf and Arnold Palmer and I loved all three growing up at Ely Park Municipal Golf Course in Binghamton, New York. I showed the King my hickory shafted putter made in 1899 in Binghamton by the ‘Golf Goods Manufacturing Company.’ We had a nice little chat and Mr. Palmer also needled Chris about something in the Kingdom. five days later Mr. Palmer would have pacemaker implant surgery at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Jerry continued the tour into Arnold’s club workshop which was just as big as his office which was huge. I have never seen so many putters in one place, not even a golf store. Chris called it the ‘putter wall.’ Jerry spoke with humble pride about his brother’s life and accomplishments though I knew he was speaking of their father and even his own life. As Mr. Palmer would readily acknowledge nobody gets to where he got to alone. His parents, his brother and two sisters, Winnie and Kit, family and his faith and his inner drive earned him the success he so richly deserves. Jerry reminds me of George Bailey in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ who is the solid character who quietly earned all there is to be in life too. The Palmer family with the King leading was, still is and will always be the face of American golf in my opinion.

Just when I thought I had seen it all, Jerry suggested we take his golf cart down to ‘the barn.’ Talk  about a treasure trove of golden golf memorabilia! There was the  club aisle, tractors, shoes and artifacts hung on the walls to 20 feet high. Jerry talked and Chris and I listened. There were so many stories that I could not take notes fast enough. It seemed in a matter of about three hours we went from the birth of a golfing legend to today, his 85th birthday! I couldn’t thank Jerry enough for the courtesy, honor and privilege of receiving such a gift of gratitude. It was a memorable Wednesday morning for sure!

Chris and I headed over to tour Latrobe CC. The author of seven books, including his latest one, ‘Use ALL the Crayons! The Colorful Guide to Simple Human Happiness,’ Rodell is an affable and poignant man. I still chuckle at the last scene of him in my mind. Latrobe CC which was closed  for a fundraiser for Timothy “Tim” F. Murphy, the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district, since being elected in 2002. After seeing a good bit of the golf course and meeting Head Golf Professional Randy Bisi we meandered over to the first tree to see the old Penn Oil tractor. Everyone else was out on the golf course and we see the United States Congressman on the practice putting green. He comes over and I shake his hand and say hello. Chris, without a hesitating breath, starts right in on issues that are important to him and his family and the Latrobe community. At first I laughed but then realized this is our system of government in action. Congressman Murphy is the only elected official in our federal government that is also a practicing health care professional. We spoke of the Robin Williams tragedy and he shared a true insight that when someone feels hopeless, even when there is hope, it is necessary for someone to step in and help them. I like that guy and would vote for him if I lived in his district. Yes, Chris is a poignant crayon story teller, motivation speaker and future political interviewer.

You know I didn’t stay at the Springhill Suites or play Latrobe CC but it was one of the best days of my life!