These are stories and results of meetings and clinics done with Moe Norman.
By Jack Kuykendall
Moe Norman stories:
1). Moe and George Knudson use to practice together a lot. They did not putt. They just kept track of fairways hit, green hit in regulation, and flag sticks hit. It cost $20 every time you missed a fairway or a green and you received $100 for each flag stick hit. Moe hit 6 one day.
2). Moe has hit 3 flag sticks in a row, all outside a five iron.
3). In 1966 Moe played in 12 Canadian PGA Tournaments. He won five and he came in second five times. He averaged 17 fairways and 17 greens in regulation. He had a scoring average of 68 strokes around, the lowest single year stroke average of any one to ever play the game.
4). In the 50's, Moe was practicing on the range when Ben Hogan was practicing. He asked Mr. Hogan if he would watch him hit some shots because he had heard that Mr. Hogan had said that a straight shot is an accident. Moe hit the first shot and said to Hogan, " There's an accident.". Moe hit the second shot and said, " There's another accident." After about 45 ball with same result, Mr. Hogan walked up to Moe and said, "Son, just keep hitting those accidents."
5). Moe has 17 holes in one.
6). Moe had 3 holes in one in one day. In the late 1950's, Moe would play 54 to 72 holes a day. One particular day including 54 holes, Moe had a hole in one each round, the longest being a 3 wood and the shortest a 6 iron.
7). One hole in one of note came after Moe had lost a tournament the week before with a four putt on the 18 hole. A reporter caught up with Moe on the 11 hole, 245 yard par 3. As Moe was about to hit, the reporter yelled out, "Hey, Moe, doing any 4 putting today." Moe hit his driver and turn around while the ball was still in the air and said, "Not putting today." The ball went into the hole.
7). Moe has over 40 course records, 3 with scores of 59 and 4 with scores of 61. He shot his last 59 at the age of 62 at the Rockway Golf Club in Kitchner, Ontario, Canada.
8). Moe has always entertained when he played golf. On one of the course records, he needed a par on the last hole to set the record. He had never played the course and asked the professional accompanying him what club should be used. The professional answered that is was usually a driver and a 9 iron. So, Moe hit the 9 iron first and then he hit the driver within 10 feet and sank the putt for a birdie.
9). In a round with Sam Snead, there was a hole that had a creek about 240 yard from the hole, and every one else laid up in front of the creek. Moe pulled out the driver and Snead said, " Moe you can't clear the creek with a driver." Moe replied, " Not trying to. I'm going across the bridge." The ball rolled across the bridge.
10). Lloyd Tucker was Moe's first instructor. He gave Moe a club and told him when he could hit it to let him know and he would take a look at his swing. When he first saw Moe swing, he did not try to change his swing. He warned Moe against others because his swing was different. Tucker recognized ball striking ability and did not mess with Moe mechanics.
11). Moe had a three shot lead going into the 18 hole of tournament. The other two players were discussing great sand players as they were walking up the 18 fairway and Moe's name was not mentioned. Moe's second shot was about 3 feet from the pin. When the players arrived on the green, Moe hit his ball into the trap, blasted to within 3 feet, sank the putt, won the tournament, and walked up to the other two players and said, " I'm the best sand player you've every seen and my name goes on the top of your list."
12). Moe, and many amateurs sold there prizes for money. Moe would sell the prizes before the tournament started. On five occasions, the person did not want first prize, but second prize. Moe came in second five times on purpose. He had to be one less than the winner and one better than third.
13). For practice, before the start of the tournament, at 6 A.M. in the morning, at Tomoka Oaks course in Daytona Beach, Moe hit six ball of the first tee. Ken Venning, a professional friend showed up soon after and saw that three balls were touching and three others were close by.
14). Moe turned 50 in 1979 and won the next seven Canadian Professional Golfer's Association senior championships. He came in 2nd in number 8 and won the 9th by 8 strokes.
Moe Norman's perceptions and phrases used in clinics with Jack Kuykendall
Moe Norman wants the public to know the Moe Norman of today. The Moe Norman who has studied for years to understand the golf stroke. Moe was born on July 10, 1929.
Moe's thoughts and statements
1. Knowledge
2. Psychology of Learning
3. Sincere enthusiasm for teaching
4. Ability to reach a level of communication with the student.
5. No confusion in the presentation.
I see a claw of my right hand at the top of my backswing and see this claw going under the ground at impact and grabbing the ball and taking it to the flag stick. I see the claw grab the flag stick and lift it out of the hole and I see the ball go in the hole and then I set the flag stick back in the hole.
Buckle, sit, slide, and bump.
Stabilize, energize, contain, release.
Most amateurs, strike, steer, stare, and stall.
The golf ball is my friend. He always goes where I want him to.
If they had a tournament in the dark, I'd be the only one who could play. I'd know where to walk.
Golf is hitting an object to a defined target area with the least amount of effort and an alert attitude of indifference.
Let your body enjoy the shot. Let it enjoy the shot. That's the biggest word, let.
(On the golf ball); We're great friends... He always goes where I want him to go!
The club and ball don't have any feelings.
What's the worst position in golf? "Moe drops a ball from shoulder height" (inferring out of bounds)
Jack Kuykendall 1st meeting with Moe
The first meeting I had with Moe was with Ron Horton and Scott Hazledine. I went through my Scientific Explanation Manual and when I finished, Moe pulled several rolls of paper from his pocket,threw them on the table and said, " Take these, you may be able to help someone."
I unrolled the paper and it was a series of very old 16mm photographs. I asked what they were. Ron Horton responded with, " Those are pictures from 1963. Moe has been carrying them around for over 25 years. Moe shows them to anyone who wants to see his best swing ever."
Moe then said to Jack, " All my life I've wondered why I could hit a golf ball the way I can. You are the first person who could explain it to me. "
At lunch that day, Moe first question was, " What can I do to get better?"
Craig Tarbeck was at the lunch and asked Moe when he knew he was as good as he is. Moe answered, "When I was 19. I had the feeling of greatness. I knew I could hit a golf ball where I wanted it to go for the rest of my life."
Quotes from tour players and others
Why did Moe not succeed on the world tours and why isn't his name all over the record books?
The answer lies in Norman's personality. He suffers from an inferiority complex so pervasive that it's kept him out of the mainstream of golf. George Knudson once said in a dinner line that Norman was second to none in ball-striking. He didn't know that Norman was behind him; Norman started to cry, so much respect did he have for Knudson's opinion, so little belief in himself. "He is, "Knudson said, "the most sensitive man I know."
After he won the 1956 Canadian Amateur in Edmundton, New Brunswick, Canadian sportswriter Hills Pickens described him as "a strange, highly gifted fellow who hit the ball with such supreme indifference to Norman's grace yet almost made a travesty of its well-know difficulty."
Peter Dobereiner claimed in the Observer in 1984 that Norman is the greatest of the golfers he knows who deliberately chose not to become champions.
If you happened to be a youngster beginning golf, he would give you all the time you wanted. He loves children. He is in many ways a child himself, a prodigy who was never meant for an adult world that he perceived as hostile.
Ken Venturi: Pipeline Moe was coined by Ken Venturi in 1963. Venturi said,"if you laid a pipeline down the center of the fairway, Moe's shots would be right down the pipeline."
Lee Trevino, "I do not know of any player who could strike a golf ball like Moe Norman, as far as hitting it solid, knowing where it's going."
Gary Player,"Norman's swing has fewer moving parts than any swing I've seen."
Tom Watson,"I'll tell you about a guy who can hit it better than anybody. His name is Moe Norman, up in Canada."
Sam Snead,"He has the best hands in golf."
Peter Jacobsen,"This mysterious figure is the most talked about golfer when conversation among tour pros turns to the game's greats."
John Redman,"Here comes the best ball striker that ever lived."
Paul Azinger,"I watched him hit drives at the 250 yard sign and he never hit one more than 10 yards left or right of the marker."
"Wally Uihlein, the chairman and chief executive officer of Titleist and Foot-Joy, based in Fairhaven, Mass., said yesterday that the company will pay Canadian golfing legend Moe Norman a monthly stipend for the rest of his life. Uihlein also said that Titleist will finance a video that will show people that Moe belongs in the same category of Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Byron Nelson as a ballstriker." Globe and Mail, Canada - January 1995
Nick Faldo, " I can't believe you can be the same speed with every club through the ball". July 1995 at a skins game in Canada.
Moe Norman Tournament Victories
1955 Canadian Amateur
1956 Canadian Amateur
1966 Quebec Open
1966 Manitoba Open
1966 Willow Park Classic, Calgary
1966 Saskatchewan Open
1966 CPGA
1966 2nd Ontario Open
1966 2nd British Columbia Open
1966 2nd Maratime Open
1966 2nd Alberta Open
1966 2nd 12 Best overall players
1966 only 12 tournaments played.
2 CANADIAN P.G.A.
3 MANITOBA OPENS
3 ALBERTA OPENS
2 ONTARIO OPENS
1 ATLANTIC OPEN
2 SASKATCHEWAN OPENS
8 CANADIAN SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
3 ONTARIO SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
11 FLORIDA WINTER TOURS
2 FORT McMURRAY OPENS