The Harmon Teaching Dynasty Began at Winged Foot
Even casual golf fans have probably heard of Butch Harmon. Some know he coached Tiger Woods for a while. But most don’t know that Butch, as well as his brothers, got their start under the watchful eye of their father, Claude Harmon, Sr., who was once the head professional at Winged Foot, site of this year’s U.S. Open.
Claude Harmon, who, for the sake of simplicity, we’ll call Claude, Sr., was the beginning of a golf professional teaching legacy that has positively impacted the games of hundreds, perhaps thousands of golfers. His four sons, Butch, Craig, Dick and Billy, spread the word to even more golfers, including a gaggle of PGA Tour pros, from Lanny Wadkins and Craig Stadler to Brooks Koepka.
Claude, Sr.’s, love of the game began early. In the 1930s, he spent his days at Dubsdread, a course in Orlando where his parents had moved for their real estate investment business. He could play all year there. It was at Dubsdread that Claude, Sr., met Ky Laffoon who had come to the club for a tournament. Laffoon enjoyed the young Claude, Sr.’s enthusiasm for the game and offered him a position as an assistant at Northmoor in Chicago. It was the first stepping-stone to what would become a legendary career in golf. The offer was exactly what Claude, Sr., wanted at the time, and so he packed his suitcase and headed to Chicago where Northmoor was located.
Not long afterward, Laffoon left Northmoor, only to be replaced by another legend, Lighthorse Harry Cooper, a World Golf Hall of Fame member. For whatever reason, Claude, Sr., was paired with Craig Wood, a touring professional in those days, in a tournament. As it happened, Wood was also the head professional at Winged Foot. He offered Claude, Sr., a position as an assistant based on what Wood called the worst shot — a fairly comprehensive hook — he had even seen hit. Wood later taught Claude, Sr., what would become the staple of Claude, Jr.’s teaching: The left to right shot, otherwise known as the fade.
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So, in 1937, Claude, Sr., left Chicago for New York and dutifully became Wood’s assistant pro. What was even better for Claude, Sr., was that Wood won the Masters and U.S. Open in 1941. So that meant he was learning from a real golf expert.
When Wood retired his from his position at Winged Foot in 1945, it was decided that there was no one better than Claude Harmon, Sr., to replace him.
During these years, Claude, Sr., and his wife Alice were building a family of four sons and two daughters. The boys learned to love golf. They grew up with Ben Hogan watching them swing and with Jack Burke as a babysitter. The sons were Claude, Jr., who most people know as Butch, Craig, Dick and Billy in order of seniority, and they would eventually go on to carry the expertise learned from their father to help thousands more people get better at golf.
Claude, Sr., still played occasionally. A finish in the top 25 in the 1947 US. Open earned Claude, Sr., an invitation to the 1948 Masters. Amazingly, he won it, setting a new scoring record of 279 at the time, beating the next best player, Cary Middlecoff, by five shots. Winning the Masters carried a lot of cachet, even in 1948, more than a decade before it was declared a part of the modern Grand Slam by Arnold Palmer.
As head pro Claude, Sr., also hired some interesting assistants including Dave Marr, Jack Burke Jr., Mike Souchak and Rod Funseth, all of whom became PGA Tour professionals. Souchak set what was the lowest scoring record for 72 holes that stood for 46 years. Burke, won the Masters and US Open. Dave Marr won the PGA.
The Harmon boys grew and played their early golf at Wykagyl in New Rochelle, New York, according to an article in the New York Times. When they got to be teenagers and better golfers, they were allowed to be at Winged Foot.
In those days there was no such thing as video game entertainment. There was television. There was radio. However, what Claude, Sr., liked to do in the evenings with his sons, as it was explained to me by Butch Harmon (Claude, Jr.), was to watch film of golf swings of the top professionals at the time and throughout history. Claude, Sr., would point out the good parts, the bad parts and what made part A interfere with part B. The boys all learned what made up a good, even great, golf swing.
When they went out in the world, they all became club professionals, at least eventually. Craig Harmon became the head pro at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., which has hosted numerous U.S. Opens, PGAs and even the Ryder Cup. Craig taught Jeff Sluman, who won the 1988 PGA.
The late Dick Harmon became the head pro at River Oaks CC in Houston and then Director of Golf at Redstone. Dick taught a lot of PGA Tour pros. Craig Stadler, Steve Elkington, Fred Couples, Billy Ray Brown and Blaine McCallister were just a few of his proteges.
Billy Harmon, the youngest of the four, became a professional at different clubs from Newport, Rhode Island, to Indian Wells, California, and he also caddied for Jay Haas.
Butch was probably the most temperamental of the lot. He had a hard time with regimentation. He got frustrated with his golf game, once throwing not just a club, but the whole bag into a pond. Eventually, he left the University of Houston, joined the military and was stationed in Alaska for a while. He played golf in the armed forces.
After several years, he developed substance abuse problems and has said that he was “rescued” by his brother Dick. Finding his way back, Butch eventually became the golf pro at Lochinvar, a men’s club in Houston. He got a gig as an expert announcer on Sky Sports Golf telecasts which ran until he retired last year. And he started teaching high level players.
Whatever Dick did to help Butch turn his life around has paid dividends in terms of helping many to become better golfers through books and video and clinics and personal instruction. Professional golfers are notoriously the toughest to teach, and that’s where Butch became famous. PGA Tour players are difficult subjects because their teachers are never quite as accomplished as the students. It takes a very secure golfer to accept advice from someone who has not won on the PGA Tour. But Butch – and his brothers — have the personality and skill set and, most importantly, the “eye” to see what needs to be fixed. In addition, they have the skill to know what to do and what will actually work to make the player’s golf results improve.
Butch’s first big name student was Davis Love III whose game he helped after Love’s father was killed in an airplane crash. Then Butch was able to help Greg Norman, who had gone from 1st to 53rd on the money list, get back to the top.
Tiger Woods was a student of Butch’s through his U.S. Amateurs, and his first Masters victory and numerous other professional titles. Once they parted ways, he worked with Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, with Jimmy Walker before Walker won his PGA. He saw Rickie Fowler before Fowler won The Players. Soon he was on to Brooks Koepka and, with his son Claude III, helped Koepka get to back-to-back PGAs and US Opens. Those are just a few of his higher profile golf “students.”
Butch has turned over most of his coaching to his son Claude III, and so now a third generation of Harmon expertise is making golfers better players. This week, whether it’s DJ or Rickie Fowler or Tiger Woods or any one of the numerous golfers who have gone to a Harmon for game improvement, they may or may not know that it all started at the site of this week’s U.S. Open: Winged Foot. It will be interesting to see if any of the Harmon family of students is in the victory circle on Sunday.