At the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida, the spirit of the man himself remains alive and seemingly as energetic as Palmer himself.
Fans will pose for photos in front of the big bronze statue of Palmer near the first tee, a bag of his golf clubs will sit on the spot where he liked to hit balls on the club’s practice tee and the multi-colored umbrella logo will shine like the Florida sun through the week.
Palmer died September 25, 2016, at age 87, but his impact on the game remains immense. For decades Palmer was more than an ambassador for the game. He was its conscience, as well.
Maintaining Palmer’s legacy and extending his impact on golf are reasons why the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation is launching a capital campaign entitled “Sincerely, Arnold Palmer” this week to enhance Latrobe Country Club in Palmer’s hometown in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and create a Palmer-centric experience that honors and celebrates who he was, what he did and the lives he touched.
The campaign’s name comes from the way Palmer, who won seven major championships among 62 PGA Tour titles in a World Golf Hall of Fame career, would sign the thousands of personal notes that he would write to people.
“It’s the best way we can be caretakers of his personal legacy, which we define as this remarkable American life, his love for golf, his love for people, his character, his personality, the (‘Arnie’s) Army,’ ” said David Normoyle, who is part of the group spearheading the initiative. “We need to keep sharing these stories and carry it forward to new generations.”
Late last year, the Palmer family donated Latrobe Country Club to the foundation. It’s where Palmer’s late father, Deacon, started as the greenskeeper, where Palmer learned the game and where he kept a home throughout his life. Palmer’s ties to the small western Pennsylvania town and its golf club were essential parts of his story.
The goal is to share Latrobe Country Club and Palmer’s life with his fans while extending his story to future generations.
“It’s a real story. It’s an American place of history,” Normoyle said. “Arnold Palmer lived an American life of global significance. He loves golf, and he loves people. It’s not much more complicated than that.”
The plan will provide upgrades to the golf course at Latrobe Country Club (where Palmer helped construct the second nine holes in 1964), build cottages where guests can stay, plus exact replicas of his office and workshop, and put Palmer’s enormous collection of artifacts and memorabilia in an onsite barn with enough space to host events there.
"If Latrobe fails to be 50 years from now the kind of place you can experience the way he did, I think the game of golf will have lost something."
David Normoyle
Currently, Palmer’s collection – which includes more than 14,000 golf clubs and hundreds of other items from his life and career – is housed in a maintenance building at the club. The goal is to create a more user-friendly site to celebrate a career that changed more than golf.
Palmer was the first athlete to win both the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“He’s the son of a greenskeeper who ended up owning the club,” Normoyle said. “He was someone who completely redefined what it means to be a professional athlete. He may have won four green jackets, but he never lost his blue collar.”
For more information about the “Sincerely, Arnold Palmer” campaign, click HERE.
“To truly understand him, we have to return to Latrobe,” Normoyle said. “If Latrobe fails to be 50 years from now the kind of place you can experience the way he did, I think the game of golf will have lost something. It helps you understand this person the way no book or film can.
“At no time since his passing in 2016 has golf come together to say thank you. We’re ringing the bell for Mr. Palmer.”
Ron Green Jr.