Larry Mowry affirms that there are good golf instructors in metro Atlanta. But how many went head-to-head with legends Arnold Palmer and Gary Player in a tournament and won?
Mowry recently began giving lessons at the Lanier Golf Club driving range. His new resume as a teacher has a list of credentials that includes winning the 1989 Senior PGA Championship. He also won the 1987 Senior Pepsi Challenge, at Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell, with a closing-round 66 to defeat playing partners Palmer and Player. Mowry also has more than 100 mini-tour victories to his credit.
“I’m not going to say I’m better than anybody else, but I’m good,” the 75-year-old Mowry said. “I’ve actually won tournaments. For some reason, I see that as an advantage. I can actually say I’ve had to hit a shot when it really mattered, and if I flub it, I look like a jerk.”
A career in golf afforded Mowry a modest retirement in the Atlanta area for more than 20 years. However, the recent financial crisis and the economic aftermath pushed him back to the game to supplement his income. He has found a passion for sharing his knowledge of the golf swing with amateurs.
Mowry began working with two golfers to implement his system. It’s part Ben Hogan fundamentals, as passed down to Mowry from Hall of Famer Tommy Bolt, and his own work analyzing golf swings and other teaching methods. Much of his simplified approach revolves around an amateur’s right elbow position being too far from the body during the down swing. It’s a fault he sees in most golfers that cost them proper ball striking and power at impact.
A lesson with Mowry can last up to an hour and 45 minutes, part of which is spent collecting video. Mowry will send an unlisted link of the swing via YouTube complete with commentary that includes positive reinforcement and necessary corrections. A free refresher lesson follows after some time to reinforce the adjustments.
“They’ve worked on it, we’ve discussed it via e-mail, then they come back and show me what they are doing,” Mowry said. “That one thing has really put people across the finish line.”
Mowry has even used video via the Internet to give a lesson to someone in the Philippines. Lessons are by appointment only, and Mowry can be reached via e-mail at realtiger@gmail.com.
Perhaps the biggest key in instruction is making sure the golfer sees immediate success following a lesson. For the average golfer, the sport is not near the top of life’s priority list, according to Mowry, and the golfer wants to see reasonable improvement.
“I’ve been to at least a half-dozen golf instructors and spent a lot of money on it,” said Tom Gandolfi, one of Mowry’s first students. “The thing that had been the most frustrating for me was every time I went to a golf instructor I left worse than I came. ... What has been different with Larry is every time I come to see him I leave playing better than when I got here. For me, that’s instant gratification, and it’s really what the game is about.
“I don’t do this for a living. I wish that I could. I don’t. And I need to enjoy it. He has helped me enjoy the game a lot more, which is worth every bit of the time I put into it.”
Mowry, who never won an official PGA Tour event, won five times on the Senior (now Champions) Tour. He still plays one event, the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah with partner Bruce Devlin. The pair finished eighth in the Demaret Division of the event in April at 13 under par.
While he will always cherish his major title at the Senior PGA, the memories of that day on the 18th green at Horseshoe Bend Country Club are the fondest of Mowry’s golf career.
“I’ve got Gary Player and Arnold Palmer with their chins down on their chests putting out to get out of my way,” Mowry said. “I elbowed my caddie and said ‘Can you believe this?’ It was like dunking over Wilt Chamberlain or striking out Babe Ruth or knocking out Joe Louis.”
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