THE HARMONS

Lessons handed down

The Harmons are now deep into their third generation of guiding and shaping the world’s finest golf swings. The foundations were laid by Claude Harmon during golf’s post-war boom, largely working from Winged Foot Golf Club, New York, before all four of his sons—led by the eldest, Butch—became PGA professionals in their own right. Today, Butch’s son Claude III is established as one of the leading coaches on the PGA Tour.

Eugene Claude Harmon was born in Florida in 1916. He was a teenage golf prodigy and refined his game and teaching skills as assistant professional to Craig Wood at Winged Foot. Wood won the Masters and U.S. Open in 1941 and seven years later Harmon was a major champ himself, matching the Masters scoring record of the time by posting 279, nine under par, to win in 1948. Harmon remains the last club pro to win a major.

Claude “Butch” Harmon Jr. was born in 1943 and was followed by three brothers: Craig, Dick and Billy. Butch earned global acclaim as the coach who guided Tiger Woods through the transition from being the best junior golfer in the world to arguably the finest golfer the world has ever seen. Harmon was by Woods’ side while he won the “Tiger Slam,” taking all four majors in a row—if not in the same calendar year—in 2000-2001.

Second-born Craig Wood Harmon, named after his father’s mentor, served as head professional at Oak Hill GC, New York, for 42 years, following closely in his father’s footsteps. Butch has described Craig as “the finest golf professional I have ever known”.

Dick owned his own golf school in Houston and coached a number of major champions, including Fred Couples and Craig Stadler, before dying unexpectedly of a heart attack in 2006. Bill, who Butch describes as “without a doubt, the most talented junior golfer in our family,” is also a successful PGA pro and established an academy at Toscana Country Club in Palm Springs. He combined teaching duties with caddying for Jay Haas on tour.

Butch, now 78, teaches from his academy at Rio Secco GC, Las Vegas, while his elder son Claude III racks up the air miles on tour. Claude III has worked with a pair of world number ones already—Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka—as the Harmon legacy continues.

THE WOODS

When the name is Woods

The key shaper in the respective careers of global superstar Tiger Woods and genial journeywoman Cheyenne Woods was the late Earl Dennison Woods, Sr. The Green Beret colonel’s role as father, mentor and motivator to Tiger is well documented, but what is less well-known is how much of an inspiration he was to his granddaughter Cheyenne.

Brought up with two older brothers in Phoenix, AZ, Cheyenne spent a tomboyish childhood honing a variety of athletic skills, from dance and track & field to volleyball. Growing up, Cheyenne paid frequent visits to the California home of her grandfather right up to his death in 2006, when she was 15. “I was only on the course with my grandfather maybe a handful of times,” she says. “Neither of my parents played golf, we didn’t know anything about it. At first my mum and I didn’t even know what a driving range was, so we’d just go to the local park and hit balls in the grass. But my grandfather was the one who guided me through junior golf and told me what events to play in.”

As for Tiger, while she was growing up she mainly saw him at Scottsdale when he played in the Phoenix Open. Her clearest memory dates from 1997, shortly before he won the first of his 15 Majors, when he holed in one at the 16th in front of the loudest gallery on Tour. “During the week of that tournament, we’d go and see my grandfather and Tiger, say ‘Hi!’ and spend a bit of time with them. I was there for his hole-in-one—that was huge.” Now 31, she plies her trade on the Symetra Tour while her once all-conquering uncle continues his recovery from a serious auto accident in February.

THE THOMAS FAMILY

Pathway to the PGA Championship

Major champion and Ryder Cup star Justin Thomas is the son of a PGA club professional, who is also the son of PGA pro. Thomas was destined for a life in golf but the dividends for all those free lessons and range buckets have been stellar.

Like so many before him and since, Paul Thomas embarked on a life in golf because it was a way of making money as a kid. He would walk the four miles from home to Avon Fields GC, Cincinnati, to caddie from the age of 10 and play the odd round on Mondays with a spare rental set. He left school early because the family needed him to earn and became an assistant pro as a teenager. Thomas’ career path was set and he eventually settled at Zanesville CC, Ohio, where he served as head pro for more than 25 years. He could hold his own in elite playing company, playing in the infamous 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont, when local hero Arnold Palmer ultimately fell to the young upstart Jack Nicklaus. Thomas would find more joy later competing on the Senior Tour, again teeing up with Palmer and Nicklaus.

Mike Thomas is the second of Paul’s four sons, and after a decorated amateur career at state level in Ohio, Mike eventually became the long-term head pro at Harmony Landing CC, Louisville. Here the stage was set for his son Justin, born in 1993. The members saw the talent and welcomed the budding star into the fold. Mike gave the lessons while grandfather Paul was the playing partner, storyteller and provider of inspiration.

Thomas turned pro in 2013, joined the PGA Tour in 2015 and won for the first time the following year. In 2017 he became the eighth son of a PGA professional to win the PGA Championship—at Quail Hollow. He added the Players Championship to his resume earlier this year and played in the Ryder Cup for the second time.

Grandfather Paul died in February aged 89, prompting Justin to write on Instagram: “Heaven got a good one yesterday. Wish you were still here to tell me how many putts I missed on days like yesterday! Nobody’s voice would make me happier when I would hear it on the phone. Will love and miss you, G Pa”.

“You could tell when he was seven, eight, nine, 10 years old, he had something,” Paul Thomas once told PGATour.com of his grandson. “You could tell that there was a big possibility there.”

THE STADLERS

The Walrus & cub

Craig and Kevin Stadler, the Walrus and his cub, affectionately nicknamed Smallrus, are as distinctive a ‘father and son’ as can be found in golfing captivity. Stadler the elder, now 68, stamped his passport to immortality with his Augusta National triumph in 1982 and an additional 12 PGA Tour titles. Just before turning 50, he said in no uncertain terms he thought the Champions Tour “sucks” and he wouldn’t be queuing up for any “pension checks”. Untrue to his word, he duly showed up soon after and won nine times, most recently in 2013, and to this day he’d probably still walk into any field of seniors he wanted to.

Meanwhile, the career of Stadler the younger was more of a slow burn before he finally won at the 239th attempt in 2014 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. That year, the Stadlers became the first father and son to play in the Masters and Kevin distinguished himself on his debut by tying for eighth. Kevin was an aficionado of anchor putting back then, but when the rules police pounced he reverted to left-handedness. To say he hasn’t been heard of since is a little unfair, but not entirely wide of the mark.

THE PALMERS

Arnold Palmer learned the game from his father, Deacon, who also was a superintendent and head pro at Latrobe Country Club, where Arnold was raised and where he learned the game. Arnold’s brother, Jerry, studied agronomy and likewise was LCC’s superintendent and general manager, while Arnold’s daughter Amy Palmer Saunders continues to oversee his companies and PGA Tour event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Her son, Sam Saunders, learned golf from his dad, Roy, and from his grandfather, and today is a PGA Tour golfer. Sam’s cousins Anna and Will Wears played golf at Wake Forest and Loyola, respectively, and today Will is an assistant golf coach at his alma mater.