Dow Finsterwald’s 93 years of wisdom, Masters stories and more

Dow Finsterwald always called me “guy,” as in “you know, what I mean, guy?”

Everyone else when we talked was simply a “fella,” as in “that fella over there can really swing it,” he’d say as we walked the range at Bay Hill during the Arnold Palmer Invitational studying the pros in action.

Finsterwald died on Friday at age 93. He was a sweetheart of a guy and one helluva fella.

I wrote a story about his enduring friendship with Arnold Palmer that spanned seven decades. The three of us sat in Palmer’s office at Bay Hill as Palmer thumbed through his mail. He held a copy of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover aloft and told Finsterwald, the 1958 PGA champion,  and me, “Look who’s going to be here.”

Palmer’s face lit up as he explained that model Kate Upton would be attending his March tournament, visiting the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, and discussing their plans to do a commercial together in support of Arizona Iced Tea’s Arnold Palmer, his refreshing drink.

That’s when Finsterwald interjected and said, “No offense, Arnold, but I think she’s going to sell a lot more tea than you.”

I dug up the transcript from the interview that followed and it’s chock full of wisdom from a man who lived quite the life in the game – PGA Tour and major winner, Ryder Cup captain, Masters and USGA official, PGA board member, director of golf at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, pal to Palmer and the list goes on and on. I asked him once to share some stories from life on the road traveling with The King and he said, “Not sure I can tell them. Good clean fun and a lot of it.”

Dow Finsterwald celebrates after winning the 1958 PGA Championship. (Photo: Associated Press)

“In 1944, I followed the Cincinnati Reds on the radio. I’d listen to the former Yankee Waite Hoyt and keep a box score. I was a fan. There was a Donald Ross 9-hole course in Athens, Ohio, near where I lived. They needed someone to sweep the locker room, hose down the shower, and open the place. My father said if you do a good job and save your money you can go to the World Series this fall. It came September and I didn’t go to the World Series. I bought a set of MacGregor golf clubs. You might say baseball got me into golf.”

A friendly “tug-o-war” is enacted by PGA Championship finalists Lionel Hebert and Dow Finsterwald on July 20, 1957, in Dayton, Ohio.

“I was still in college,…