Moe Norman

Very few names in golf history will elicit more intrigue than that of Moe Norman. I sincerely doubt that you can name drop another non-major winner’s name that can turn as many heads. Tiger Woods once said that only two golfers ever owned their swings and those two golfers were Ben Hogan and Moe Norman. In this week’s newsletter, I will do my utmost to pull back the curtain and take a look at Moe Norman’s greatest competitive round, I’ll share the famous story of Norman and Hogan on the driving range, and dive into his golf clubs’ spec.

Moe Norman’s Greatest Competitive Round

In 1956 some of the best amateurs in Canada and the United States gathered at Club De Golf Fraser Edmundston for the 52nd playing of the Canadian Amateur Championship with all eyes on the quirky defending Canadian Amateur Champion from Kitchener, Ontario - Moe Norman.

Moe Norman played outstanding golf to get to the semi-final match, but nobody had any idea what they were about to witness. It would be a round of golf that Norman later in life, claimed was his best competitive round.

The defending amateur champion would face off against American, John Miles over 36 holes of match play. The winner would have a shot the very next day at winning the 1957 Canadian Amateur Championship.

Like many great rounds, Moe’s started off on the wrong note when Miles claimed the first hole with a birdie. While not an actual quote from the match, I can picture Norman in his unusual repetitive cadence saying, “One down, one down, but not for long.” For the record he didn’t say that, but he did win the next five holes with a blitz that went par, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie.

In what must have seemed like a heart beat, John Miles went from one up to four down.

Now it’s entirely possible that Miles was caught off guard by the fast talking, fast walking and even faster playing Norman who seemingly hit the ball in the same motion in which he took the club from the golf bag. In the words of many during his career, “if you blinked you missed it.” If you didn’t know Moe Norman and his personality, you might jump to the conclusion that his act was gamesmanship, but it wasn’t - Moe just never saw the point in slowing his game down - for Norman it was always golf at a gallup.

How fast did Moe Norman play? At one point during the semi-final match Moe putted while Miles was picking his ball out of the hole and Moe’s ball rolled between Miles’ legs and into the hole! There was another moment that spooked Miles a bit more. Miles after hitting his tee shot, took three steps forward to retrieve his tee. Just as he started to stand up he heard Norman’s golf ball whiz by his ear. 

The referee for the match, Colin Rankin exclaimed to Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) President Jim Anglin about the furious speed of this match that he “better have a stretcher at the 18th for me if I make it that far, I won’t be able to walk a step further.” 

President Anglin who kept the card said of Moe’s round, “Moe hit the ball so straight that he didn’t miss a green that morning round. I told him that if he had played against Hogan, Snead and Nelson they couldn’t have beaten him best ball.”

In words of the vanquished John Miles, '“I was two under par in the morning round, but I was seven holes down! Moe carded 9 pars and 9 birdies. He finally beat me 7&6.”

The only thing that hurt Moe Norman was his impatience for the putting game. In the process of winning his second Canadian Amateur in a row the very next day, Moe had played 61 holes between the semifinals and the finals and made 22 birdies. He also had 11 eagle putts and not one of them dropped. 

It was perhaps the finest performance by an amateur in the history of the Canadian Amateur, and yet, when the newspapers wrote about Moe Norman’s accomplishment the next day many called him by his unflattering nickname, the “Kitchener Klown.” 

Despite the nickname, Moe would later recall this triumphant semi-final as the best tournament round he had ever played. Strong words from the golfer who recorded three rounds of 59 in his lifetime.

“Just keep hitting those accidents.” - Ben Hogan

Ben Hogan and Moe Norman didn’t have the chance to play much golf together, but for Moe’s very short stint on tour. But there is one story that will live in golf infamy - the day Hogan watched Moe Norman hit balls on the range.

One day while playing in the same event, Moe Norman found himself set up next to Ben Hogan on the range (my guess is that both of them wanted to be on the far right of the range so people would leave them alone). Moe apparently had heard that Hogan told someone that anyone who hit a straight ball, did so on accident. So Moe asked Hogan to take a look at his swing.

Every time Moe struck the ball he would say to Hogan, “Oh look there is an accident. There’s another one. There’s an accident!” - Straight shot after straight shot.

After watching for a bit Hogan shook his head and exclaimed, “Moe just keep hitting those accidents.”

Moe Norman’s Golf Clubs & Specs

Moe Norman’s golf club specs:

Driver and Fairway Woods

Moe had his driver and fairway woods lengthened an inch and a half. Each wood was covered in lead tape to increase the swing weight to E3 (11 swing weights heavier than standard).

Moe’s driver total weight was 16 ounces or about 40% heavier that today’s standard overall weight (9-9.5 ounces).

Irons and Wedges

Moe’s 3 iron through 6 iron were all standard length with their swing weights modified to E3.

Moe’s 7 iron through his wedges were all lengthened one inch with their swing weights modified to E3.

Additional Information:

• Moe Norman’s shafts were all XX Stiff and were tipped at the bottom to make them even more stiff.

• The Woods and Irons were stacked with lead tape, but to counteract the extra lead weight added to the heads, Moe would also layer his grips with lead tape.

*Club specs compliments of MoeNorman.com- a great website for more information on Moe Norman.

Moe Norman Factoid:

Did you know that Moe Norman was said to have had 17 hole in ones in his life!!!