Moe Norman: The greatest ball stricker theres ever been?

blackwaterfish

If theres been a Moe Norman thread before, apologies.

Only heard of this guy recently. If half the claims in this tribute are true... he was a very rare talent.

Now i dont mean this in any way to be demeaning about Moe or any other individual who has a disability. But i read somewhere that Moe's friends & family suspected him to be austistic. Now ive no idea if this was in fact true or if he was ever diagnosed to have any kind of condition. but, thinking ahead to the olympics and then obviously the special olympics... will we see more people like Moe, ie incredibly gifted individuals, take up a club and do the kind of things that would lead someone of the status of sam snead to say "he's the greatest ball stricker the world has ever seen" - which snead incidentally said about Moe.

Or was Moe just a one-off, which makes him all the more incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8bphcoEGc4

Also heres a viral ad campaign for Drambuie about Moe. Altho theres a smell of sensationalism offof this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu6FvJy7deM

VikingG

Good clip.... very strange stiff looking swing though... funny that he quit the pga tour for his own home tour... hearing more about that lately as well

L.O.F.T

blackwaterfish wrote: »

Was Moe just a one-off, which makes him all the more incredible

Without a doubt he was a one off. I first came across him 4 or so years ago and what prompted me was when Tiger Woods said that he knows of only two golfers that ''owned their swings'' and they were Moe Norman and Ben Hogan. He has an incredible record when you look at some of the stats; 50 Canadian tour wins, 17 Holes in one, 9 double eagles and 3 rounds of 59.

VikingG wrote: »

funny that he quit the pga tour for his own home tour...

It's not funny, he did quit the PGA Tour but it was only after he was effectively run off the tour by the governing body the PGA and was constantly belittled by fellow pro's for carrying his own bag and doing things differentially. It's a sad story but indicative of life that others are threatened by those that are different and those that break the mould.


Another insight to Moe Norman when he was interviewed for Golf Digest:

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/myshot_gd0411

kagni

Good article here that explains some of the reasons behind his sometimes "odd" behaviour -- http://failuremag.com/index.php/feature/article/moe_norman/

L.O.F.T

kagni wrote: »

Good article here that explains some of the reasons behind his sometimes "odd" behaviour -- http://failuremag.com/index.php/feature/article/moe_norman/

Good find Kagni, I didn't know this:

''He even has several disciples, including Natural Golf pro Todd Graves (who he has dubbed “Little Moe”), and Shawn Clement, who is competing on the Canadian PGA Tour playing left-handed and right-handed—even numbered clubs left-handed, odd numbered clubs right-handed''

stockdam

I heard of Mo about 10 years or so ago.

His swing has been much studied and it's been called the One Plane Swing. It's simple and repeating but not for me.

His swing thoughts are simple and can be found here.


http://www.caddybytes.com/M_Norman.jpg

WHIP IT!

I read an article about him before and it was fascinating. A prodigious ball-striker. A story went, he was giving a clinic one day and was hitting wedge shots one after the other. Nothing unusual about that until people realised he was landing one ball almost literally on top of the other, hitting the same six square inches of grass one after the other.

I also believe he struggled on the greens and often resorted to putting with a 3Iron? Apologies if any of that was in the above vids/links, I havent looked at them just yet.

MisterAnarchy

He was a phenomenon and a great character.
I remember watching him say that he had the same golf tee for 9 years .Due to his clean ball striking he hit the ball off the tee without ever moving it or breaking it.
He gave a loan of the tee to an amateur in a pro am and the amateur broke it on him !
He would often tee off on a short par 4 with a wedge and hit a driver into the green.

Sam Snead played an exhibition match with Ed (Porky) Oliver and Moe Norman in Toronto in 1969. On one par-4 hole, a creek crossed the fairway about 240 yards from the tee. Norman, reached for his driver.
"This is a lay-up hole, Moe," Snead warned him. "You can't clear the creek with a driver." "Not trying to," Norman said. "I'm playing for the bridge." Snead's and Oliver's tee shots ended up safely on the near side of the water. Norman's drive landed short and rolled over the bridge to the other side.:D

Almaviva

The Moe Norman Story - a myth that left reality far behind.

The Moe Norman legend has taken on an extraordinry life. A combination of a few true facts meant that he never had to deliver in performance, and imaginations could run wild as to how good he was. This type of stuff:

WHIP IT! wrote: »

he was landing one ball almost literally on top of the other, hitting the same six square inches of grass one after the other.

Truths:
- he was an unusual and shy personality
- he did not compete on any regular top class basis and so measurements to his true performance do not exist
- his swing was highly unorthodox (a key factor in the golf world with all golfers looking for the 'secret')
- yet he undoubtedly hit the ball very well.

But take for example a certain Mr Woods. Say racism was still rampant in the US and he could never play in a pro event or major. But you could go see him at some driving range hitting balls for tips. Imagine the legend that would grow : 'longest hitter there has even been', 'every swing is a perfect copy of the previous one', 'like a machine', 'if he could play on tour he would win absolutely every tournament - including every major!', 'he lands one ball almost literally on top of the other'....

Exageration is unrestrained when there is something that prevents a fact really being tested.

Almaviva

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

"Not trying to," Norman said. "I'm playing for the bridge." Snead's and Oliver's tee shots ended up safely on the near side of the water. Norman's drive landed short and rolled over the bridge to the other side.:D

Same thing. These wondrous stories are endless.

MisterAnarchy

Almaviva wrote: »

Same thing. These stories are endless. Dont mean to press the analogy too much but is this one the 'walked on water' equivalent ?

That story is true.
Lee Trevino,Sam Snead,Vijay Singh,all regarded him as the best ball striker of all time.
Do you think people like that would make those comments unless there was some truth ?
Lee Trevino said of Moe, "I don't know of any player, ever, who could strike a golf ball like Moe Norman, as far as hitting it solid, knowing where it is going and knowing what he wants to do with the ball. Moe Norman is a genius when it comes to playing the game of golf."
I guess you are more knowledgeable than them.:rolleyes:

blackwaterfish

lets not compare jesus to moe

stockdam

blackwaterfish wrote: »

lets not compare moe to jesus... im mean seriously.... at least moe went on 2 dates... that other fella?... what a waste!

You could have left it at the first phrase......the rest was uncalled for.
Let's keep religious comments out of a golf forum.

Whyner

Fact or fiction, fascinating story...I'm going to take a further look into him, nice thread.

franbe

they are trying to make a movie with ribisi

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000610/

Jul3s

franbe wrote: »

they are trying to make a movie with ribisi

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000610/

Yea I heard they are getting Steve Stricker to play Moe, because he's the greatest stricker there's ever been.

Adiaga 2

Jul3s wrote: »

Yea I heard they are getting Steve Stricker to play Moe, because he's the greatest stricker there's ever been.

Wondered when someone would pick up on that..

franbe

Jul3s wrote: »

Yea I heard they are getting Steve Stricker to play Moe, because he's the greatest stricker there's ever been.

i guess its going to be a tear jerker then

nosco

Almaviva wrote: »

But take for example a certain Mr Woods. Say racism was still rampant in the US and he could never play in a pro event or major. But you could go see him at some driving range hitting balls for tips. Imagine the legend that would grow : 'longest hitter there has even been', 'every swing is a perfect copy of the previous one', 'like a machine', 'if he could play on tour he would win absolutely every tournament - including every major!', 'he lands one ball almost literally on top of the other'....

Exageration is unrestrained when there is something that prevents a fact really being tested.

Em, not too far off the mark!

G1032

stockdam wrote: »

I heard of Mo about 10 years or so ago.

His swing has been much studied and it's been called the One Plane Swing. It's simple and repeating but not for me.

His swing thoughts are simple and can be found here.


http://www.caddybytes.com/M_Norman.jpg

Them simple repeating swings are a curse alright...............

Whyner

G1032 wrote: »

Them simple repeating swings are a curse alright...............

I'm guessing it doesn't suit him and not that he doesn't want a repeating swing you old wise ass

Have you seen his swing? Anyone who has played for any length would find it very difficult to copy his swing...

franbe

every swing is simple and repeating after 4,000,000 balls

mr.mickels

blackwaterfish wrote: »

If theres been a Moe Norman thread before, apologies.

Only heard of this guy recently. If half the claims in this tribute are true... he was a very rare talent.

Now i dont mean this in any way to be demeaning about Moe or any other individual who has a disability. But i read somewhere that Moe's friends & family suspected him to be austistic. Now ive no idea if this was in fact true or if he was ever diagnosed to have any kind of condition. but, thinking ahead to the olympics and then obviously the special olympics... will we see more people like Moe, ie incredibly gifted individuals, take up a club and do the kind of things that would lead someone of the status of sam snead to say "he's the greatest ball stricker the world has ever seen" - which snead incidentally said about Moe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8bphcoEGc4

I had seen that clip, the first time they show Moe talking about his little robot makes him sound like a nutter, but thats cos it isn't shown in the context he is talking, if you hear all that speech the robot remarks make alot more sense, actually quite surprising to hear it from him. He uses that poem about the robot to illustrate the point that people stop listening to their own hearts about what they want to do, and instead are being driven by their fears, in golf terms its like the guys who are thinking of all the danger off the tee instead of looking at the centre of the fairway!!! The robot is your mind being influenced by negative thoughts. The whole speech is very interesting and a bit unusual.

I don't think Moe was disabled like they suggest, from what I have learned of him he was just a very stubborn and determined man who refused to make any compromises, if he had made the compromises he would have had a fine career on the PGA Tour, but he preferred not to mix in that company.

jimbling

Wow, what an interesting character.... can't believe I'd never heard of him.

mr.mickels

Drambue did a tribute to him as well for some reason

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu6FvJy7deM