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A monthly column from the NYSGA’s Executive Director, Bill Moore

I think every golfer has met a few people along the way who greatly influenced their love of the game.  My parents, of course, gave me my start and put a club in my hands at a very young age.  They joined Bellevue Country Club in Syracuse in 1986, signed me up for the junior golf program, and some would say the rest is history.

Of course that isn’t the whole story, but if they hadn’t decided to join Bellevue some forty years ago I wouldn’t have met the Head Golf Professional at the club, Jerry Steelsmith.  Jerry moved to Syracuse in 1970 after playing on the PGA Tour and spent the next 36 years at the club.  He gave me my first job in golf when I was 15 - I got $6 a night to pick the range ($10 if the other kid didn’t show up) and I also got to hit all the balls I wanted for free.  I was living the dream.

Let’s just say I also spent a lot of time hanging around the Pro Shop.  A LOT.  I am sure there were times he probably wished I had taken up tennis instead.  Luckily for me, I eventually wore him down and we became good friends.  We traveled to the Porter Cup to watch the best amateur golfers in the country and caught some LPGA action at Locust Hill.  He gave me  countless free lessons.  He taught me all those little things that make a difference to your golf score - how to get out of trouble, how to play in the wind, and most importantly how to manage my way around a golf course.  He was always willing to lend a hand when I was struggling with my swing, although he did eventually give up on my chipping - but that was a lost cause anyway.

He was a reluctant storyteller, but he had great stories about his days on Tour and even before that as a top amateur golfer.  He won the Southern California Amateur in 1955, and won the All-Army Championship in 1959.  He was a runner-up five times on Tour, and he competed against the greats.  Played in 5 major championships and made the cut in every single one.

Golf came so naturally for him.  He would pick up some random wedge around the Pro Shop and the second he put his hands on the grip it was just perfection…like he was born to hold a golf club.  I have always subscribed to the theory that there are two kinds of people who play golf.  Those who love their game, and those who love THE game.  The SteelPro was definitely the latter.  I was so lucky to be the recipient of so much of that knowledge.  He was just the best.

We lost my friend Jerry Steelsmith this week at 88.  My heart goes out to his family and especially his wife Gayle, who made that move from sunny California to not so sunny Syracuse 54 years ago.  Thanks for sharing him with me - the game won’t be the same without him.

Bill

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