The Houston and U.S. golfing communities are in shock this morning with the news that Dick Harmon — one of the four brothers who are among the best golf instructors in the United States — died unexpectedly on Friday morning from complications of pneumonia at Eisenhower Hospital in Palm Desert, California after he had been rushed to the hospital early Friday morning. Dick, who was 58 years old at the time of his death, was in Palm Springs working with current PGA Tour player, Lucas Glover.
Dick Harmon’s name is synonomous with golf in Houston. His late father, Claude, was a famous teaching pro at New York’s Winged Foot Golf Club and Florida’s Seminole Golf Club, and Claude was the last teaching pro to win the Master’s Golf Tournament (in 1948). My golf club in Houston — Lochinvar Golf Club — has always had a close relationship with the Harmon family and, in the final ten years of Claude’s life, he was the pro emeritus at Lochinvar. Claude’s green jacket from his Master’s victory still hangs in a special display case in the Lochinvar clubhouse.
After Claude’s death in 1991, Lochinvar attempted to hire Dick away from his longtime position at Houston’s River Oaks Country Club, but when Dick declined, he recommended that the club hire his older brother, Butch Harmon. Lochinvar did so and, seemingly overnight, Butch was using the Lochinvar facilities to teach such phenomenal golfing talents as Tiger Woods (while he was still at Stanford), Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson and many other top professional golfers. Before moving west several years ago to establish a golf school at a Lake Las Vegas resort, Butch parleyed his position at Lochinvar to become Golf Digest’s top-ranked golf instructor in the United States.
However, as good an instructor as Butch is, many golfing enthusiasts in Houston and elsewhere considered Dick Harmon to be an even better golf teacher. Dick was the revered golf pro at River Oaks for nearly a quarter-century before leaving in 2001 to establish his own golf school at Houston’s Redstone Golf Club. During that time, he tutored such extraordinary talents as Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Blaine McCallister, Billy Ray Brown and current PGA up-and-comer, Glover, to name just a few. For years, Dick’s pro-member golf tournament at River Oaks — held on the Monday after the Shell Houston Open — would often attract more prominent professional golfers than the Houston Open.
As noted above, Dick and Butch are two of four Harmon brothers who are among the best golf teachers in the United States. Craig Harmon is the long-time head pro at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., site of the 1956, 1968 and 1989 U.S. Opens, the 1995 Ryder Cub matches, and the 2003 PGA Championship. Moreover, youngest Harmon brother, Bill, is Director of Golf at Toscana Country Club in Palm Desert, California and the noted tutor of ageless PGA Tour veteran, Jay Haas.
A personal anecdote about Dick will give you a glimpse into his wonderful nature. About ten years ago, while Dick was still at River Oaks, a client of mine who was a River Oaks member asked Dick to fit me for a set of irons as an expression of gratitude for my work on a case. Not only did Dick fit me for the clubs personally, he had one of his assistant pros videotape my swing during the fitting process. Afterward, Dick pulled me into his office and analyzed my swing as we watched the video, and I still haven’t recovered from the humiliation of watching my swing on video while Dick superimposed Elkington’s perfect swing over mine.
But after the video-analysis, knowing that I am a big fan of the author Dan Jenkins, Dick proceeded to show me a videotape of a hilarious dinner roast of Jenkins in which a number of prominent Tour pros such as Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, and Peter Jacobsen provided salutations to Jenkins around the theme that “everything really was better in golf back when Hogan was playing.” The highlight was Jenkins getting up and giving it right back to the pros by excoriating them for their sponsorship of golf courses built into housing subdivisions or, as Jenkins put it derisively, “those damn dirt deals.” Dick and I were doubled over like a couple of school boys watching the video of Jenkins and the pros go at each other. From that time on, whenever Dick and I would see each other, we’d chuckle and inquire of each other whether there were any new “dirt deals” in the area.
Thus, Dick Harmon — who leaves his beloved wife Nancy, four children and two grandchildren — was truly a special man. Utilizing a gentle nature, dry wit and keen insight, his contributions to the Houston community were considerable. Nevertheless, he always felt as if his contributions were merely a small token of his appreciation for the tremendous opportunites that Houston provided to his family and him. Dick Harmon was the type of person that makes Houston such a special place. He will be sorely missed.
2 Feb. 2006 Update: The schedule for the visitation and funeral is here.