Butch Harmon worked his final golf school at his eponymous Butch Harmon School of Golf and he went out in style on Saturday.
Harmon, 81, son of Masters champion Claude Harmon and the famed instructor who coached Greg Norman and Tiger Woods to world No. 1, and countless other players such as Phil Mickelson to majors and Rickie Fowler to the heights of their careers, opened his golf school at Rio Secco GC in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nev., in 1997.
This final sendoff was a surprise orchestrated by Harmon’s wife, Christy.
“Butch had no idea it was going to happen until he walked into his teaching bay and there were 30+ of his friends,” said Harmon’s youngest brother, Billy.
Twenty-seven years ago, Sam Reeves, who was Butch’s best man when he married Christy in 2001, attended Butch’s first golf school in the Vegas desert with nine members of his family. It was only fitting that Reeves and his family, which now numbers about 25 and spans four generations, sponsored a two-day affair that marked the last of Butch’s schools.
Billy Harmon, the director of instruction at Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells, Calif., and former caddie to Jay Haas, and his brother, Craig, the former longtime pro at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., participated as well as many other instructors who had worked with Butch over the years and learned under his wing.
“Many of them worked with Butch over 20 years ago,” Billy said. “An incredible affair and very unique experience.”
“The Harmon brothers have been the most fortunate family in the history of golf,” Billy added. “The conversations we shared the last couple of days of our experiences in the game of golf were both fascinating and humbling. Three ordinary dudes that have lived extraordinary lives because of the game of golf and the wonderful people we have met.”
All of that may be true but so is the fact that countless golfers have been fortunate to receive instruction from one of the most brilliant teachers the game has ever known. And what an incredible way to wrap a career for Butch, arguably the most successful golf coach of the modern era.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Butch Harmon holds his final golf school in the most perfect way
