At my age looking back becomes more exciting then looking forward. That’s why I wish someone would hurry up and invent the ultimate time machine. A machine to carry us back to our youth, or to any time we so desire. Excluding the bad rounds of golf naturally, living through one of those rounds is enough to last one’s lifetime.

As I contemplate past experiences and the fact that we just celebrated Canada Day, there is a name that is almost synonymous with Canadian Golf. I affectionately refer to Moe Norman. Moe’s name alone conjures up so many great memories of a truly unique and great Canadian icon. I had the pleasure of seeing many clinics (in his later years Moe referred to himself as a “Clinictition” a word only Moe could invent about himself) put on by Moe who was truly one of the greatest ball strikers of all time. Moe could do things with a golf ball that defied all logic. He hit each shot perfectly straight! Didn’t matter what club he hit, he hit it perfectly straight.

His unique style of talking right up to the point of just prior to hitting the ball was legendary. He would be chattering away about his swing mechanics and then as he approached the ball he would slow his speech slight, then stop talking as he addressed the ball, then hit the ball, dead straight. To me as I observed him in action, it always impressed upon me seriousness of his actions. Even to the point of complete focus, his eyes never leaving the ball until it had stopped rolling. Then back to the chatter that was classic Moe.

Well what’s in a name you might ask? To me it’s simple. Great names invoke in me great emotions. Mention Moe’s name I along with everyone else will have a Moe story to share. An experience that takes us all back to when we witnessed “poetry in motion.”

Ok, just one quick story from my memory bank of stories regarding my fascination of watching Moe put on a clinic at Cherry Hill.  Moe was on the range warming up (as if he needed to warm up) and I gathered some Juniors to observe “poetry in motion.” As we watched Moe hit driver after driver, a junior tapped me on the shoulder and asked. “Why doesn’t his tee move?” Something I had totally missed myself. But has Moe hit driver after driver, only bending down to put his ball on the tee, NEVER picking up the tee. Just placing the ball where it belongs before sending it on its way in a perfectly straight line out on the driving range. Having myself now completely mesmerized, I inquired, “Moe, why doesn’t your tee move when you hit the ball?”

In typical Moe fashion, he simply said, “why should it, why should it, when you hit perfect every time, every time.”

So, it is with his name, Moe Norman. Every time I hear it or for that matter anyone who was lucky enough to have seen him in action hears it, they simply remember, perfection.

Moe would have fit in great each Wednesday night here at Whisky Run. A night of perfection, only somewhat broken by bouts of stray golf shots that were meant to go straight, really, really!

Jeff