ORLANDO — In a gathering space adjacent to the well-preserved office of the late Arnold Palmer, Golf Digest Editor in Chief Jerry Tarde wasted little time Tuesday finding just the right words to explain the magic of the man who had not only an immense impact on golf but also on countless lives who needed his help.
“I’ve been around for a long time and had a long association with Mr. Palmer, and this is a great honor to be here in the world of Arnie,” Tarde began. “You know Arnold Palmer lived by the old ethos that when you reach the top, you send the elevator back down for the rest, and that’s really what he did. He brought the rest of us along on his great success and his passion and love for golf and everything that it brings you. And that’s the meaning of the Arnie Award—giving back.”
The introduction and the setting at Bay Hill Club could not have been more appropriate when Tarde presented the latest edition of the Arnie Award, Golf Digest’s highest honor, to former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose for his own efforts in giving back. Winner of 11 PGA Tour events, Rose received a bronze sculpture of Palmer with his wife Kate and the younger of their two children, Charlotte, in attendance. Amy Saunders, Palmer’s daughter, and Sam Saunders, his grandson, also were on hand for the brief ceremony that celebrated the commitment Rose has exhibited to several charitable initiatives, primarily through the Kate and Justin Rose Foundation.
In conjunction with the award, Golf Digest donated $50,000 to the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation.
“I met Dow Finsterwald, who was one of Arnie’s oldest and closest friends one day, and I asked him, ‘What’s the secret of Arnie’s enduring success? And he said, ‘It’s the way he treats people,’” Tarde said. “And I think we recognize that that was Arnie’s superpower, and it’s Kate and Justin’s superpower, too. When we recognize winners of the Arnie Award, that’s what we think of, the way they treat people, the way they give back.”
Beginning in 2009, the Kate and Justin Rose Foundation has focused on the nutritional and educational needs of impoverished children in Central Florida. In fulfilling the foundation’s mission of “feeding hungry tummies and curious minds,” the Roses have joined with the “Blessings in a Backpack,” program that provides supplemental weekend meals for elementary school children. As he accepted the Arnie Award, Rose was surrounded by more than a dozen children from that program.
“I know that there’s been so many people before me who have given so much to the game. So this is a huge honor,” said Rose, 44, who lived in Orlando for 10 years and is competing on a sponsor’s exemption in this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. “Anytime you’re associated with Mr. Palmer, it’s just something incredibly special and a great reminder for me to continue to go about things the right way as he embodied his whole career.
“To able to share this with my family, my wife, Kate, who’s been by my side for all of us charitable endeavors or the giving back we’ve been able to do, especially during in Orlando, it’s been nice to share this with her today as well.”
Rose pointed out that there is a reason that Kate’s name appears first on the foundation. While the example of Palmer and others certainly had an impact on his attitude toward helping others—which also includes initiatives in The Bahamas and in his home country of England—Rose was effusive in his praise for his wife.
“There was not a crowning moment where I thought that’s what I want to do,” he said. “But I just think just golf is an amazing vehicle. I think there’s so many good role models in the game of golf, I suppose, that have shown me the way. I haven’t invented this model by any means. And just like I said, [learning] through gratitude. And then I think having great partner in Kate, she’s been unbelievable. I think she’s always had that vision in her life of giving back. So give more credit to her.”
Even today, though, Palmer’s legacy remains a guiding influence.
“Respect,” Rose said when asked about Palmer’s enduring impact on people in and out of golf. “I think just having, obviously he was a generation just before me in terms of having the opportunity to really play with him, really get to know him from a competitive point of view. But even on the back end, you could just tell exactly what he stood for, what he meant, and how he treated people, how he treated me. The few interactions I have had with him were all memorable. I think that’s the most amazing thing. If you remember meeting someone just two or three times, you can almost remember what happened on each of those occasions. He’s giving you his energy, and that he’s engaged in that moment. So yeah, I think that he did that, not just for me, but by all accounts, pretty much everybody.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
