This content is for subscribers only.
Join our club! Become a subscriber to get access to the latest issue of Australian Golf Digest, plus exclusive content and videos only available with a digital subscription.
The Norman Legacy - Australian Golf Digest The Norman Legacy - Australian Golf Digest

The impact of Greg Norman’s involvement in Australian golf will be felt for many decades.

Australian Golf Digest sought comment from sectors of the golf industry about the Great White Shark’s influence on tournament golf, impact on the golf industry, involvement with LIV Golf as chief executive/commissioner and his legacy on Australian golf.

NORMAN’S INFLUENCE ON TOURNAMENT GOLF

Max Garske, former chief executive of the PGA of Australia: There’s no doubt Greg’s impact on the golf industry in Australia is immense. He changed it from being a relatively popular sport to being one of Australia’s most popular sports. He brought an excitement to the game. The way he played the game was so positive.

Bob Tuohy, promoter of 198 professional tournaments who provided Norman with an airfare, accommodation and sponsor’s invite to play the 1976 West Lakes Classic at Grange Golf Club, which was his first professional victory: He probably played in at least 30 events that our company ran during his prime. And he did perform… In the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, he was world No.1 for 331 weeks and won all around the world. Came home and always supported tournaments that we ran – national opens, PGAs, state opens. Handshake deals and nods on the phone. “Yes, I’ll be there. I want a plane ticket, a hotel and X.” And he rocked up. On many occasions we never had written contracts. He came on his honour and his word, which is very old-fashioned these days.

Paul Roser, managing director of American Golf Supplies, the distributor of Ping products in Australia: Greg Norman reinvigorated golf in Australia. Wherever Norman went, there was interest in golf. There were crowds, there was excitement… Something that he’s never fully acknowledged for is the fact that as the world No.1 he came back to Australia, year after year, after year, and supported the tour.

Brett Ogle, former touring professional and long-time host of The Golf Show on Fox Sports: I played with Greg through my days, and nobody stopped to watch me putt out. They were all flying to the next tee to get a glimpse of Norman. [Galleries] four or five deep. Kids on the shoulders of the dads, trying to look over the top. It was pretty funny, actually. But that was the way it was. Greg was the king. He was the man. We had a few clashes here and there – verbally. Our personalities clashed. But I have no qualms with the man. He rocketed Australian golf into another era in the 1980s and 1990s.

Tuohy: He created interest more than anybody ever did in this country as an individual. He was a real big drawcard… We got 23,000 people the last day at Kooyonga Golf Club, I think it was the 1996 Ford [South Australian] Open. We had 68,000-70,000 people for the week for a state open.

Ogle: I first joined Tully Park [Golf Club in Goulburn] in 1977. I was 13 and bought a junior membership. Then Norman started to rise about [that time] and I had [a poster of] him up on my wall with Seve [Ballesteros]… They were the two biggest guys in my era that had super flair. Both were amazing dudes.

The crowd and sponsors are who put money in your pocket. Make them feel like they’re a part of you. And that’s what Norman and Ballesteros always did. So I tried to model myself on those two guys when I was young. So they had a big influence on me. What Greg did for Australian golf was amazing.

Scott Halleran /getty images • courtesy of liv golf (top)

NORMAN’S IMPACT ON THE AUSTRALIAN GOLF INDUSTRY

Garske: I would say every club professional would thank Greg because of the impact he had on golf sales, both in terms of golf lessons and golf equipment. And he had a huge impact on membership across golf clubs.

Roser: The only thing Norman ever did in our world was use our [Ping Anser 2] putter occasionally. The reality is by invigorating golf, he drove equipment sales. His major impact was on Cobra for all those years. There’s no question that sales of golf equipment were positively impacted by Norman’s involvement in golf, worldwide I would suggest. When he won the two Opens – 1986 and 1993 – it had a massive impact.

Ogle: Norman and [Nick] Faldo changed the course of being physically fit, eating the right foods… Norman and Faldo’s appearance on the US Tour and working in gyms, all of a sudden there were [fitness] caravans that would park at the golf clubs every week on the PGA Tour.

Kevin Gates, Club Car’s regional vice-president (Oceania) and Asia-Pacific delegate for the golf cart industry association: I joined Club Car in 1998 at a time when we sold golf cars to contracted golf pros and clubs in small numbers. Most clubs had limited storage capacity – often insufficient to house any serious quantity of vehicles.

What clearly drove change was Norman’s involvement with Medallist and the introduction of Macquarie Bank and Troon Golf in the residential golf market. With limited exceptions, the idea of living on a championship golf course with a large fleet of golf cars (and potential to store your own golf car in the garage) was a foreign concept in Australia.

The Medallist partnership delivered innovative residential golf communities that are still relevant today (Brookwater, Sanctuary Lakes, Pelican Waters, The Vintage, Settlers Run and Stonecutters Ridge). Club Car grew exponentially during that era and we’re still supplying product to Medallist communities and Norman-designed courses across Australia.

Greg was quick to recognise the potential for GPS management systems on golf fleets and invested in what evolved into Club Car’s Visage platform. He has been instrumental in the Australian golf industry’s phenomenal growth over the past 30 years.

NORMAN’S INVOLVEMENT WITH LIV GOLF AS CEO/COMMISSIONER

Garske: I think Greg saw [LIV Golf] as an opportunity to bring some excitement to the game… and recognise players for their ability. The US PGA Tour over the years had such a strong hold on the players in terms of what they could and couldn’t do. Trying to get some players to play the Australian Tour near Christmas was like pulling teeth in terms of being able to find players who are available to come out.

Tuohy: LIV Golf has been a huge success in Adelaide and around the world. Greg Norman personally can be exceptionally proud of his stance and commitment to take golf to another level, to create another tangent to the game of golf, to develop and promote it. He’s done a hell of a job.

Garske: LIV Golf, like it or loathe it, creates some interest and brings about some different ways in which the game is played. I don’t really have an opinion either way… It’s not bad for the game; it’s only bad for the professional game.

Ogle: LIV’s good for the game. The US Tour’s boring as. It’s slow. It’s dull. They’re earning a [truckload] of cash and don’t give a [stuff] about anybody else. They just care for themselves, which they’ve always done anyway. LIV has been a real good shake-up for not only golf but for the viewers. Look at the Adelaide tournament. A total sell-out in minutes. Unreal. Fantastic.

simon bruty/getty images

NORMAN’S LEGACY TO AUSTRALIAN GOLF

Tuohy: I’ve got nothing but respect for Greg Norman for his commitment. He’s never, ever reneged on a deal. He’s always delivered, and he’s been honest up front.

Ogle: It made you believe that, If Greg could do it, I could do it. In that respect, I think all the Australian guys that have gone onto the US Tour and done well over there have all believed that we can beat anybody on our day.

Gates: It’s fair to say many of us who ride in golf cars today do so because of Greg Norman’s influence on design, construction, investment and marketing of Australian golf facilities during the past three decades.

Garske: He’ll always be regarded in a positive light in Australia because of what he’s done for Australian golf and the impact he had on the game in this country. Maybe in other parts of the world he may not be perceived as positively… There’s nobody who had a greater positive effect on the Australian golf industry in the past 100 years than Greg Norman.