Larry Rinker was kind enough to ask me onto his PGA TOUR CHANNEL / XM / Sirius radio show. Below are Larry’s condensed notes from that recent show. Larry, Lee, and Laurie Rinker have been friends of mine for over 30 years. Laurie was a student of mine during a period of her LPGA career. I have competed against, taught along side, and shared a beer or two with Larry and Lee. Very simply put the Rankers are now and always have been first class. I’m extremely lucky to call each of them my friend.

Rinker’s Golf Tips Tom Patri, Bob Toski, Top 100 Teachers remembering my father Laine Rinker Sr. who passed away October 29, 2014. I asked Tom Patri what his fondest memories of my dad were, and Tom said that he was with my dad on two occasions, both times with my sister Laurie. “First of all he was a very proud father and just a passionate guy about the game of golf. He grilled me pretty good on the golf swing when I was working with Laurie and it was a lot of fun. He had a lot of spunk and loved his children. He certainly left
a memory.” I asked Tom how he got into teaching, and after chasing mini-tours for seven full seasons playing for peanuts, John Kennedy offered him an assistant pro position on Long Island in New York. They would both later move in 1990 to Westchester Country Club where Tom became the Director of Instruction. On a cold snowy day in February, an elderly gentleman walked into Tom’s office with a fedora, coat and tie on, and Tom assumed this person was a member at the club. It was Harry “Light Horse” Copper who had won 37 times on the PGA Tour and was the first Vardon Trophy winner. Tom was shocked when he realized who it was and then Mr. Copper asked him, “I wonder if I still have a job?” Tom said take a seat and I’ll be right back. Tom walked across the hall to John Kennedy’s office and said you won’t believe who just walked into my office and what should I do? John said this is going to be your first major decision so go handle it. Tom walked back into his office and said, “Mr. Copper, I’m not in the business of firing legends so as long as I’m here, you’re here.” Harry got up, tipped his cap, and said, “I’ll see you in the spring.”

In 1976 my dad took me down to Miami to have a golf lesson with the legend Bob Toski which would start a friendship and mentorship that is still going on today. Bob Toski called in and I asked him to share some thoughts about my father. “He and I had something in common that I didn’t realize. I love flowers, have a garden, and spend a lot of time maintaining it at my home. I didn’t know your father was in the flower business until I read his obituary. The result of why you are such a great family is the fact that you were raised so well from your mother and father; How to live life, how to enjoy life, how to be a good person, your dad taught you that through golf. Your dad loved golf, he loved to teach, he was very passionate for teaching, and he spent a lot of time coming down to see me to talk about the golf swing. Your dad had that energy and passion to teach the game and learn more about it.”

Toski told a couple of great stories. First when he was stationed in India, he won a tournament in Calcutta beating other service men, and thought hey, I must be pretty good. So when he got back to the States, he went out on the Tour and Demaret, Snead, Nelson, and Mangrum adopted him, and would come over and watch him hit balls. They all kind of agreed on what he should do. They said, if you’re good enough you’re big enough, you have a small light body, and know how to swing the club. So a 118 lb guy ends up being leading money winner in 1954. “I doubt that will ever happen again,” stated Toski. Demaret told Toski, “The perfect golf swing is one that you can perfect, consistently repeat, hit golf shots, and make a number. All golf swings are not the same. The player that understands his own mind, his own body, and his own swing, is a player that is going to be successful.”

Toski’s second story was that he used to spend a lot of time watching Hogan practice. “I decided that my swing was in and up like Nicklaus. I’m going to flatten my swing out, lay the club off, and I’m going to re-route it and move fast into the ball. I was hitting golf balls and Sam Snead was watching me practice out of the corner of his eye. I’m practicing and my balls are going all over the place. Sam finally walks over to me and says, ‘Mouse, what in the hell are you practicing?’ I said ‘Well, I’ve been watching Hogan swing and I’m trying to emulate some of his moves.’ ‘Mouse let me give you some advice. You swing like Bob Toski, you don’t swing like Ben Hogan, and you don’t swing like Sam Snead. Now you get back over there and show me how you swing like Bob Toski, and if you don’t I’m going to come over there and chew your butt out!’ He scared the hell out of me and after 10 or 15 balls Sam said ‘That’s the swing that is going to make you great.’”

Bob Toski can be reached via Twitter @BobToski.
Tom Patri can be reached at www.TomPatri.com.