Club Professionals

New Club Operations

The new course was ready to play for the 1963 golf season.  Gordon Lowe served as the Superintendent with Bum Raymond having a key role in the maintenance responsibility.

Hiring a Club Pro was the crowning achievement in this great golf adventure.  Stowe had the good fortune to have radio personality, Lowell Thomas, as a frequent guest.  Thomas was a golfer of some note and had friends throughout the golf world.  He tells about one amazing golf outing in a letter dated June 26, 1956. The course is Hammersley Hill Golf Club, Pawling NY.  The foursome is Lowell Thomas, Ed Marrow, a Pat Hogan and Joe Kirkwood, with an untreated broken arm.  Kirkwood shoots a 32 on the 9-hole course, one shot over the club record, with eagles on the first hole (par 4, 240 yards) and the ninth hole (par 7, 790 yards).  Read the letter and scorecard, Reference 16.  Thomas was instrumental in having Stowe Country Club hire the celebrity pro, Joe Kirkwood, Sr..

Peter Dresser tells this story meeting Joe for the first time at the Club.  Joe was hitting trick shots from a spot near the clubhouse that could only have been performed by the famous shot master. Peter knew immediately that he was looking at the great Joe Kirkwood.  There are several books written about Joe and the clubhouse has a substantial display of golf clubs, photos and memorabilia in the living room display case.  Joe lived upstairs in the clubhouse with one of his three sons, Ron.

David Stackpole recalls Joe as a warm and delightful friend.  David married Paige Savage and joined in the Family Savage enthusiasm for golf.  (Chuck and Janet Savage are well remembered in Stowe golf lore.)  “Joe always had a Sunday game with us.  If you beat Joe’s score, he gave you a ball; lose and you bought him a ball.  Joe played with just one club – a 4-iron”, David remembers.  The match was played over just four holes – 1, 2, 8 and 9.  These holes make a tidy loop out and back to the clubhouse.  “Joe won way more than he lost.  Everyone was very pleased when Joe decided to live in Stowe year-round.  He was just so much fun to be with.”  In the picture of Joe to the left, that may be a 4-iron he seems to be using for a chip shot.

Cancer took Joe Kirkwood in 1970.  His grave is in the West Branch Cemetery near the corner of Mountain Road and Cottage Club Road, a par-5 distance from the clubhouse.  The grave is marked with a large boulder with the following inscription carved below a crooked golf club:

Joe Kirkwood was followed by club professionals who each left a lasting contribution to Stowe Country Club.  Each pro has his and her unique story that could serve as a future paper.  Here are a few examples.  Pro Larry Startzel holds the men’s course record, 63 dated April 25, 1974.  Pro Eileen Kask was recognized in 2005 as a top Golf Instructor by the South Carolina PGA.  David Bennett, 2004 - 2006, won the Vermont Amateur in 2000 and 2001.  David is building a reputation as terrific instructor and introduced Stowe to Winter golf lessons, a program that has some 25 golfers playing inside this year.  Dan Lehmann, previous Director of the Golf School, succeeded David in 2007.  The following is the clubhouse plaque listing each pro and their years of service.

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