As I gathered with my family in the kitchen to prepare the Thanksgiving meal, the news that Eddie Merrins was dead hit me like a bucket of cold water.
Merrins died in Los Angeles at the age of 91. He was a respected golf professional, a championship-winning UCLA coach, and a beloved figure at Bel-Air Country Club. As a pro emeritus he was still there in recent years impeccably attired with a white-knitted tam-o’shanter and ties, ready to impart wisdom to another golfer who desperately needed help.
It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship when I wrote a feature on Merrins. Merrins is a 5-foot-7 golfer who has been affectionately called The Little Pro. He would always seek me out, whether it was at the U.S. Open, the Masters or the PGA Championship. I’m now on the list of people who have received an impromptu golf lesson from Merrins. Merrins told me to begin my swing in New York and flow through Chicago before reaching Los Angeles. I would be asked to come to the front of the media room at the Masters, or I’d find a note on my desk telling me to come find him setting up his shop on the range. As his guest, I dressed up to the nines for the Ben Hogan Award ceremony that is held every year on the Monday before the Colonial PGA Tour stop. When I was in town to play Riviera, he would often invite me to Bel-Air and have a get-together. One time he even walked the 18 holes with me.
When we last spoke, on June 9, I could see that his health was deteriorating and his son Michael, who accompanied him often during his travels complained about not getting the proper care. We had planned to meet at the U.S. Open, but that never happened. Little Pro was true to his word, and he made it out for the final round. I was on the 6th tee at the time watching Rory McIlroy. Ten minutes later I texted his son and him that I would be at the media centre shortly, but we never got in touch. I do have some regrets.
After returning from my holidays, I found the copy of that Merion article and am borrowing liberally. It tells the tale about how Merrins taught everyone for over five decades from Bing Crosby, Arnold Palmer, Celine Dion, Rickie Folwer, and a groomsman as the bride walked up the aisle.
Merrins remembered that “he said he had a problem with balance.” What was I supposed do?
He discovered that he was born to be a teacher at Merion Golf Club where he played in the 1971 Open and, more importantly, it is the place where his career as a professional teaching took shape.
In 2013, he stated, “The discoveries that I made are still the foundation of my teaching philosophy.”
It is an interesting story how he ended up at Merion. Merrins became a professional at the age of 24 on the night before the Lake Charles (Louisiana Invitational) in April 1957. He cashed a $250 check. Then he qualified at Inverness Golf Club for the U.S. Open. Merrins left for Ohio to become a tour pro. Or so he believed, until one evening, before the U.S. Open. He went to the hotel bar, and his life changed.
Ed Carter, the PGA Tour’s then-director, informed him that Merion was looking for an assistant pro whose primary responsibility would be to play with the members. Carter told the tiny Merrins Merion was looking for an assistant pro who would play with members. Merrins said, “I wanted a job that would support my golf habit.”
Merrins, intrigued by the opportunity and after failing to make the cut, hurried off to Philadelphia for a job interview. Francis Sullivan, a former state district prosecutor and Ben Hogan’s personal attorney, became Merrins’ surrogate dad and then godfather. Sullivan was on the board of directors that hired Merrins immediately.
Jacques Houdry coined Merrins’s nickname “The Little Pro” and served as bestman at the 1961 wedding of Merrins to Lisa, his wife of over 50 years, in New York City. Do you need more proof that Merion adopted him? Merrins recalled: “We held our wedding reception in the old Park Lane Hotel, and an entire train carload from Merion attended.”
He played with Guy Bates from 1957 to 1960. Andrew Davis once made 10 consecutive threes at Merion. And A. Ross Crane was a Philadelphia dental surgeon who told Merrins that he wasn’t the best but he cost the most. Merrins was never charged a penny by him.
Merrins praised Merion’s architecture, calling it the best golf course he had ever seen.
He said, “It is a masterpiece.” “I remember that the two architects who ruled the day, Robert Trent Jones Sr. & Dick Wilson would always walk around Merion to gather ideas and visions for their designs.
Merion helped Merrins become the professional he became. He was passionate about the game, but did not love it and respect it until he went to Merion.
Merrins was a professional player. Merrins had to teach at Merion and he discovered that he loved teaching. The swing was explored on the Merion lesson tee. This is where he developed the foundation for his “Swing the Handle” instructional book (and later video).
Merrins was a member of Thunderbird Golf Club during the winter of 1959, and then left Merion to become head professional at Rockaway Hunt Club Cedarhurst, New York in 1960, replacing Dave Marr.
Merrins lived the life of an “itinerant preacher” when he quit the Tour of the United States in 1962 and took the job of head pro at Bel-Air. This began his life of service.
Merrins stated that “being a professional golfer means taking care of yourself.” It seemed to me like a self-centered existence. “I wanted to do more.”
Merrins has spent his life spreading the gospel of Golf, even if it means adjusting grips during earthquakes, or balancing a groomsman at the altar. The Little Pro by way of Merion always had a remedy for the common swing.
