CHARLOTTE (N.C.) – Carl Lohren sat on a folding chair in front of Ryan Gerard, before the second round of Friday’s 2023 Wells Fargo Championship. He studied his warmup. He didn’t speak because he did not have to. Gerard, a young man of 23 who had earned Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour in just one month, did not need his help.
Lohren gushed, “This kid’s exceptional.” “His swing is fast, and he doesn’t take it back. It reminds me of Jon Rahm.” “He’s got his lower body moving forward before the club reaches the top, which I think is a symbol of a great golf swing.”
Lohren had not worked with a professional at a PGA Tour event in 40 years. In 1983, he was at Pebble Beach with Gary Hallberg and, later the same year, at Butler National, near Chicago, during the Western Open, with Marty Fleckman. Lohren was a PGA Tour pro instructor in the 1960s and 1970s, working with Deane Beman and Babe Hiskey. Gene Borek was one of his students. He dominated the Met PGA for years, and shot a course record 65 at Oakmont during the 1973 U.S. Open second round. This stood for 48-hours until Johnny Miller broke it. Beman was in a slump during his rookie year on Tour, 1968. He called Lohren to ask, “Are You Ready To Weave? I’m a Basket Case.”
It’s not uncommon for a pro to be inside the ropes again with a player’s support badge more than 50 years after they first started. The best comparison is Bob Toski who, in his prime, worked with Tom Kite, Bruce Crampton and Judy Rankin. He also had a late-life second act with Birdie KIM, who was the winner of the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open and Ken Duke who won 2013 Travelers. But it’s as rare as spotting Halley
Carl Lohren, swing coach on the PGA Tour, returned to a driving range in 2023 with one of his students for the first four decades. He watches Ryan Gerard as he prepares for his second round tee-time at the Wells Fargo Championship, Charlotte. (Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
Lohren attributes Ben Hogan’s swing for influencing him to develop “the move” and a new way to hit the golf ball. Lohren, who was working as an assistant professional in Jackson, Michigan at the time, watched Hogan play at Oakland Hills during the 1964 Carling Open. Hogan chose an 8-iron to play a shot of 150 yards and made a short swing. Lohren did not think Hogan would reach the green. But, to his surprise, the ball shot off the clubface, landing ten feet away from the pin.
“His hips began moving left when his hands were just halfway back. Lohren said, “I told myself that he didn’t have any top to his swing.”
Lohren studied Hogan for years and tried to mimic his swing by hitting thousands of balls. These observations led him to develop his swing philosophy, which began with the left shoulder.
Lohren played college-level golf at the University of Maryland. He finished second in the 1958 NCAA National Championship, and qualified for 3 U.S. Opens, a U.S. Senior Open, and the PGA Tour Champions. He also played on the PGA Tour Champions from 1990 to 1992. He made his mark as a coach.
Lohren was a swing instructor before the cottage industry of swing instructors like David Leadbetter, Butch Harmon, and more recently Sean Foley and Cameron McCormick. They became celebrities for their work with top tour pros and promoting all kinds of self-help and training products. Lohren remembers a time in 1970, when Dave Hill invited him to spend a weekend with him working on his game. Lohren declined as it was the Fourth of July at his club at that time and his wife and three children were counting on him for any time he did get to go away. Hill instead flew in noted Australian teacher Norman Von Nida and that was it.
Ryan Gerard holding “One Move to Better Golf,” the instruction book by his teacher, Carl Lohren, which he received as a Christmas present in 2017. (Courtesy Gerard family)
Lohren was the head professional of North Shore Country Club in Long Island, New York for over 30 years. Those who knew him well said he was among the best.
Gerard’s dad, Bob, was born and raised in the area, where he fell in love with golf. In eighth grade, he started working at Pine Hollow Country Club, for Larry Laoretti. Larry was a former Champions Tour star who’s trademark was to chomp on a cigar while playing. Bob picked up his own balls more than the members’, joking that he worked at the range to earn practice privileges. Laoretti sent Bob to Lohren to receive instruction. Bob was good enough to play for Florida Atlantic University, as well as on some mini-tours before giving up his pro dream.
Ryan was born in 1999 and received his first set at the age of 2. He would sneak out to the yard to hit the balls whenever he could, according to his parents. He and his friends grew up at Wildwood Green GC, a North Carolina golf course, where they played with former U.S. Doc Redman and Amateur champion Doc Redman participated in impossible chipping competitions. They would intentionally give each other the worst lie possible, and then see who could hit the ball the closest to the hole.
His father took him to Quail hollow in 2007 for his first PGA Tour, where Tiger Woods fought Vijay Singh. Ryan sat on the range and wrote down in a notebook his impressions of these players, who he had only seen on television. Bob discovered the notebook years later when his parents packed up for a move. It said on one page that “Phil Mickelson is a great swinger.” The next page said “Tiger Woods is a great swinger.”
Ryan was inspired by the players that he watched to become a professional golfer. For the next few years, he took a ball of golf with him to school every day.
Carl Lohren talks with Ryan Gerard before the second round of Wells Fargo Championship, which will take place in Charlotte on 5 May 2023. Lohren began teaching Ryan Gerard, thirty years after he taught Gerard’s father. Ryan would drive nine-hours roundtrip to get a lesson. (Photo: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
Bob was his first teacher. He taught him from Lohren’s 1975 instruction book “One Move to Better Golf,” a bestseller that has gained cult status. Ryan became one of the best players in his age range, and his father realized that he’d taken him as far as he was able to. He sought out someone better qualified to take him to the level he desired. Every pro that worked with Ryan tried to alter his unorthodox golf swing. Bob knew a swing instructor who could shape Ryan’s swing with what Ryan had.
Bob replied, “You have to believe and I knew Carl would be impressed by how good Ryan was.”
Lohren, who had moved to Knoxville to be closer to his daughter Tammy at the time, was still teaching at Patriot Hills Golf Club. Lohren would also continue to give lessons there. When he saw Ryan’s golf swing, he was reminded Hogan’s – Ryan did not have a top either. Ryan’s swing is unconventional, but it conforms to fundamentals. Bob and Ryan drove to Lohren every few months to get his sage advice.
“I went to see him wherever he was working at a particular time and we had a blast,” Ryan said. He also took lessons with Lohren at Belfair GC, in South Carolina, and sometimes in South Florida.
He also saw his ranking soar as he won 5 junior titles including the 2015 AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic – one of the largest AJGA events. He was named to the AJGA’s first-team All-Americans and received a scholarship from the University of North Carolina.
Some parents were curious to know who Bob’s son had worked with as Ryan rose through the ranks of juniors and amateurs. Others listened intently when Bob called him a “quiet legend.”
Lohren, who is unassuming, never pursued fame. He doesn’t use social media and he has never had his own Golf Channel TV show. His name didn’t become as well-known among golfers as Leadbetter.
Carl Beman, as Beman said once: “Carl knows the golf swing better than anyone I know.”
Gerard concurs.
He said, “I believe he is the best golf coach ever.” “I know what I like.” He knows what he wants from me, and we work together to figure out how I can reach my destination in the most comfortable manner for me.
Ryan Gerard on signing day with North Carolina. He became a second-team All-American in 2021-22 before turning pro. (Courtesy Gerard family)
Ryan had a difficult time making the traveling team as a freshman. Andrew DiBitetto, UNC’s head coach, relied heavily upon Trackman data and wanted to change Ryan’s swing in accordance with the results. He also suggested that Ryan abandon the pre-shot ritual he had learned from Lohren. Lohren was furious when Ryan told him this at their next lesson. He dug through his archives and found a video of one of the greatest golfers doing almost the same moves.
Lohren smiled and said: “I told him, ‘Next, when he wants you to change, show him this picture of Hogan. He left him alone.”
Ryan was selected for the traveling team after that lesson and scored the lowest score in his first tournament. In 2021-22, he was named to the second-team All-American team.
Ryan commented, “I like the fact that he sticks to old-school methods.” “No Trackman, No Tech, Nothing – Just a few rulers and alignment sticks to hit shots.”
He said that he was inspired by the experience. He won a 5-for-3 play-off to qualify Monday for the Honda Classic, his first non major PGA Tour event. His second round 63 helped him finish fourth.
Ryan Gerard, his caddie and coach Carl Lohren discuss their options on the 10th hole of Quail Hollow Club at Charlotte during the second round 2023 Wells Fargo Championship. Wallace Hamerton and Carl Lohren are watching from the sidelines. Gerard played in his first tournament here as a child back in 2007. (Photo: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)
He said, “I knew I had to make the most of any tournaments I would be able to enter, because I didn’t get anything guaranteed.”
He also recovered from a 5-over-par start at the Valero Texas Open last month to make five birdies in the second nine. He earned temporary membership and made the cut. Lohren makes an exception to one piece of technology: he follows Ryan’s rounds on PGA TourCast. Ryan has made five cuts out of eight starts despite a second round 77 that saw him miss the cut in the Wells Fargo Championship. This was the hometown event, where his dream to play on the Tour began.
Ryan said, “I can play here and have a good game.” “Maybe I won’t be able to play every week or on every course, but I do believe I will one day win the PGA Tour.
Lohren is his Yoda, with hearing aids. He now drives three hours from Knoxville, Tennessee to Holsten Hills Country Club in Knoxville, where Lohren hangs out.
Ryan replied, “I’m going to work with the person I believe is the best, and he is definitely the best.”
