Remembering George Low, Jr. and Sr.: Pro golfers, renowned instructors who worked courses in Fort Washington and Jenkintown

George “Tiny” Anderson Low, Jr. was an American professional golfer and noted putting instructor and designer of golf putters. The son of Scottish-American golf pro George Low, Sr., he served as assistant at the Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington in 1937 and subsequently assisted his father at a driving range in Jenkintown.

Low was known as a golf hustler and once reportedly said, “Show me a millionaire with a bad backswing and I can have a very pleasant afternoon.”

Stories hold that he gave putting tips and lessons to Arnold Palmer and other golf greats of that era. According to PoolChat.net, legends include “George putting with a rake, a shovel, a pool cue or a broom handle and defeating an opponent who was using a legitimate club. There are stories of George kicking a ball with his foot and acing five out of nine holes in one round on the practice green.”

Other stories hold “that in the old days George took so much money away from the tour champs in friendly putting games after tournaments were over that, as George might say, ‘I shoulda been given a speeding ticket, I win so fast.'”

Low, Jr. was born in 1912 and died in 1995 at the age of 82.

Low Sr., giving lessons to a female golf student

George Low, Sr., was born in Scotland and finished tied for second in the 1899 U.S. Open. According to the New York Tribune, he gave golf lessons to champion boxer Jack Dempsey, who thought golf was good training for his boxing career. 

In 1900, Low finished sixth in the U.S. Open and finished tied ninth in the 1901 U.S. Open. Low won the Metropolitan Open in 1906 and the Florida Open three times. In 1906 Low was appointed as the first president of the Eastern Professional Golfer’s Association, which predated the PGA of America.

He was born in 1874 and died in 1950 at the age of 75.

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Photos: Wikipedia