Eddie’s love for golf and the amateur game, his “alpha dog” mentality, “gift of gab” and wealth set numerous events in motion.
Social
Eddie became well connected, having golf memberships through the years at Cypress Point Club, Augusta National Golf Club, San Francisco Golf Club, Thunderbird Country Club, California Golf Club and Seminole Golf Club. His golf buddies were the likes of Bing Crosby, Bob Hope (traveled together to compete in the 1951 British Amateur), Ed Sullivan, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan.
Golf/Business
Eddie was an early proponent of the “working outside” concept, combining business with pleasure, providing a business associate with an unusual, exceptional, first-class golfing experience to reward an existing client or to secure a new client. Eddie championed the amateur game as well, sponsoring the finest amateurs of the time, including Ken Venturi (Eddie’s surrogate son), Harvie Ward, Bob Rosburg and Tony Lima. He employed recognized amateur players as sales representatives to drive revenue in the morning, engaging business associates on the course in the afternoon.
Eddie and George Coleman (titan of oil and mining) were responsible for coordinating arguably the greatest, clandestine golf match in history (1955) between professionals Ben Hogan/Byron Nelson (Coleman’s team) and amateurs Ken Venturi/Harvie Ward (Lowery’s team). Hogan/Nelson won the match one-up as Hogan drained a ten-foot birdie putt on the eighteenth, securing the sizeable wager for George Coleman.
Controversy
In 1955, Eddie Lowery (USGA Executive Committee member) was charged (never convicted) with tax evasion by a San Francisco grand jury, due to questionable business related golf expenses. During the trial, Eddie testified to subsidizing Harvie Ward’s travel expenses associated with the 1952 British Amateur and Ward’s golf membership at the San Francisco Golf Club. In 1957, Harvie Ward’s amateur status was revoked for the 1957 amateur season. Ward was unable to defend his 1955 and 1956 Amateur Championships at The Country Club. In 1958, Ward’s amateur status was reinstated as it was determined Ward was unaware of the circumstances leading to Eddie’s conviction. Eddie subsequently resigned his role on the USGA’s Executive Committee, a public embarrassment.
Less Than Fact:
In the movie portrayal of the 1913 US Open Championship, Greatest Game Ever Played, Eddie encouraged Francis with the phrase, “Easy peasy lemon squeezy.” Dictionary.com suggests the earliest documented instance of “Easy Peasy” appears in the American film “The Long Voyage Home.” It is also said, the phrase originated from the 1950-1960 commercial slogan for a British lemon scented dish soap called Squeezy, dispensed in a squeeze bottle.
Eddie Lowery lived a very full and amazing life.
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