Korby's Connections: Meeting some greats through golf

Sports history and lessons learned can be very valuable and enjoyable. College or professional, amateurs or on a playground, it doesn’t matter. All can bring us a sense of joy and eternal fond memories. We tell of legendary games and encounters to all who will listen.

I have two golf stories worth repeating.

Pine Knot subscriber Bob Bromme lives in Arizona now, but he grew up in Cloquet in the 1940s and 1950s. His dad enlisted in the Navy in 1942, shortly after Pearl Harbor. He didn’t see him again until 1945. Bob is now in his 90s, with an iron-clad memory. The story he told me took place in 1961.

Bromme played sports at the Cloquet High School and the nearby Civic Center. He got his golf start at the Cloquet Country Club, working there summers on the greens crew for superintendent Swede Peterson and playing himself occasionally. After graduating from Bemidji State College, he worked as a teacher and basketball, baseball, and tennis coach for 11 years. He worked at New York Mills schools for a few years. “There were a lot of Finns there,” Bromme said. “They knew people in Esko and Cloquet and vice versa.”

“They were good kids at that school and we won at everything,” he said.

The commencement speech at the school in 1961 was given by a track and Olympic star Jesse Owens.

Owens was the hero of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in Nazi- and Hitler-controlled Germany. He won four gold medals: three in sprints and the long jump. Being a Black athlete in Berlin in 1936 — or for that matter the United States — presented many challenges, to say the least. Many experts consider Owens one of the top five athletes of the 20th century.

The morning following the graduation ceremony, Bob was called, via the intercom system, into the superintendent’s office. He wasn’t sure what it could be about.

“Bob, could you do me a favor? Here’s the district’s car keys, please go and pick up Mr. Owens from my house. By the way, did you like his speech? Then, could you go home, get changed and take him golfing?” Bill Dittes said.

Bromme picked up Owens and brought him to his house to switch into golf attire.

“I’ll never forget it. …my 3-year-old son (Jay), my wife (Carol), and Jesse Owens sitting on the couch in my living room” reminisced Bromme.

They played golf at the nine-hole course in Wadena, both shooting around 40. He had Jesse sign the scorecard and they left it with the course manager, where it was left on display. Bob and Jesse then had lunch at the local A&W Root Beer stand. For many townspeople it could have been the first time they had seen a Black person.

“Jessie thanked me when I dropped him off and said he had an enjoyable day. He loved golf,” Bromme said.

As a regional director for an insurance company years later, Bromme had the opportunity to play golf in Hawaii 11 times, in Puerto Rico, in the Bahamas, and at many championship courses across the country. But nothing beat his nine holes of golf in Wadena playing with the great Jesse Owens.

The next story isn’t quite as lengthy. I like to say hello to my mail carrier, Dave, on days I happen to be home and outside.

A while back, as he delivered my Golf Digest magazine, Dave said he had a golf thrill many years ago while he was serving in the Navy. He was stationed in southern California, near San Diego. Dave said he had a buddy who also liked to golf, and they’d go to Long Beach on days off.

Prior to what seemed to be a regular round, a pro shop employee asked the Navy chums if they’d mind playing with two others. This was in the late 1980s. They noticed it was a young boy and his dad. The two of them were saying goodbye to the young man’s grandfather.

Right away, the Navy guys were impressed by their two new golf acquaintances. Both drove the golf ball incredibly long and straight. Dave estimated the kid’s age at about 12. He heard the dad refer to the kid as both “Eldrick” and “Tiger” and wondered if it was just a cute nickname. The round ended with hand shakes and well wishing.

A few years later, in the mid-1990s, his buddy asked Dave: “Do you know who we played golf with in Long Beach?”

At the time, they were both watching ESPN. The U.S. Amateur golf winner was a kid named Tiger Woods. They realized then that they had played with a future great golfer. What they didn’t ever guess is that Tiger would come to be considered maybe the greatest professional golfer ever. And Dave played with him way back when on just another day in Long Beach.

Steve Korby’s interest in writing goes back to when he was in fourth grade and editor of the Scan-Satellite school newspaper in Scanlon. He welcomes ideas for human interest stories and tales regarding Carlton County residents, projects, history, and plans c/o [email protected].