Gary Marlowe
Gary grew up in a golfing family. His father, Tony, was the Head Professional at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, MD for 35 years. After absorbing most of what his father taught him he became a student of the legendary Bob Toski.
After an interesting (and profitable) Asian Tour season, Gary made the PGA Tour in 1984. Unfortunately, he suffered a catastrophic knee injury while water skiing during a break from competitive golf. Over the ensuing years, this injury has resulted in 17 other knee operations, and, of course, for all intents and purposes, ended his competitive career.
Turning to teaching, Gary has developed a faithful following of students ranging from beginners to promising college players, housewives to surgeons, nuns to scoundrels. When it comes to teaching golf Gary is quite ecumenical about accepting students.
The Commish met Gary after a particularly tough round (125) and all he wanted was to be able to drive the ball relatively straight for 150 yards or so. Since hooking up with Mr. Marlowe, The Commish has occasionally played some good golf, not often, but enough to keep coming back to this silly game. (For the record, The Commish shot even par once in 2008!)
After my first playing lesson with Gary I was amazed at what a real golfer could do. We were playing Queenstown Harbor Golf Links and my first tee shot was in the woods left. Trying to show my knowledge and not seeing anyway to advance towards the hole, I took out an iron to bump it backwards to the fairway when Gary showed me another option. From the middle of the woods he took a three iron, aimed completely across the fairway towards an environmental area and hit a hook that landed on the front of the green. Impressed to say the least, I asked him how he learned to do that. He said, "Out of necessity." When he was younger he used to be in the woods so much that he was nicknamed "Squirrel." In fact, I have heard some oldtimers call over to him using this old nickname. "Hey Squirrel, good to see you" and so forth.
That is all I remember from that first playing lesson. Now, when I am not so overwhelmed by Gary's play, I see him keep track of every club selection and each shot hit by all three students during a playing lesson. He can recall what went wrong or right so that when you get together on the driving range he knows what to work with you on. Remembering every shot and club of each player, I've still seen him shoot 6 under for his own round.
Along with great instruction, Gary is full of, among other stuff, stories and anecdotes from the "world of golf." (See left side panel for the stories.)
Gary's nephew, Peter Uihlein, is an up and coming amateur, ranked very highly nationally. Keep this name in the back of your mind as we probably will hear more about him in a few years. If the name Uhlein sounds vaguely familiar, it should. Gary's brother-in-law (and Peter's father) is Wally Uihlein, President of Titleist.
So, if you are interested in excellent (and reasonably priced) instruction, give Gary a call. He is now teaching at Mountain Branch Golf Club in Harford County, Maryland.
Also, Gary is a great source for Titleist equipment and can fit you for the latest and greatest if you are in the market for new sticks. Often too, he can get demo clubs which, when available, are extremely reasonably priced. If you don't live near Gary then check out The BGA Store for the best in previously used clubs. Remember, we never wear out the sweet spot on our clubs!
Also get YouTube analysis of Tiger Woods by Bob Toski