SUNDAY • 04.26.2020 • SECTION G
CHRIS CARLSON PHOTOS, AP PHOTO
Adam Long watches his tee shot on the 16th hole during the final round of the Desert Classic in La Quinta, Calif., last year on the way to his first PGA Tour victory.
LONG TIME COMING Francis Howell grad having good year before stoppage BY WARREN MAYES
Special to the Post-Dispatch
dam Long and his fellow PGA Tour players are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic shutdown but the St. Charles County native has something to keep him busy while waiting to get back on the golf course. “We’re having a baby in April,” Long recently said about him and his wife, Emily, who is a nurse anesthetist. “It’s a boy. No name yet. We’re working on that. We can’t wait.” The PGA Tour is on hold because of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 that is plaguing the entire world. Long originally planned to take a three-week hiatus to be off when the newborn arrives and to help out. The couple lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The stoppage in play halted a good start to the 2020 campaign for Long, who graduated from Francis Howell High before starring at Duke in college. In 15 tournaments this season, Long recorded two top-10 finishes and seven in the top 25. Long made the cut in 11 tournaments. He has won $1,288,958 and is 32nd in the FedEx Cup rankings. He came in second at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Playa del Carmen, Mexico, winning $544,800. Long placed eighth in the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz.
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Adam Long celebrates on the 18th hole after winning the Desert Classic on Jan. 20, 2019, in La Quinta, Calif.
Norwood is ideal
“This game keeps you humble,” said the 32-year-old Long. “I’m just happy to be here playing on the Tour. It’s hard to believe really. I think I’d be called a journeyman. I believe I’m in that category. It took me a while to get here. I was hoping to get here faster. “I got a little better each year. I finally got on the PGA Tour. I’ve been pretty consistent. I’ve not had too many highs and lows. Each year I keep getting a little better.”
LEARNING THE GAME Brian Fogt, the director of instruction at Bellerive Country Club, began working with Long when he was a youngster. Fogt then was teaching at Missouri Bluffs Golf Club. “We met, yikes, when Adam was 9, so about 23 years ago. His dad (Gordon) was a pilot for TWA and now American,” Fogt said. “He’s an avid golfer. Gordon was out there frequently practicing. We met and he saw I was working with young players that were older than Adam. We struck up a friendship. I started working with Adam. “That persisted for a long time, all the way through college and as he was making his way professionally. We’ve been through a lot together.” “Brian Fogt has been a father figure to me at times,” Long said. Long quickly showed promise
Champions’ Ascension Classic picked the Ferguson area
BY TOM TIMMERMANN
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The world’s best golfers have been coming to Norwood Hills Country Club, the venerable north St. Louis track that opened in 1922, since 1948, when the PGA had its championship there. Some of golf’s most famous names – Ben Hogan, Gene Littler, Kathy Whitworth, Lee Trevino – have won events there. When professional golf returns to St. Louis this year for the Ascension Charity Classic on the PGA Tour Champions (once upon a time the Seniors Tour) on Oct. 2-4, it’s coming to Norwood Hills for a different reason besides the quality of the course: To make a statement. The tournament’s organizers chose the course, which sits in Jennings, because it is about as close as you can get to being in Ferguson. If city maps are accurate, the fourth green on Norwood Hill’s West Course actually is over the city line and into Ferguson, a largely unknown St. Louis community until the rioting and protests following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown. “We felt very strongly,” said Nick Ragone, executive vice pres-
under Fogt’s tutelage. He earned all-state status all four years in high school despite playing for three coaches. He ranked eighth in the Golfweek Junior Golf Rankings. With Duke recruiting him, Long chose to become a Blue Devil. “When he was a sophomore in high school, he was playing some good golf in the junior golf world. He wasn’t very big,” Fogt said. “The coach (Rod Myers) at Duke, who I knew, called and asked my opinion. He was smaller for his age and didn’t hit the ball as far as some other guys. I said when he gets stronger, his swing was so good, I knew that would help his development and scoring.” Long did grow and get stronger. His senior year proved that he could play. He ranked sixth nationally and 22nd among all U.S. Amateurs in the Golfweek Amateur Rankings. “He had a very good career at Duke. If you play golf or basketball at Duke, you’re pretty good at those two sports,” Fogt said. “He had enough success as a college golfer that if his heart was in it, he would give it a try and play after college.” Ironically, Long also had three coaches at Duke. His final coach, Jamie Green, believed Long could succeed in the world of professional golf. Please see LONG, Page G4
NEW LEASE NEEDED Normandie owner UMSL looks for firm to run famed course BY WARREN MAYES
Special to the Post-Dispatch
vision was to have it there and the Tour, after visiting the property, saw that vision as well and said, ‘This will work out.’ “We can shine a light on North County. We’re near Ferguson
Area golfers may yet have the chance to tee it up and play at the historic Normandie Golf Course. The University of Missouri– St. Louis (UMSL) is working through the “Request for Proposal” process with a goal of Normandie Golf Course reopening this spring, said Bob Samples, the university’s Interim Chief of Staff. UMSL owns the 119-yearold club. Normandie is the oldest public course west of the Mississippi River. Normandie 1901 LLC notified the University of Missouri–St. Louis that it is ex-
Please see NORWOOD, Page G5
Please see NORMANDIE, Page G2
COLTER PETERSON PHOTOS, CPETERSON@POST-DISPATCH.COM
The clubhouse at Norwood Hills Country Club in Jennings last month. ident and chief marketing officer for Ascension, “the tournament had to be hosted in North County. We’re a Catholic institution, serving underserved communities, and we wanted to do something special in North County, in the Ferguson area, to help revital-
ize the area and stimulate the ongoing revitalization. Then, as we began discussing that, the only course that could do it would be Norwood. It’s a classic course with a great pedigree going back to the 1948 PGA Championship. It’s a big piece of property and our