golf history
Recent photo of Bob Toski
Toski, North and South Open at Pinehurst #2 in 1949. Bob told me this is his favorite photo.
The Legend-Bob Toski By Paul Kiska
As palm trees sway outside in a
warm Florida breeze, 98-year-old Bob Toski takes the stage inside a popular restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida. The legendary golf teacher to the superstars of the game, and 1954 PGA Player of the Year, Toski does what he loves each Friday night, but in this case, it doesn’t involve picking up a golf club. Instead, Toski picks up a microphone and sings as the crowd listens intently to his smooth crooner voice. But, what some in the audience might not know is that Toski is a PGA golf teaching legend. He’s also a golf hero to some of the biggest names in golf history, 38
and he has some great stories Toski’s story and journey to become a golf teaching legend began 87 years before he was inducted into the ‘PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame.’ Toski was born in 1926 in Haydenville, Massachusetts, a village with a population of only a few hundred people at the time. He and his eight siblings lived in a humble home that only had an outhouse they all shared. Toski rose from that tiny town to become a giant of the game of professional golf by transforming the swing technique with his innovative approach with the knack of a brilliant professor. He
has a habit of turning pro golfers into champions. As Toski’s 99th birthday approaches in September, he’s still sharing a wealth of his highly sought after golf knowledge, swing technique, and his treasure chest of golf stories. “A singing coach once told me that I didn’t need voice lessons, because I was already a really good singer,” Toski proudly said. But Toski is globally known for swinging a golf club, instead of slinging songs. Toski helped turn golfers into legendary champs including Judy Rankin, and helped Jack Nicklaus stay at the top of his game. Toski also gave golf lessons to some of the greatest athletes of all time including Joe DiMaggio, and movie stars like Sydney Poitier. THE JACK NICKLAUS AND BOB TOSKI CONNECTION On a recent breezy and mild May afternoon in Dublin, Ohio where Jack Nicklaus had been preparing for the 2025 edition of his annual PGA tournament ‘The Memorial’ at Muirfield Village, Nicklaus said, “Bob Toski helped me refine and polish parts of my game to improve as a golfer, he continues to be a longtime friend.” Toski said he and Nicklaus remain close and recently met to swap some “wonderful” golf stories. Jack Grout was Nicklaus’s main golf coach, who Nicklaus credits for his legendary success. “Jack (Grout) was a great golf teacher who would regularly send me to Golf Central • Volume 26, Issue 4