Gary Koch
 Our special celebrity this
month is Florida’s own Gary
Koch. Although he was not
born in Florida, Gary grew
up here, played high school golf here,
attended the University of Florida and
resides in Tampa. He still holds the distinction
of the youngest player ever to
win the Florida Open at the age of 16 in
1969. The next year he won the United
States Junior Amateur. In Gainesville,
he was a distinguished member of the
golf team and the 1973 NCAA Championship
team. His teammates included
fellow future PGA Tour Professionals
Woody Blackburn, Andy Bean, Phil Hancock
and Andy North. By the time he
graduated in 1974, he was a three time,
first team All-American who had won
10 collegiate tournaments and finished
2nd in two NCAA Championships. He
turned professional in 1975.
His love of Florida is evident in his
wins on the PGA tour. Of his 6 wins
four of them have come within the
state, including the 1976 Tallahassee
Open, the 1977 Florida Citrus Open,
the 1983 Doral-Eastern Open, and the
1984 Bay Hill Classic, when he finished
17th on the money list. In 1990 Gary
started his sports casting career with
ESPN working the Champions Tour
telecasts. In 1997 he switched to NBC,
and after 11 years, is working an even
larger schedule in 2009. When I asked
him whether he would be playing
any Champions Tour events, he said
“with the added schedule, the lack of
practice time, I doubt if I will be able
to play or have the time to play.” He really
enjoys his job analyzing and commenting
on the telecasts along with
his 2-time Liberty Mutual Legends of
Golf (Raphael Division) partner, Roger
Maltbie.
The first time I had the pleasure to
meet Gary Koch was at Bardmoor Golf
& Tennis Club in Largo, where he had
just completed a fantastic redesign of
the golf course. It was about 2 years
after we had begun the magazine, and
Senior Correspondent Rick Harris,
Photographer Extraordinaire Lynn Pelham,
Duffer Dan and I had a fun time
spending the day with Gary. The St.
Petersburg Times continues to this day
to pick Bardmoor as their favorite in
the Tampa market. Gary has designed
some awesome tracks which I have
had the pleasure to play over the years
including Arlington Ridge in Leesburg,
Las Colinas at the Mission Inn Resort,
and Mystic Dunes. One of his best
renovations was at Mangrove Bay in
St. Pete. His design business has been
put on hold because of the same demands
of the NBC broadcasts that will
be televising the entire Florida Swing
from Doral to the Tournament Players
Championship. He hosts the Gary
Koch Invitational, which is a collegiate
tournament, held at Old Memorial in
Tampa the 1st weekend in October.
He is a true Florida Gentleman with
graciousness second to none.
In addition to the PGA Tour and
major-event coverage that Koch provides
for NBC, he also works two other
prominent events for the network,
the American Century Championship
celebrity golf tournament from Lake
Tahoe and the ADT Skills Challenge.
The American Century Championship
is celebrating its 20th anniversary
this summer with six hours of live
coverage. The ADT Skills Challenge
broke new ground in 2008 by pairing
PGA Tour stars with their caddies as
players in competition for $800,000 in
prize money. |
