WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Jan. 9, 2013 – Del Snyder, 80, longtime PGA teaching professional at Colonial Williamsburg’s Golden Horseshoe Golf Club, died here Jan. 8.
“Del has been part of the Golden Horseshoe family for 37 years,” said Glen Byrnes, director of golf, The Golden Horseshoe Golf Club. “The game of golf has lost a tremendous player and teacher of the game. Our members and staff are heartbroken at the loss of our great friend and mentor.”
A protégé of the legendary Sam Snead, Snyder turned professional in 1966 and joined The Golden Horseshoe Golf Club as head golf professional in 1976.
Snyder grew up on a farm in Bath County, Va., just outside Hot Springs, Snead’s hometown. He excelled in sports as a young man, playing guard on the Bath County High School football team and learning golf while caddying at the Homestead golf course. Snyder’s first golf club was a hickory-shafted 3-iron obtained from a relative. He remembers hitting golf balls from one telephone pole to another in a pasture.
After high school, Snyder tried carpentry, and then worked at a gas station in Washington, D.C. A contractor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent him to Iceland to work on an installation that was part of the Defense Early Warning Line, an early Cold War air defense system. At 23, he returned to the United States, and his beloved golf, working at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.V., as an assistant to Snead, then the resident professional.
“Of course, as I was growing up, Sam was always someone that I looked up to and admired,” Snyder said. “It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Snyder was an accomplished golfer who was self-taught emulating the pictures from Ben Hogan’s “Power Golf” book. By the time he was 14, he already was shooting in the 70s. Though it was Hogan’s book that helped him get started, it was clearly Snead who left a lifelong mark on Mr. Snyder. He called Snead “a mentor and a friend of more than 40 years” and said he clearly had the greatest impact on his career.
“Sam’s influence certainly impacted my playing and teaching philosophy,” Snyder said. “The most valuable thing I learned from Sam was rhythm and tempo. The first time I played golf with Sam, I was so nervous I could barely draw the club back. I cold-topped it, but I still made 4 and so did Sam. After that, I was never nervous playing with Sam.”
What Snyder learned from Snead he shared with many others from all walks of life, from U.S. presidents, diplomats and prominent CEOs to the everyday golfer. He especially appreciated giving lessons to beginners because of the challenge it presented and the opportunity to watch their abilities and love of the game evolve from the outset.
In 1984, at the age of 51, Snyder became the oldest member to win the Middle Atlantic Section of the PGA Championship. He went on to win the section’s Senior Championship in 1990 and 1992 and was named its “Teacher of the Year” in 1999. During the course of his teaching career, he received top honors from Golf Digest and Golf Magazine, and was elected to the Bath County Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.
After being named Teacher of the Year, Snyder received a letter from Snead that read in part: “I always said that you were one of the greatest hand players I ever saw. What putting ability with that bull’s-eye! Hotel guests specifically asked for you for lessons, and I can understand why. You were always on the go and never still. You had a great work ethic and you were so personable with the guests and club members. Your skills as a teacher and communicator are superb.”
While he most definitely possessed the skills to play professionally, perhaps Snyder found his calling as an instructor – a talent that earned him national accolades and recognition, having appeared in two separate articles in The New York Times. He frequently said his favorite golf instruction tip was “keep it simple.”
“Del will be missed,” Byrnes said. “Anyone who had the privilege of being a student or a friend of his learned valuable insights on the game of golf and loving what he or she does in life.”
Contact:
Barbara Rust Brown, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
(757) 220-7280 or bbrown@cwf.org
Karen Moraghan, Hunter Public Relations
(908) 876-5100 or kmoraghan@hunter-pr.com
