Eddie Lowery - Biography

Biography

Lowery was the fifth child born in Newton, Massachusetts, to John and Maria Lowery (née Curran), who were Irish immigrants. He moved to San Francisco, California, and championed the rising amateur careers of Ken Venturi (1964 U.S. Open Champion), Harvie Ward (1955 & 1956 U.S. Amateur Champion), and Tony Lema (1964 British Open Champion), among others. Lowery played at Lincoln Park in San Francisco. He died in 1984 in Riverside County, California.

He became a multi-millionaire as an auto dealer in San Francisco. Lowery and Bob Hope were friends and they both played in the 1951 British Amateur. He enjoyed sponsoring young amateur golfers, such as two of his employees: Venturi and Ward. In 1956 he arranged a match between these two amateurs and two golf pros, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, a friendly four-ball match at Cypress Point Club. The amateurs played a strong game but the pros took the match, 1-up. Venturi told a newspaper years later, "It was the best golf I've ever seen." This match was chronicled in depth in Mark Frost's 2007 book The Match.

Lowery also served on the Executive Committee of the United States Golf Association. His sponsorship of Harvie Ward led to problems, because Lowery had claimed certain disallowable business expenses for tax write-offs. And Ward, who had trusted Lowery's USGA expertise, had his amateur status revoked in 1957, at a time when he had won the previous two consecutive U.S. Amateur titles.