He saw Bobby Jones play, became a club and teaching pro. Norrie Wright had a rich golfing life
Norrie Wright was the grandson of Scottish golf pro George Kenneth Norrie, and walked the fairways of the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta as a child, watching his grandfather play golf with the legendary Bobby Jones.
That Wright, who passed away on Aug. 4 at the age of 88 after a short illness, would make golf his life and passion was a foregone conclusion from that point. He was a club and teaching professional on the First Coast for more than five decades and had students from beginners to touring professionals.
“He wanted to help anyone get involved in golf, teaching them, making their equipment, showing them how to dress the right way … everything his grandfather had done,” said Toby Wright, his wife of nearly 52 years. “He loved everything about the game.”
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Wright, a native of Macon, Ga., and a past Georgia state junior champion played on the Florida State golf team in the 1950s and 1960s. After teaching at East Lake and the Capital City Club, he came to the First Coast and was the head pro first at Selva Marina and then at Beauclerc.
It was at the latter that he met his wife when she signed up for golf lessons.
“He took 10 strokes off my handicap,” she said proudly.
Wright was short of stature but among the longest hitters in the area. He was one of the few who could drive across the canal at the old 15th hole at Selva Marina.
After Beauclerc closed, Wright taught at Baymeadows and Sunbeam, then established the Norrie Wright Golf Center on University Boulevard.
He proved ahead of his time as a teacher.
“To the best of my knowledge, Norrie was the first guy to teach using video,” said another area pro, Boots Farley. “He made a huge background with graph lines on it, and he would take photos of a student’s swing sequentially to show where their club position was at every step. He was always looking for ways to help people get better.”
Among Wright’s students was Terry Catlett, who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s. Catlett said he never touched a golf club until he was 12 years old. He attended a junior clinic at Selva Marina that Wright conducted, got the golf bug and took more lessons, and one year later won the Jacksonville Junior Championship at the age of 13.
“He was very thorough, very good with giving you drills and explaining how they would help you,” Catlett said. “He was the first guy I ever heard about who taught the one-piece swing. He was demanding but never yelled. He was my teacher but he became a great friend.”
Former Times-Union sports editor Fred Seely said Wright was the consummate golf professional.
“He really cared about the game, the members of the clubs he worked at and his students,” Seely said. “He raised a lot of money for junior golf, did everything he could for the kids. Just a damn good guy.”
Nick Clark, who was the head pro at San Jose during the same time Wright was nearby at Beauclerc, said Wright was among the most-admired club pros on the area.
“Norrie was very well-liked … I can’t think of anyone who didn’t like him. A really good pro and a good person.”
Wright is survived by his wife, daughter Norianne Wright, step-daughter Dana Gordon, step-son Robert Gordon and five grandchildren. Plans for a celebration of life are pending.
Morris takes hard road to
Winning FSGA match play
Nease graduate Andrew Morris earned every bit of his Florida State Golf Association Match Play Championship last week at Deerwood.
Morris won his pool with a 3-0 record, then defeated four worthy opponents to win the championship, capped by a 4 and 3 victory over former University of North Florida starter Cooper Smith, who has transferred to South Florida.
On the way to the finals, Morris defeated current Florida Amateur champion Marc Dull 1-up, former UNF player Chase Baldwin 3 and 2 and 2022 Florida Amateur and Mid-Amateur of the year Joey Latowski 4 and 2.
Morris, who played college golf at Farleigh Dickinson, did it with a flourish at the end. He trailed Smith 1-down through 10 holes but then won the last five holes to take the lead and close out the match, all on birdies.
Seven set for U.S. Amateur
Seven area players will tee off in the 123rd U.S. Amateur on Monday at the Cherry Hills Country Club and the Colorado Golf Club near Denver.
Among them are three players looking to add an exclamation point to their 2023 golf seasons: University of North Florida senior Nick Gabrelcik, who was voted the ASUN player of the year for the third time in a row; incoming UNF junior Andrew Riley, who won the NCAA Division II individual national championship at Palm Beach Atlantic; and Brock Blais, the Ponte Vedra High graduate and incoming Texas-San Antonio freshman who won the Class 2A state golf title and was the Times-Union's boys player of the year.
Also competing are Wake Forest sophomore Andrew McLauchlan of Atlantic Beach; Florida Southeastern graduate student Matt Soucinek of Lake City; Bolles junior Luke Balaskiewicz; and Jackson Byrd of St. Simons Island, Ga.
The field of 312 will play 36 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday to get down to the 64-player match-play field. Those matches will be at Cherry Hills.
Robards carries the load
Henry Robards of Jacksonville went 2-1 and was one of the few bright spots for the North team in a 21-11 loss to the South in the 17th Florida Junior Cup at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.
Robards won his singles match 3 and 1 over Darren Zhou and combined with Reggie Zhu to win a fourball match 1-up over Daniel Enrique Vanosote and Elijah Zamarron.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Norrie Wright, 1935-2023: First Coast golf pro had a passion for teaching
