For 28 years Dow Finsterwald served as the PGA director of golf at The Broadmoor, succeeding Ed Dudley. The Ohio native won 12 PGA Tour events, including the 1958 PGA Championship in the first year it went to medal play. Finsterwald lost in the finals of match play the year before to Lionel Hebert, 2 & 1.
Finsterwald won the Vardon Trophy (70.30 stroke average) in 1957, was 1958 PGA Player of the Year, and lost the 1962 Masters title in a playoff to best friend Arnold Palmer.
Dow made the Ryder Cup teams of 1957, ’59, ’61 and ’63; captained the 1977 Ryder Cup team; was a member of the PGA Tournament Committee 1957-59; was a PGA of America vice-president 1976-78; served on the USGA Rules of Golf Committee 1979-81; and served for decades on the Masters Tournament Rules Committee. All of that underscores the respect in which he is held for his judgment and playing abilities.
In 2006, Finsterwald was inducted into the PGA of America Hall of Fame, and two years later he went into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2009, Finsterwald consulted on the design of the exclusive and highly ranked Pikewood National Golf Club in Morgantown, West Virginia. For the last 50 years of his life, he split his time between Colorado Springs and Bay Hill—the Orlando, Florida, club owned by his dear friend Arnold Palmer. Finsterwald died in Colorado Springs at the age of 93 in 2022.
1977 Golf Person of the Year
The winner of the 1958 PGA Championship and longtime Broadmoor PGA Director of Golf captained the victorious 1977 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
