Gary Edwin, the Right Sided Swing

It is one thing to gain a reputation as a coach by having a prodigy land on your doorstep. It is another to do so by taking a player wallowing in the anonymity of pro-am land and help him become a player capable of competing on the world stage. To my way of thinking, that was what made (and makes) Edwin unique.

Of course, the “formulaic” swing idiosyncrasies that many Edwin coached players brought to the PGA Tour in the late 1990’s raised a few eyebrows. At first they were laughed off, like someone passing the curious three legged man at a freak show and allowing themselves a surreptitious glance and snide snigger. However, the laughing soon gained a slightly nervous, if not indignant tone as a number of unheralded swings started turning up on top of the leader board.

Then the analysis began. “You can only swing that way if you’ve got forearms like a grave digger”, was the argument when Lonard was at his ascendant best. Then Paul Gow started winning and shooting 60 with arms that knew only a loose relationship with muscularity. The original hypothesis was looking shaky. Worse was yet to come for the nay-sayers, for when an un-athletic, thirty-ish Gavin Coles rose from his job in a rural pet food factory and worked his way onto the US Tour there existed a model that no-one could pigeon hole. Too small, too short,not strong. He certainly couldn’t swing it the Edwin way, could he?

Should a coach be judged in relation to what and how they teach, or of whom? Our celebrity obsessed world tends to value the latter, but regardless of which school of thought takes precedence, Edwin qualifies for recognition in both respects. His has been a life long search for substance over style, and, if validation has finally arrived, it’s hard to support any conclusion other than that it is well earned.

Grant Dodd

Between 1993 and 2004, Grant Dodd played on the PGA Tours of Australasia, Europe and Asia, winning the Slovenian Open on the European Challenge Tour in 1999. A writer for Australian Golf Digest since 2003, he is also a member of the Channel Ten golf commentary team.