“Your hometown is not where you’re from. It’s who you are.”

Arnold Palmer was born on September 10, 1929, in Latrobe, a small industrial town in Western Pennsylvania. This is the home where he chose to raise his family, though he could have started a new life as a professional golfer anywhere else. The course, clubhouse and community at Latrobe Country Club shaped his love for people and golf, formed his character and personality, and built a life and legacy that sincerely inspired an Army of admirers.

To secure the future of this American legacy, the Palmer Family recently donated Latrobe Country Club to the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation. We are mustering Arnie’s Army once again to preserve the role Latrobe has played in inspiring dreams, building character and leading the game of golf forward. We owe it to this legacy to share Latrobe with the world.

The legacy is in your hands
“It’s truly astonishing to me that the phenomenon known as Arnie’s Army can be so enduring. And special. And eventually so meaningful. Especially now.”
Support from Arnie’s Army will help secure Latrobe’s long-term integrity, accessibility and impact, ensuring the lessons and values of Arnold Palmer’s legacy remain at the forefront of golf — and American history — for generations.
A History of Latrobe
“I look out for my home in Latrobe and I can see the house I grew up in. It's gone but I can see it in my mind's eye and feel the love of my mother and father and smell the air of the golf course, and that takes me back to my youth. Literally everything I need to fill my life — golf, family, friends, and flying — is only a matter of seconds from my front door.”
Arnold Palmer was born on September 10, 1929 — the first child of Deacon and Doris Palmer — in Latrobe, a small steel town 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The Palmers lived in a modest house near the current fifth hole of Latrobe Country Club, where Deacon was the club pro and greenkeeper. Arnold’s mother kept the pro-shop books and oversaw the family finances.
“When I was 3, my father put my hands in his and placed them around the shaft of a cut-down women’s golf club. He showed me the classic overlay, or Vardon, grip — the proper grip for a good golf swing, he said — and told me to hit the golf ball. ‘Hit it hard, boy,’ he said. ‘Go find it and hit it hard again.’”
“I was raised around a golf club, but I was never able to touch it. It was like looking at a piece of cake and knowing how good it was, but not being able to take a bite.”
By age 11, Arnold was a caddie at the club, which meant he got to play when the course was closed on Mondays. His game improved rapidly and he won the club’s caddie tournament five times. But his father would not let him take home the trophy.
In 1971, Arnold Palmer purchased Latrobe Country Club, where his father, Deacon, had worked as both course superintendent and head golf pro, and where a young Arnie first learned to play golf. “Are you crazy?” Deacon asked upon learning the news. “Why on earth do you want to do that?” Arnold explained that the family connection was a good enough reason, waited a second, and then told his father, “Besides, it means you’d have to work for me.”
The road to success is always under construction.
Since the founding of Latrobe Country Club in 1920, three generations of Palmers have been its caretakers. Today, you can help ensure Latrobe remains the best version of itself. Through new facilities and enhancements to the golf course and existing site, Arnie’s Army will help create opportunities for all golfers to experience Mr. Palmer’s legacy in his lifelong home.
Plans to Centralize 
the Experience
Palmer Foundation Office & Workshop
The Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation Inn
Winnie’s Barn & Learning Center
What is Arnold Palmer’s Legacy?

Arnold Palmer lived an American life of global significance, rewarded by his love for golf and love for people.

His combination of character and personality made him a friend to Presidents and built an Army of admirers.

Continually sharing these stories at Latrobe, Bay Hill, and wherever he mattered will carry the Legacy forward for new generations.

Arnold Palmer purchases Latrobe Country Club

In 1971 Arnold Palmer purchased Latrobe Country Club, where his father, Deacon, had worked as both course superintendent and head golf pro, and where a young Arnie first learned to golf.
Monday Mar 6th
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Arnold Palmer purchases Latrobe Country Club
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Every time he signed his name
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The day he said “we can do better”
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Congressional Gold Medal
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The day the Army was formed
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Listened to his father
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Sets an unbroken flight record
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Global launch
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Golf course design
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Arnie’s Army
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Arnold Palmer’s final Masters Tournament
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Legacy at The Open Championship
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Learning through loss
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The Arnold Palmer brand
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The Arnold Palmer legacy
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“When people ask what’s driven me all these years, I always give the same answer.

It’s you.”
The legacy is in your hands

Greetings
Your Support
Latrobe
Vision
Legacy
Sincerely