📍Hot Springs, VA 24445, USA
1912 – 1936“I was born in May 1912 in Ashwood, a hamlet in the Allegheny Mountains near Hot Springs, Virginia, the youngest of six children of a farmer, Harry Snead, and his wife, Laura. Our family had farmed in Bath County for generations, and I grew up working the land, milking cows, hunting squirrels in the woods and running barefoot through the hollows. Squirrel hunting, I always said, gave me the sharp eye that helped me later on the tee. My older brother Homer played golf, and I copied him, hitting stones with a stick cut from a tree in the fields at home. At seven I started caddying at The Homestead, the grand resort hotel in Hot Springs, carrying bags for wealthy guests and earning money to help my family, and I learned the game by watching the good players and practising wherever I could. I was a natural athlete; at Valley High School I played football, baseball, basketball and ran track, and I dreamed of being a football player. I got a job in The Homestead's golf shop, and the professional there saw my talent. I turned professional in 1934 and joined the tour, where my sweet, smooth swing became famous. I won a record 82 PGA Tour events and seven majors, and I won a tournament at the age of fifty-two. I never really left Bath County; I kept a farm near Hot Springs and returned to The Homestead all my life, where I was the resort's golf professional for many years.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today