Jeff Sluman - Part 1 (The Early Years)
We begin our four-part series with major championship winner Jeff Sluman who recounts his early life growing up in a working-class family in Greece, New York. Smitten by the game at an early age and with the encouragement of his father and two older brothers, Jeff showed early promise, first as a left-hander and later as a convert to the right side. Listen in as he recalls attending a practice round for the 1968 U.S. Open at Oak Hill with his Dad and marveling at the beauty of the course and the ability of the professional players. Jeff remembers his first golf clubs and the junior competitions he participated in before college including his encounter with Bob Tway at the 1975 U.S. Junior Amateur. Jeff Sluman shares his early years, "FORE the Good of the Game."
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About
"FORE the Good of the Game” is a golf podcast featuring interviews with World Golf Hall of Fame members, winners of major championships and other people of influence in and around the game of golf. Highlighting the positive aspects of the game, we aim to create and provide an engaging and timeless repository of content that listeners can enjoy now and forever. Co-hosted by PGA Tour star Bruce Devlin, our podcast focuses on telling their life stories, in their voices. Join Bruce and Mike Gonzalez “FORE the Good of the Game.”
Thanks so much for listening!
Sluman, Jeff
Golf Professional and Broadcaster
Jeffrey Sluman was born in September of 1957 and raised in Greece near Rochester, New York.
He grew up playing golf at Craig Hill Country Club (now known as Deerfield) and quickly became known as one of the top junior athletes in the Rochester area. His father George, and older brother, Brad, were also low-handicap golfers, and helped guide a young Sluman during his early teenage years.
“He told me to stop killing every one of them and at times to use one club less than I’d like to hit. It worked. And my brother has been helping right along, too,” Sluman said in a quote to the Democrat and Chronicle, 1975.
Sluman won the Rochester District Golf Association’s (RDGA) Boys’ Sub-Junior Championship in 1971 at Durand Eastman Golf Course. He was also an impressive bowler in his youth, having competed in Rochester Junior Bowling Association leagues and received recognition at as young an age as eleven. At fourteen, he recorded his first hole-in-one at Ridgemont Country Club.
He qualified for the 1975 U.S. Junior Amateur, which was his first golf tournament on the national stage and flew down to Nashville, Tennessee to the Richland CC. He successfully qualified for match play after posting 77-77 to make the cut by five strokes but lost to David Abell of Fort Pierce, Florida in the first round, 3&2.
After graduating from Greece Arcadia High School in 1975, Sluman attended Monroe Community College. As a freshman, he helped lead his team to a Region 3 Junior College Golf Championship and first National Junior College Athletic Associati… Read More
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