By Paul Kiska
As palm trees sway outside in a warm Florida breeze, 99-year-old Bob Toski takes the stage inside a popular restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida. The legendary golf teacher to the superstars of the game, and 1954 PGA Player of the Year, Toski does what he loves each Friday night — but in this case, it doesn’t involve picking up a golf club. Instead, Toski picks up a microphone and sings as the crowd listens intently to his smooth crooner voice. But what some in the audience might not know is that Toski is a PGA golf teaching legend. He’s also a golf hero to some of the biggest names in golf history, and he has some great stories.
Toski’s story and journey to become a golf teaching legend began 87 years before he was inducted into the “PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame.” Toski was born in 1926 in Haydenville, Massachusetts, a small village with only a few hundred residents at the time. He and his eight siblings lived in a humble home that had only an outhouse they all shared.
Toski rose from that tiny town to become a giant of professional golf by transforming swing technique with his innovative, professor-like approach. He has a habit of turning pro golfers into champions. At 99-years-old, Toski is still sharing a wealth of golf knowledge, swing technique, and a treasure chest of stories.
“A singing coach once told me I didn’t need voice lessons because I was already a really good singer,” Toski proudly said. But Toski is globally known for swinging a golf club instead of slinging songs.
Toski helped turn golfers into legendary champions including Judy Rankin and helped Jack Nicklaus stay at the top of his game. He also gave lessons to some of the greatest athletes of all time, including Joe DiMaggio and movie star Sidney Poitier.
The Jack Nicklaus and Bob Toski Connection
On a recent breezy and mild May afternoon in Dublin, Ohio, where Jack Nicklaus had been preparing for the 2025 edition of his annual PGA tournament “The Memorial” at Muirfield Village, Nicklaus said, “Bob Toski helped me refine and polish parts of my game to improve as a golfer. He continues to be a longtime friend.”
Toski said he and Nicklaus remain close and recently met to swap some “wonderful” golf stories. Jack Grout was Nicklaus’s main golf coach, who Nicklaus credits for his legendary success. “Jack (Grout) was a great teacher who would regularly send me to Toski to work on improving certain aspects of my game, and Toski helped me greatly,” Nicklaus said.
Toski said, “Jack Nicklaus knows how to rise to the occasion. He’s laser focused and all business on the golf course. A lot of Jack’s success is also due to his beautiful wife Barbara.” Jack and Barbara Nicklaus have been married 65 years.
Hit ’Em Straight!
Toski said Judy Rankin went to him for lessons “to hit a golf ball straight.” She did more than improve — she won 26 LPGA Tour events and was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 2000.
Toski said he didn’t charge Rankin or other pros for lessons. “My brother Jack (Toski) taught me golf when I was six years old, and he told me to remember all of the people who helped me along the way — and to give back.”
The Telephone Pole Connection
One of Toski’s favorite stories is a golf lesson involving a wooden telephone pole. He helped Birdie Kim on her way to winning the 2005 Women’s U.S. Open. Toski said he hit a six-iron from 150 yards and struck a telephone pole on his second try. When he asked Kim to try, she nailed the pole on her first swing. That’s when he knew she was ready to be a champion.
A Professor of Golf
Toski won the 1954 World Golf Championship and was the leading money winner on tour that year. He won 12 PGA events in his career before becoming one of golf’s most sought-after instructors. Known for his physics and philosophy of golf, Toski pioneered teaching the game “backwards.”
“I taught golf starting from the green, then chipping, then fairway, and finally the tee,” Toski said. “You learn to play golf from the ground up.” He also believes the mental side is key. “When you see novice golfers standing over the ball too long, they’re suffering from paralysis of analysis. Line up the shot and swing.”
Pros and Cons of Bigger Grips
Toski says bigger grips don’t necessarily give golfers more distance, but they give them more control — and that’s what most golfers need. “Many amateurs can air-mail a golf ball, but they don’t send it to the right zip code,” Toski laughed.
Golf is a Family Affair
I’ve taught dozens of PGA golfers who went on to become champions, but I find teaching families the most rewarding,” Toski said. “Golf brings families together. They enjoy the scenery, the land, and the company they play with — because a golf course is the biggest and most beautiful playground.”
The Fountain of Youth
When I asked how he stays so vibrant at 99, Toski said, “I love people, I love to teach golf, I love to learn — then learn to live.”
He believes golf is like life: “There are bumps, twists, and rough patches, but if you adjust and stay focused, you’ll always find your way back to the fairway.”
You’ll Never Walk Alone
Back in Boca Raton, dressed sharply in a gray suit, Toski closes his set with the same grace that defines his golf swing. He softly sings the final line of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”:
“Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone.”
“I believe people need people,” Toski said, a motto he lives by.
“Bob is a good man,” Nicklaus said.
When it comes to a compliment like that from the ‘Golden Bear,’ what more could a man ask for.
Paul Kiska
Paul Kiska is a longtime TV sports and news reporter, who now writes freelance articles locally in his hometown of Cleveland, and for national publications. He is also a husband, father, and his golf goal is to break 80 from the tips, but he quit playing the tips years ago.