Golf
Kirkwood's Pub at Stowe Country Club
Dedicated to the founding pro at Stowe Country Club, Joe Kirkwood, Kirkwood's Pub offers fresh, creative interpretations of country club grill room fare. American finger food appetizers, fresh entrée salads, traditional soups, hearty sandwiches and grilled specialties are the highlight of our casual lunch spot. Incredible views of the Stowe valley from our deck and patio.
Daily Schedule (May 24th - Oct. 12,2008):
Food Service: 11:00am - 5:00pm
Bar Service: 8:00am - 8:00pm
Price range: $4.95 - 9.95
Joe Kirkwood
Born: April 3, 1897, Sydney, Australia
Died: October 29, 1970, Stowe, Vermont
Joe Kirkwood was born in Sydney, Australia and left home at the age of ten to work on a sheep ranch in the outback. His boss there was a golf enthusiast and Joe soon developed a love for the game. He made his own clubs from saplings and snakeskin and practiced nightly. In 1920 he won the Australian Open and the New Zealand Open after which he decided to go on tour.
Joe fared very well on tour and over the next three years won the Canadian Open, the North and South Open, the Illinois Open, the California Open, the Texas Open, the Lossiemouth Tournament and was runner-up in the Gleneagles Tournament. He also came in third, fourth and sixth in the British Open over the years.
Joe, however, was probably best known for his trick shooting. He teamed up with another professional, Walter Hagen, and together they toured the world's golf courses putting on shows and offering golf tips to royalty and ordinary people, even stopping a war between China and Japan so they could watch the golf show. Joe is credited with 29 holes-in-one, two of which were on the same round. He was the first pro to use a wooden tee and he helped to develop modern golf clubs while an adviser to Golfcraft engineers. He was a unanimous choice for the American Golf Hall of Fame, and as Lowell Thomas wrote, “I suspect that Joe Kirkwood did more to popularize golf than any other man who ever lived.”
Joe was at his best as a teaching pro and he spent the final years of his life as Stowe Country Club’s first golf pro. He is buried in a nearby cemetery. On his stone reads,
Tell your story of hardluck shots,
Of each shot straight and true,
But when you're done remember son –
That nobody cares but you!
- Joe Kirkwood 1897 - 1970
