Barry McDonnell essentially grew up at the Country Club of New Bedford where he was raised by his grandfather John S.Gilholm Sr. Here, where he grew up as a caddy, is where his fascination with the game of golf began. He was taught the fundamentals of the game by his grandfather, played for the Dartmouth High School golf team, played many local tournaments including the August Fourball and eventually made his way to the west coast. His professional career began as an assistant golf professional teaching the game of golf at Fox Hills Golf Club.
At Fox Hills, McDonnell took a young student named Ricky Fowler under his wing. Under his tutelage his star pupil mastered his skills and joined the PGA tour. Barry remained his swing coach until his death in 2011 and his influence on the young man’s game is described in the article below.
March 1, 2016 Golf Digest cover story by Jaime Diaz
Old School: Ricky Fowler And His Three Wise Men excerpt
Fowler played in his first tournaments at 4½, and at 7 he began taking lessons at the Murrieta range from Barry McDonnell, whose deep roots in the game emanated from his grandfather, John Gilholm Sr., from North Berwick, Scotland, who served as the head pro at the Country Club of New Bedford in Massachusetts for almost 40 years. After growing up caddieing at the club, McDonnell moved to Los Angeles, where he was an assistant pro at now-defunct Fox Hills Golf Club, fabled for its money games and for being the club where the nation's best black professionals were granted practice privileges after the club was picketed by protestors of the PGA of America's old "Caucasian only" clause. McDonnell saw all manner of self-made top players with idiosyncratic swings and developed a teaching philosophy that allowed for individual differences.
Rickie has learned from his grandfather: ‘It’s the way I try to be.’
McDonnell never used a video camera or even alignment sticks, leading Fowler to say he was taught "like it was 1950 instead of 1995." The two would have long sessions under a pepper tree McDonnell picked out from a nursery across the street that became "the Hogan Tree," the teacher sometimes calling the diminutive Fowler "Little Hawk."
The owner of the range, Bill Teasdall, had years before benefited from McDonnell's teaching and life wisdom after his promising career as one of the best juniors in Southern California had foundered in an excess of swing theory.
"Barry would say he wanted to make sure what happened to me would not happen to Rick," Teasdall says. "He didn't change his loop at the top, saying, 'That's how he finds the ball.' He was always encouraging and positive. He'd say things like, 'OK, Rick, 18th tee at Augusta. Need a high cut. Can you do it?' And Rick would bear down and say, 'I can do it.' Barry would tell me, 'Two things I'm going to do with that kid. Stay out of the way of his talent. And build a great golf mind.' "
The second part meant preparing Fowler for the stardom McDonnell was sure he would achieve. "Barry could see Rick was one of those special guys who can just flat do it, and he believed he would achieve a lot in the game," Teasdall says. "He'd seen a lot of good players, and he studied great athletes, especially boxers. At Fox Hills, he had a regular game with Joe Louis. Barry used to say, 'Show me a superstar, and I'll show you a tragedy.' He would quote George Eiferman, a former Mr. Universe he was friends with, who said, 'Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful.' " All that is inside of Rick. He never got cocky, and he's never changed."
But when McDonnell became seriously ill from heart problems at the start of 2011, eventually passing at 75 in May of that year, Fowler, who had been PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2010, hit a prolonged lull, with only 14 top-10s in 69 events through 2013. "That was very hard," says Fowler, who has a tattoo of McDonnell's signature on his left wrist. "He was supposed to caddie for me in the Par 3 at the Masters, and he couldn't make it. It wasn't like I had someone to turn to. It was a bit of searching as far as when I reached the max of where I was going with what I was doing."