Golf pro loved the game, befriended by Deacon and Arnold Palmer

Joe Napsha | Friday, March 13, 2020 1:09 a.m.

The game of golf gave Martin R. Statler entree to a world far different from the Latrobe in which he grew up during World War II.

Mr. Statler was tutored in golf by Latrobe Country Club pro Jerome “Deacon” Palmer and golfed with his son, Arnold Palmer, as well as working for Arnold Palmer as a groundskeeper.

“Deacon Palmer and Arnold Palmer were the two character references for my father to get his PGA card,” said his son, Robert Statler of Greensburg.

Martin R. Statler of Greensburg died Monday, March 9, 2020, at Westmoreland Manor, Hempfield. He was 88.

In the 1960s, Deacon Palmer, Mr. Statler and Mr. Statler’s father, Robert, would open the Manor Inn at fabled Pinehurst golf course in North Carolina in the 1960s. Arnold Palmer hired Mr. Statler to be the groundskeeper at the Country Club of Miami, Statler said.

“Arnold had really done a lot for our family,” Robert Statler said.

When Mr. Statler’s son, Scott, was the golf coach at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in the early 1990s, Mr. Statler joined his son and the team as a teacher as they went to the Pinehurst golf resort in North Carolina, as well as Bermuda and St. Croix, Robert Statler said.

“All the guys ended up loving him,” he said.

Mr. Statler was born May 16, 1931, in Latrobe, the son of late Robert Martin and Elizabeth Harr Statler.

After graduating from Latrobe High School, he enlisted in the Air Force. While stationed in France during the Korean War, he rode his motorcycle. He would tell how he was able to ship his Harley-Davidson to France in a box marked “bomb dollies,” Statler said.

Mr. Statler met his future wife, Patricia Ann Ross, in Latrobe High School. The couple were married for 62 years, until she died in January 2018.

Mr. Statler worked in his father’s service station and tire recapping business on Depot Street in Latrobe. The business enabled them to buy a 100-acre farm between Mountain View and Beatty Crossroads in Unity, where they built a par-3 golf course in the 1950s.

Being a great friend of Deacon Palmer, Mr. Statler’s father had him design the course for what young Mr. Statler thought was the princely sum of $250, Statler said.

He built Statler’s Par-3 and driving range and ran it with his wife. He also had a golf shop at the course.

Scott Statler of Unity later expanded the business into Statler’s Fun Center. He removed the par-3 course and replaced it with a go-kart track and miniature golf, Robert Statler said. The business is now run by Scott’s son, Daniel.

“We are probably the only people who tore up a Palmer golf course,” Statler joked.

Mr Statler taught his two sons and many others to play the game as a golf pro at the Latrobe Elks in the 1970s.

“He turned a lot of people from average golfers to good golfers,” Statler said.

Mr. Statler also is survived by five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and a sister.

Friends were received in Kepple-Graft Funeral Home Inc., 524 N. Main St., Greensburg.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in the Greensburg Alliance Church, 4428 Route 136, Hempfield, with Pastor James Llewellyn officiating. Memorials may be made to the Greensburg Alliance Church.