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Golf legend retired from Inverness

Golf legend retired from Inverness

Herman J. Lang, 93, a legendary figure in the local golf community who was a club professional and teaching pro during portions of eight decades, died yesterday in his Sylvania home following a brief illness.

Mr. Lang had health-related complications after he fell and fractured a hip, said his daughter, Debbie Lang of Sylvania.

Born Nov. 16, 1913, Mr. Lang grew up in an area known as Mitchaw Corners west of Sylvania.

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Mr. Lang and golf were teamed together for most of his life. He started his career as a caddy at Sylvania Country Club at age 11.

"He just fell in love with golf, the golf game, the whole aura of golf," Ms. Lang said. "At age 11, he decided to be a golf pro."

Three years later, he started caddying at Highland Meadows Golf Club, where he later worked in the pro shop. At age 20, Mr. Lang became the club's head professional. He remained there until 1941, when Inverness Club professional Byron Nelson offered Mr. Lang the top assistant's job.

Mr. Lang and Mr. Nelson, a premier PGA Tour player, remained friends through the years. Just before Mr. Nelson died last year, the two gentlemen talked on the telephone, Ms. Lang said.

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An Army staff sergeant during World War II, Mr. Lang returned after the war to Highland Meadows as its head professional and remained there until he was hired as head pro at Inverness Club in 1966.

He retired in 1980, but continued to give lessons until 2000.

He learned the game by watching good players, and later, "he loved helping others learn to golf," his daughter said.

He gave her lessons when she was 4 years old, and he showed his patience as she whiffed the ball time after time. But she improved. A lot.

In 1977, she won the Toledo Women's District Golf Association championship.

Frank Kahle, a Toledo businessman who lives in Marblehead, Ohio, took golf lessons from Mr. Lang, and later the two played in tournaments together. "I was like the son he never had. I had known him for about 50 years," Mr. Kahle said.

Mr. Lang was "totally committed to being there and helping others. He was the real deal," said Mr. Kahle, adding that his friend and mentor had a love of the game.

But Mr. Lang, golf pro, was a family man first and foremost. "The only thing more important than golf to my dad was his family. He loved his family more than golf," Ms. Lang said.

His two loves easily mingled. "We played golf as a family," she said. "It was something we all could do, and we enjoyed doing it."

An accomplished player who twice won the Toledo Open, Mr. Lang was a member of the Toledo Golf Hall of Fame and a member of the Northern Ohio Senior PGA Hall of Fame.

"I could scrape it around as well as anybody else, I guess, and there were a few accomplishments, but if you talk too much your head swells up and your halo gets too tight," Mr. Lang said during an interview with The Blade in 2005.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Neva, and daughter Debbie.

Visitation will begin at noon Tuesday in the Reeb Funeral Home in Sylvania where services will follow at 2 p.m.

The family suggests that any tributes be made to the Western Golf Association's Evans Scholar Foundation, the Community of Christ Church in Sylvania, Visiting Nurse Hospice of Maumee, or a charity of the donor's choice.

First Published October 7, 2007, 10:39 a.m.

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