POCONO TOWNSHIP --Tucked away in the Pocono Mountains you'll find The Inn at Pocono Manor. Over the years, several golf greats have walked the fairways including four-time Masters champion Arnold Palmer.
"He was the guy that took golf to a whole different level back in the 60's. He's the guy that's responsible for television. His charisma was unlike anybody's," Greg Wall of The Inn at Pocono Manor said.
Greg Wall is the PGA Director of golf at The Inn at Pocono Manor. He's the son of Art Wall Jr., the Masters champion who grew up in Honesdale.
When Art Wall won the Masters in 1959 it was Arnold Palmer who presented him with the green jacket.
The family friendship with Arnold Palmer grew over the years, so much that Greg Wall has an old black and white photo including Palmer. In the picture, his dad is holding one hand, Palmer is holding the other. Greg Wall believes he was just four years old.
"I was fortunate enough with dad to have a great experience and meet people like Mr. Palmer. He was one of the best. To this day if he saw me out somewhere he would say hey Gregory, how are you doing, nice to see you," Greg Wall said.
It doesn't matter who you ask, all golfers had something good to say about Palmer and how he changed the game of golf.
"Golf has been a huge part of my life. When I came off the golf course yesterday and I heard that the king had died, it saddened me. It was a tough day," Dennis Mooney of Marshalls Creek said.
Humberto Loys is originally from New York. Palmer is one of the golf greats who got him interested in the game.
"A lot of the golfers are born with a silver spoon. Here's a guy that wasn't, you know what I'm saying. So for inner city golfers, he was important because you saw where he came from," Loys said.
Arnold Palmer was 87 years old. His family plans to celebrate his life next week outside of Pittsburgh.
