Arnold Palmer Statue To Be Unveiled In La Quinta

LA QUINTA, CA – Golf legend Arnold Palmer will be honored today by the La Quinta golf club where he lived and designed a course with the unveiling of a statue in his likeness, one of only three sanctioned by the late golfer's family in the country.

The unveiling will be held this afternoon at Tradition Golf Club, where Palmer lived during the winter months.

The statue is a duplicate of a 13-foot bronze piece on display at Palmer's alma mater, Wake Forest University, installed outside the school's Arnold Palmer Golf Complex. A second such statue is on display at Palmer's Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida.

The course at Tradition Golf Club is one of 20 Palmer designed, continuing Palmer's legacy in the desert that includes decades' worth of appearances at the desert's Bob Hope Classic, now the CareerBuilder Challenge.

"Where most designers try to maximize real estate lots, Arnie planned courses that don't feel like you are playing between two rows of houses -- and that's how the Tradition Golf Course was built," said Bill Kubly, whose company, Landscapes Unlimited, built the course. "He truly loved Tradition and it exudes everything that the Arnold Palmer Design Company is all about. He visited the site numerous times when it was under construction, and walked it frequently -- even in the heat of summer. Of all the courses Arnie designed, but didn't own, Tradition is the only golf club where he maintained a residence."

The 3 p.m. unveiling ceremony is reserved only for Tradition Golf Club members. Speakers will include Tradition Golf Club Board President Brad Forrester, Palmer's close friend Charles Mechem and Palmer's grandson and golf pro Sam Saunders.

"Arnold Palmer is one of the most beloved athletes in professional sports. All of us at Tradition Golf Club revere him not only for all his contributions to the Tradition community -- but for the legacy he left behind for generations to come," said Forrester. "This beautiful bronze sculpture will be an enduring reminder of his unwavering values, his kindness to those he met throughout his life, his charming wit, and his love of the game."

Palmer died at the age of 87 on Sept. 25, 2016, in Pittsburgh and his ashes were scattered in his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

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--City News Service/Shutterstock image