HUNTINGTON — As Joe Feaganes recalled, you needed a firm handshake when meeting Arnold Palmer — it was a matter of self-defense.
“You had to squeeze his hand back pretty hard,” said the former Marshall golf coach and assistant athletic director. “Because he had massive hands.”
Those hands helped Palmer and his “Arnie’s Army” fans transform the sport of golf from a country-club activity to a spectator sport for the masses. The golf world is mourning the passing of Palmer, who died Sunday at age 87.
Palmer visited the state at the 2010 Greenbrier Classic on the resort’s Old White Course, recalling a pro-am tournament he won there in 1954.