​DOCUMENTARY

Leroy Moore III is the son of Leroy Moore Sr., a successful entrepreneur, and his mother, Renate K. Newton, a German born american. He was actually named after his father by his brother, Leroy Moore Jr., because his father was stuck out of town the day of his birth. The doctor asked his brother for the child's name to be placed on the birth certificate. Without hesitation he told the doctor, Leroy Moore III.

​Born on May 30,1977, Leroy grew up in Fort Worth and Arlington,Tx., which are neighboring cities just west of Dallas. He was not far out of the womb when he was introduced to golf. At the age of around 2 his father gave Leroy his first club, a Lil' Ben Hogan 7 iron.

 

​The Tutelage of his father was cut short in 1980 at the age of 3, when he was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison. Upon his father's incarceration, Leroy lived with his mother for about a year. Unfortunately, his mother had developed a very serious heroin addiction that forced them to the streets after she sold all the possessions left to her by his father. After an exhaustive search that lasted almost a year, Leroy was found playing in the front yard of an abandoned house in South Fort Worth by his older brother, Sammy. Renate, Leroy's mother, would later be convicted on drug charges and sentenced to 15 years in state prison.

​After his rescue, Leroy lived with several different family members. Even with the love from numerous family and friends, Leroy struggled with interacting with people and was rather shy and reserved for several years. Stories have been told that for all most a year, Leroy would only eat McDonalds and very often would try to save food instead of eating a whole meal. 

 

While living with his father's ex-wife, his father had a job outside of the prison that would allow him to stop by the house on the drive to and from the prison. These visits proved valuable to the progress and hope of the young man. He also lived with a very close cousin of his father, Odessa Johnson. She was a school teacher and made sure that Leroy never lacked academically.

 

​In 1984, Leroy Moore Sr. was released on parole and the family that included his father's girlfriend, and her son moved to Lake Country Estates in Lake Worth. Leroy and his father immediately got back to what was their biggest bond, golf. They were regulars at Lake Country Country Club and Great Southwest Golf Club in Grand Prairie, Texas. He could not have had a better teacher. Leroy Sr. was a very good golfer, who had a reputation for be a hustler on the course. Anybody who walks onto Rockwood Golf Course in Fort Worth will hear a lot of amazing stories just by mentioning his name.

 

​In 1987,  the family moved to Arlington. They settled in a small town centrally located called Pantego. This is where the family has lived for the last 28 years. In school, Leroy excelled in sports, mainly football and basketball.

In the early nineties Leroy decided to step away from the football field and concentrate his efforts on basketball and golf. Even though he was an excellent basketball player, he knew that there was not a big demand for 5'10" point guards anywhere in the world.

 

He knew exactly what he wanted to do for a living in 1992 when a friend of his father, Jim Thorpe, was doing a junior clinic at The Colonial Invitation at Colonial Country Club in Fort worth, Texas, asked his father to have Leroy hit some shots in front of all the attendants at the Clinic. That is all it took to hook the young man. He loved the individual accomplishment. No team, just him against the shot. 

He immediately told his dad he wanted to be the best. At that point, his father called on the expertise of Hank Haney. Hank was the head golf professional at the club where they were members, Stonebridge Country Club in Mckinney, TX.  Over the next 3 years he spent every opportunity on the range or the the course working on his game. His father would even rent a cottage that was next to the club house and for 2 weeks every summer Leroy would live, eat, sleep and golf at Stonebridge. He shared the range with the very well known Kuehne Family, that included Trip, Hank, and Kelly.

 

Entering his senior year of high school Leroy decided to drop basketball as well, and move strictly to golf,  even after being recruited by TCU to play basketball after his senior year. He tried out for the Martin High School Golf team in the fall of 1995. After a stellar tryout round and thinking he was a shoe in for the top 5 on the varsity golf team, he was told by the golf Coach Nobel that he did not feel that he was good enough to play in the Top 5, and that he would not be a part of the team. This event did not discourage Leroy, it further fueled a fire that could not be extinguished.

 

​After graduating high school, Leroy attended junior college and continued to hone his skill under the watchful eye of the Director of Instruction at DAC Country Club, Dana Bellinger. Dana was a key ingredient to helping realize his all out style of play was impressive but would not be a formula to winning on the PGA tour. He began to work on putting more control and precision into his golf game. The work really started to pay off. During his sophomore year of college, while playing a round of golf at his home course Great Southwest Golf Club, he was asked by the head pro to play with a new member and show him the course. Leroy enjoyed playing with new people and enjoyed a nice round with the older gentleman. He fired a bogey free 65 that round and enjoyed the audience and praise the older man continued to give him. After the round the older gentleman asked him for all his information because as the gentleman put "I have someone who could really use you!" Several days later Leroy received a phone call. The voice on the other end introduced himself, it was Coach Bill Montigel. He told Leroy that the gentleman he played golf with a couple days before was a trusted colleague of the coach. He said based on the information given to him by his colleague that he would like to offer Leroy a Partial Golf Scholarship to TCU if he could meet all the requirements to transfer to the university. Coach told him to take his time and let him know sometime during the summer what he would like to do. It was hard for Leroy to contain his excitement to hear that his hard work was really starting to pay off. Little did he know that this was only the start of good fortune to start to come his way.

 

That summer Leroy and his father played in the Father Son championship at Rattlesnake Golf Club in Abilene, Texas. Leroy arrived with two goals in mind- win the tournament and impress his father with his play. In the first round they played a group in front of Jay and Nick Loar. Jay was a friend of Leroy Sr, and the head golf coach at SMU. Nick was one of the top Junior players in the country at the time. Leroy did one thing he set out to do that day- he amazed his father with a 65 that included 4 bogeys. He also did something he did not expect- he caught the eye of the golf coach playing behind him. Coach Loar told him that his play is exactly what he needed on his team, and offered Leroy a spot on the team for the following year. The father team duo did not win the tournament but he achieved great things that weekend.

 

As Leroy weighed his options for the following year and visited both campuses, he was hit with a horrible reality. His GPA was not high enough to transfer to either school. His relentless pursuit to be the best on the course had hurt his classroom performance. He realized in order to be eligible for transfer he would have to spend another semester in Junior College, and this would only leave him with less than a year of athletic eligibility. He was crushed. Not knowing where to turn, he consulted his fiancee and girlfriend of 2 years, Misty Hunter. She suggested that he forego his last year and turn professional. She thought he was good enough, and he knew he was good enough as well.

 

As October of 2001 rolled around Leroy had one goal in mind - the PGA Tour. Little did he know that he was at the start of a journey that would require more than the great golf ability that he had acquired over the years.

 

It was only a couple months after his decision to chase his dreams of playing golf that his morality, and strength would be tested. On the morning of December 9, 2001, his fiancee, Misty Hunter, was struck head on by drunk driver.  The collision killed both Misty and her best friend, Toni Maxwell. For the first time in his life he truly stood alone in a turmoil of emotion that no single person could pull him from or his father to shield him from. It was almost a year before Leroy had to stand before a Judge and the man that had caused the accident to explain the turmoil that accompanied the events of that evening. 

 

Two years passed with only golf balls being hit. He had a hard time teeing up on a golf ball in competition. During this period Leroy started a small Internet based car dealership. He felt maybe the accident was a way of telling him he was not supposed to be there, with a club in his hand. So cars were another interest he had. He was able to keep the itch away for about 18 months. He could feel the pull of competition calling. He did not want to sell cars. He wanted to win golf tournaments. So he left the car business and went back to golf.

 

The summer of 2004, Leroy entered the mix. He teed it up that summer, winning his second outing and finishing top 10 in the next 4 events. He thought he was on the right road. He was about 4 years into mending a strained relationship with his mother, who had spent all of his childhood battling drug addiction while going in and out of state prison. At this point she was leading a very productive life. She was a Director for the Head Start program in Houston, Texas. She had a beautiful home, she was in full remission from a battle with breast cancer. He had a great relationship with his father. Everything was right where he wanted it.

 

But, Leroy's resolve would be tested for a second time on July 7, 2004. In the early morning hours Leroy received several phone calls from his mothers home that he ignored, figuring he would call her back in a couple hours when got up for the day. Around 8 AM he received a call from his uncle, which he answered. He was floored by the news that his mother had been found dead in the swimming pool at her home early that morning by her log time boyfriend, Jerry Malone.

Not understanding or knowing the circumstances Leroy and his brother, Damion headed to Houston. He spent several days in Houston trying to piece things together with the detectives. He found out after several meetings with Houston detectives that there was a history of domestic violence between the couple that his mother had never told him about. Fearing a violent retaliation with the boyfriend, his brother convinced Leroy to go back to Fort Worth. Several days after the funeral Leroy was notified of the official cause of death - Homicide. Jerry Malone, was their prime suspect. As of the writing of this, that case is still under investigation.

​Life had a change of a pace after those events. Leroy still played golf but did not compete the rest of the year. He met his wife in March of 2005. They were surprised by her unexpected pregnancy in May of the same year. Due to the fact she was a Canadian Citizen and unable to receive medical coverage in the state, Leroy and Janet moved back to Terrace, British Columbia, Canada in October of 2005.  While in Canada there was nothing but snow on the ground. Leroy took the opportunity to work on his fitness, while introducing and helping others change their life through fitness, as the trainer at a local gym.

 

Leroy's son, Caelan Ryan Myshrall-Moore, was born on Feb. 27, 2006, in Terrace, British Columbia. After Caelan's birth the couple returned to Fort Worth in April of 2006.

 

Leroy immediately got back to practicing in preparation to provide for his family through golf. While getting his game back in shape, Leroy worked as a personal trainer for LA Fitness, where he had more than 70 clients. He also worked as a strength and conditioning specialist for Jim Mclean Golf School Texas, in Fort Worth. The position at Jim Mclean's facility gave him the perfect place to hone his game for the rigors of professional golf. 

 

Before returning to the states, Leroy had decided that he completely wanted to change his golf swing.  He wanted to create a swing that held up under pressure and was more consistent and repeatable than the swing that he had learned from Hank Haney.

 

Master Instructor Brian Schorsten, now the Director of Instruction at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, offered to help make the changes. The results were amazing. Leroy was literally able to compete at the level he wanted to almost immediately. He played most of the major qualifiers locally and a lot of 1 and 2 day events. He missed getting through the US Open qualifier by 1 shot, missing a 12 foot birdie putt on the last hole to miss a play-off. 

 

In 2010, Leroy landed his first corporate sponsor ever - Alexander Auto Group. The company signed on for the year and Leroy was more than ready. In preparation for the 2010 Hooters Tour Season everything was going as scheduled. Leroy's wife Janet was coming off her first win as a competitive body builder, and preparing for her next show. The family had a brand new home only yards form the facility were Leroy worked with Brian Schorsten. Things could not have been more on track. 

On April 9, 2010, 2 weeks from Leroy's first tournament of the year, the family would be rocked by a diagnosis no young family can be prepared for. While dieting, Janet noticed a small lump on the right side of her chest. As a precaution, they had it checked. It turned out to be stage 2 breast cancer and she had a golf ball sized tumor. All plans were scratched. She needed Leroy and his support as she would endure 14 doctors appointments over the next 13 days. Followed by more than 5 surgeries and 12 weeks of chemotherapy treatment to rid her body of the cancer. The treatment was a success and she was determined to be cancer free in December of 2010. She went on to win The Central Texas Showdown Figure Competition in both her class and the overall, only 10 months after her last treatment.

 

Leroy did not let any of these situations detour his personal legend of playing golf on the PGA tour. Since the beginning of 2011, he has dealt with more delays such as a disloyal sports management company that did not have best interest at mind, and the lack of sponsorships. 

 

Leroy Moore III would really like to thank a couple of important people:

 

​Leroy Moore Sr. - I could not be any thing close to the man I am without the discipline you instilled in me. I love you!

 

Sammy Moore - You taught me a lot about being a man, and a great competitor. I am forever in debt to you.

 

The family of Misty Hunter for their support in the wake of her loss. You kept my head above water for a long time.

​

 

Whitney Roland - My best friend, I have always been able to count on you. I love you buddy.

 

Matt Mclean and Chris Morrow - Thanks for helping me take hitting a fade from a dream to reality. My success on the course is a direct reflection of your work.

 

Troy Bassham - Thank you for your belief in me. I appreciate the great mental process teaching you gave me. It is a part of everyday for me - on and off the course.

 

​Big thank you to people I may have left out. You are not any less important than the people on this list. My success is as much for you as it is for me and my family.

 

If you or your company would like to participate in writing this amazing story, Leroy Moore III has sponsorship opportunities available. Please contact Leroy by email or phone - leroy.moore3@gmail.com or 817-726-7549.