Born in 1930 in Brooklyn to British parents, Bowden grew up first in Australia and then England, where he became a plus-handicap golfer. In 1962, he became the founding editor of Golf World UK, then returned to the United States, and from 1969-’72 served as the editorial director of Golf Digest, where he enlisted Jack Nicklaus to contribute what would become a long-running monthly instructional feature called “Jack Nicklaus’ Lesson Tee.”