In Memoriam: Dave Kendall, Golf Coach, Life Coach

It is with great sadness that I have to notice the death of Dave Kendall, a Michigan Golf Hall of Famer, founder of the Kendall Academy of Golf, co-owner of Washtenaw Golf Club and especially the husband of Karen, father of Bob and Scott, and friend for everyone who met him.

Kendall died on Tuesday 16 September after more than a year of fighting cancer. He was 70.

Raised in Jackson, Kendall went to Ferris State in the Golf Management Program. He was in the second grade of the legendary professional golf management program of the school and one of the first two at the school that deserved the PGA Head Golf Professional classification.

Dave met Karen in Ferris State, and the two were married just after he graduated. They were married for 45 years.

Kendall was the main professional at Cadillac Country Club for 17 years before moving to Southeast Michigan and founded the Kendall Academy at Miles of Golf in Ypsilanti.

Patrick Wilkes-Krier, one of his students who later instructor, now became the owner of the Kendall Academy to Kendall Academy-Is.

Kendall, together with Steve Davis – a lifelong friend – and former Kendall Academy instructor Nick Ma bought Washtenaw Golf Club in 2019.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Dave (and Karen) Kendall for several years. As one of the owners of Washtenaw Golf Club, Dave was always present and he used his decades of experience as a ClubPro and instructor to make the club a place that golfers wanted to be. For my part, Washtenaw is a place that I never want to leave.

Dave was infallible and friendly. He had a talent – so rare nowadays – because he actually listened to what people said and then responded in a thoughtful and meaningful way. I have never heard him say an unkind word, or heard anyone say an unkind word about him.

Like I said in a great article about Dave Kendall by Tony Paul in Detroit NewsDave was just as much life coach as a golf coach. I was not one of his paying students, but every time I spoke to Dave, I got away with the thought that I had just learned something, not just about golf, but about life. In one of our last conversations – on the fifteenth Tee in Washtenaw – I told him that I was struggling with my irons. He said to repair it by starting small: try to make good contact and not worry about distance or direction.

Small achievements, Dave said, will be big.

A few holes later I realized that Dave Wisdom was not only for Golf, but also for life.

I can be a little slow.

I don’t think Dave was planning to offer these pieces of wisdom, but did this in an informal conversation.

Another time he emphasized the importance of setting realistic expectations. Setting unrealistic, he noticed, results in frustration and ultimately leaves no room for improvement.

And then his lesson was about it intention. I will quote an essay that I wrote about a birthday round at Washtenaw last year.

Today’s lesson was about intention. Earlier this year, Kendall was diagnosed with an unusable cancer. He was told that he had only had the life to live for months. Many, including Kendall, thought his golf days were over.

But, as he explained to me, Kendall had a conversation with Dennis Walters during the annual Washtenaw Golf Club Charity Outing. Walters, a World Golf Hall of Famer who was paralyzed as a young man, spent the last forty years performing an inspiration and golf trick shot show. Kendall told Walters that he would never play golf again and was admonished. “Of course you will play,” Walters told him.

So with the intention of living as long as possible as long as he can, Kendall went back to playing golf – first a few holes, and then nine and eighteen holes. He got a hole in one and shot his age.

On this day, Kendall and his wife Karen had just finished playing nine holes.

Kendall used the word ‘intention’ in our conversation to describe his return to the course, to the kilometers he runs every day for physical and mental well -being and as good as he can for any time.

Intention is inspiration. While I age in my sixth decade on this planet, I was inspired by Dave Kendall to live with the intention of living as long as possible as I can.

That was Dave Kendall’s birthday present for me. It is priceless.

Kendall is in the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame (2015), the Michigan PGA Hall of Fame (2013) and the Jackson Hall of Fame (2011) – recognitions that speak to his long and meaningful career as a club professional and teacher. Last May he received the Golf Association of Michigan’s highest honor: the Distinguished Service -Raons. Kendall was honored twice as Michigan Golf Professional of the Year and Teacher of the Year.

Kendall would never mention one of these things. Neither would he mention his two Michigan Senior Open victories and his senior PGA Championship victory in Michigan.

Indeed, when I congratulated him with his Distinguished Service Award, Kendall acted ashamed and tried to quickly change the subject by talking about the success of some of his students.

As a (now retired) school teacher, I think I understand where Dave came from. Every success I had can only be measured by the success of my students, and in most cases I will never know.

I hope Dave knew how much he was loved and respected.

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