The Large Lady of Perth

After Don Kennington sold his veterinary practice, he turned his interests toward helping manage his wife’s art business and playing golf. Don’s office was the Tartan Grill located inside the Dothan Country Club. Well, at least that is where you would find him when he wasn’t playing golf. For several years running, Don and his wife Dale would combine vacations in Europe with Dale’s art work. At the time, Dale was a renowned oil portrait painter. With her she would take a portfolio of client’s photos to use in painting her subjects while on their long summer vacations, each year to a different country. While Dale painted, Don would play golf. One year Don rented space from Ian Brown a hotel owner who Don had gotten to know while staying at The Auchterarder House in Auchterarder, Scotland. As Mr. Brown also owned a small hotel in Callander, Scotland, Don made connections and rented quarters for he and Dale to live there for the summer they spent in Scotland. In Callander, Don joined the Callander Golf Club as a temporary member for the summer. When it came time for our annual trip, Don met the group in Edinburgh where we played courses around St Andrews and Auchterarder.

On this trip, Don rented cars in Edinburgh for our group with each car carrying three golfers and their gear. Harry Howell and I were passengers in a car driven by Lamar Miller. Lamar and Harry had orders from their wives for particular items of crystal that they could only find in a larger town than Auchterarder. We were scheduled to have Scottish opponents of similar handicaps to ours playing in a tournament that day around noon at Callander Golf Club. We left the caravan headed for Callander and detoured toward Perth where the mandatory purchases were hopefully to be made. Perth was a busy place and we liked never to have found a parking place in the bustling downtown shopping area. After maneuvering the heavy traffic and finding the appropriate store in which to make their purchases, we were running late in meeting our deadline arrival time at Callander. As we reentered our car after the purchases, Lamar pulled out into the traffic. He paused at a corner and looked both ways; however, Lamar apparently did not notice a traffic light positioned in an unfamiliar place. It had turned red without Lamar’s noticing. As he saw the traffic clear to his right Lamar gave the car the gas and began to move. Suddenly a loud yell caught all of our attention. To our left, a large woman pedestrian had the green light to cross the street and had begun her steps toward the other side. Thankfully Lamar had moved slowly but there was a big thud as the large lady slammed the hood of the car with her hands and body. There was a loud verbal barrage that ensued from this large lady’s vocal chords with all of them being directed at Lamar. We were all breathless that we had hit this lady but relieved when we saw that she continued her journey across the street apparently not physically injured from the incident.

Relieved that the purchases had successfully been made and we had not killed anyone, we headed toward the town of Callander. We made it to Callander with little time to spare grabbing a sandwich in the club on our way to the first tee. My Scottish opponent that day was named Ian. Ian had spent his career in Africa as an agent for a shipping company and had come home to Scotland to retire. As I met Ian, I could see that he was very excited to be playing this match. At the time I carried a quite high handicap and so did Ian. I would discover the reason that Ian was so excited was that members of the club were not allowed to play the metal tees during regular rounds. These tees are specifically reserved for competitions, and since high handicappers rarely participate in this kind of match, Ian had never before played these tees. I still did not recognize the significance of this until later in our round. Hole fifteen at Callander was a par three whose tee box was nestled in a tunnel of large trees. The member’s tees are located at the front outlet of the tunnel so Ian had never been afforded the opportunity of negotiating a shot from the back of this narrow tunnel (see photo). This day Ian got his chance.

The match that day went well. Our group lost to the locals as we probably should have, but we all enjoyed a unique experience. We were shown great hospitality all day but when we finished putting out on number nine green we were in for a special treat. Here we were met by an old Scotsman, well into his eighties, who stood proudly with two items. He had a large flask which held his favorite Scotch whiskey and a metal tin box. The old man offered each of us a “tablet” which we would find was home made chocolate fudge candy and a drink from his flask. The candy was great. I did not have the nerve to drink from the community flask.

The next year when we stayed at the Auchterarder House in the large hallway of the hotel hung a very large painting of the proprietor, Mr Ian Brown. In the right hand bottom corner of the painting was the name of the painter, Dale Kennington!

I would later take my family back to this great Manor Hotel. It was a really nice hotel but very expensive. At Gleneagles, my son and I would have a match with a father and son team who were members of Gleneagles. As guests we each played this now very expensive course for just 15 Pounds Sterling each. This was thanks to arrangements made by Mr. Michael Halley owner of Gleneagles Knitware Company.

As you might guess, Michael was a friend of Don Kennington.

Don Kennington - Gentleman Golfer

In 1988 after being invited by Harry Howell, I joined a group led by Don Kennington (wearing the green shirt in photo) on a trip which gave me my first exposure to the unique experience of “links golf”. Back then it was not difficult to self schedule tee times on the Old Course at St Andrews, Muirfield, and other British Open venues. Being an Auburn University graduate, I felt at home with a group that was mostly comprised of Auburn alumni. Don was a member of the Auburn Golf team back in the mid 50’s and even though he was now in his mid 50’s he was still a very good golfer. I was always impressed at how Don could consistently score low rounds regardless of the difficulty of the course. Don was a big man with a big heart and a sly grin that quickly revealed his gentle nature to anyone who happened to meet him. Don had a storied golf past filled with remarkable golf accomplishments. It had started when he was in his teens winning the inaugural Press Thornton Dothan Future Masters event in 1950. This tournament for young golfers is still held each year at Dothan Country Club. After his collegiate career had ended, Don completed a degree in Veterinary Medicine and began his practice in Dothan. Some years later Don would travel to Scotland to compete in the British Amateur Tournament held at St Andrews. He was not eliminated until after he had reached the quarter finals, a significant achievement.

This exposure to links golf no doubt led to Don’s affection for these annual trips. On the last trip I took with Don before his death, Don confided to me just how much he looked forward to these annual trips. In a quiet moment he once told me that even after he was no longer physically able to walk the distances required to play links golf he would, nevertheless, like to continue planning and traveling on these trips even if he had to sit in the clubhouse while the rest of the group played. Most of the group that traveled with us were life long friends of Don. They were constantly ribbing Don. This was mainly centered around his inflexibility in altering schedules and his insistence on always reserving the right to make the decisions on the trip. Years later after I began planning trips myself, I came to appreciate Don’s gentle insistence on being the “in charge” guy. At times the peppering of humorous barbs directed at Don would reach a level that made me think that they had gone too far. If this banter ever rattled Don, he never gave evidence of it always maintaining his gentle good natured manner. This group included several doctors. One of these, Patrick Jones, a pathologist, always claimed that Harry Howell was his only living patient. Another member of this group was Lamar Miller, a urologist, was constantly entertaining the group with humorous comments.

One year as we met in the Atlanta Airport waiting our departure, Lamar told this story. Needing trousers for the trip, Lamar went shopping at the local department store. After he realized that his old size 38 would no longer hold his girth, he conceded that size 40’s would have to be purchased. Not wanting his wife to know this just before his leaving on the trip, Lamar made another stop at another store on his way home. Here he purchased a pair of scissors which he used to remove the size 40 tags. Problem solved! On another trip while waiting at the gate in the Atlanta Airport, Lamar was paged by the check-in gate to come forward for a consult. Misreading the name on his ticketing which was A. Lamar Miller, the announcement came over the speaker as Alamar Miller. As you can imagine, from that time on for the rest of this trip he would be referred to by all those on the trip as “Alamar”.

Don was big guy who I would come to learn was a world class snorer. Once as we dined at the Rusacks Hotel in St Andrews, Don excused himself early and retired to his room. By the time the rest of us had dessert and coffee, Don was sound asleep. As we walked by the door to his room, we could hear a roar coming through his door. Later Don would be diagnosed with sleep apnea and on subsequent trips, after receiving his breathing machine, his sleep was more enjoyable for both him and those with whom he roomed.

We lost Don in 1999. He was a consummate gentleman, always encouraging the lesser talented ones of us on the trips. In addition to his great talent and warm good nature Don had a remarkable memory. After a couple of rounds of play with Don I realized he didn’t need to keep a score card. He could remember the score for each member of his foursome on every hole. He could even remember each player’s shot on each hole. I was always amazed at this ability.

I still miss Don. Each time I play a new links course I think of him. In 2001, I joined Ballyliffin Golf Club in Ireland as an International member. Don never played Ballyliffin, but he would have been comfortably at home there. Ballyliffin members exhibit the same warm hospitality that Don always extended to new members of his group.

Don Kennington, a great guy, a great golfer, and a great traveler! Thank you, Don, for introducing me to links golf in the magical sand hills of Scotland and Ireland.

Welcome to the Dal Riadas Golf Society

In 1988, we took our first trip to the world of “Links Golf”. That first trip included rounds at The Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie, Panmure, Muirfield, Crail, Turnberry, Royal Troon, Western Gailles, and Barassie. We have returned every year since, except for the year of the Gulf War in 1990. In later years trips were made to Ireland and eventually to England.

I owe my introduction to “Links Golf” to my friends from Dothan, Alabama who invited me along on one of their many trips. Don Kennington was the leader of this group. Don was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. In those early years my golfing skills were somewhat lacking, but Don never failed to encourage all members of the groups, regardless of their skill level.

Don had been a member of the Auburn University Golf Team in the 1950’s and years later he competed in the British Amateur Championship, making it to the quarter finals. A lot of rounds have come and gone since that first trip. Don is no longer with us. I feel certain he is putting together golf outings on the greatest links course of all, and at the same time smiling down at us with that wry grin that he so often exhibited. Who would have guessed that I would some day have my picture taken with the reigning British Amateur Champion, Robert Hory, which occurred at last year’s Ballyliffin Pro-Am Tournament.

It is my goal to pass on worthwhile information that that will encourage you to play and learn about this special brand of golf.