Dave Kendall had a great golf career. He won several state major tournaments, including two Michigan Senior Open titles and one Michigan Senior PGA Championship. He’s also had 11 holes-in-one and three double-eagles. The first ace for Kendall, growing up in Jackson, came when he was 17, in 1972. The real story, however, isn’t about his own playing legacy, but it’s about the people he helped along the way as one of the most renowned golf instructors in Michigan. PGA Professional Dave Kendall’s Lesson’s Go Beyond The Golf Course From Michigan Section PGA Cadillac Country Club, before moving on to his own academy, but he still has one big lesson left to give, plus it’s free. Kendall is well into the back nine of his life. He has Stage-4 esophageal cancer and it has spread to his lungs and brain, where he had a golf ball-sized tumor removed in a mid-April surgery that left him bedridden for weeks, battling unbearable headaches and an inability to eat. He lost so much weight, plus his voice was barely was above a whisper. Kendall newest lesson; ‘The best way to die is to live.’ “I’ve been rolling sevens my whole life. What do I got to complain about?” Kendall said recently during a drive around Washtenaw Golf Club, which he co-owns. “I have a niece, and her husband died at 30 of leukemia because he got exposed to something in the service. He got a bad deal. Look at me. How can I complain, A member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, his lessons are hardly ever just about golf. Golf is a sport that mirrors life lessons, like honor, integrity, etiquette and accepting bad breaks. Dave’s lessons in golf come with a lot of stories and story-telling, and what you end up learning is life lessons. These days, Kendall, 69, is semiretired as a golf instructor. His career started as the head pro at Indiana Golf Journal
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