FARMINGTON HILLS – Less than a year ago, Dave Kendall was newly diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer, and he didn’t think he would be alive for 2025.
Less than a year later, the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame PGA teaching professional, founder of the Kendall Golf Academy in Ypsilanti and an ownership partner of Washtenaw Golf Club, said the game of his life is still teaching him lessons.
“So many nice things have happened since then, and I’m glad I didn’t let myself think my life was over,” he said. “I started a regiment to keep living as long as I can. I get up each day and walk. I didn’t think I would play golf again, but I’m playing every day I can and enjoying it. I hope I end up being a miracle story, but if not, I have a lot of things to be thankful for and I win either way.”
Kendall, 70, has been named the Golf Association of Michigan’s (GAM) Distinguished Service Award winner for 2025. It’s the highest GAM honor and Kendall will be among the award winners featured in the spring at the association’s annual meeting.
Mary Jo Green, senior director of communications and operations for the GAM, nominated Kendall for the award citing his unwavering dedication to the development of golfers at every level.
“Throughout his career, he has mentored and taught thousands of students, including many aspiring golf professionals,” she said. “His impact is also seen in the hundreds of instructors who have worked at his Academy, all influenced by Dave’s mentorship and commitment to excellence. He has given countless hours to developing lasting golfers in Michigan, and his commitment to growing the game is unparalleled.”
Kendall said he is humbled by the award and grateful for a long association with the GAM.
“It’s the amateur wing of golf in our state and what they do was important to our members when I was at Cadillac Country Club years ago, and it has been so important to the players I’ve worked with who needed the competition of the great tournaments,” he said.
Kendall calls the GAM impactful to him in numerous ways.
“My Godson Henry Do, won the Michigan Amateur Championship (2014) and that was such a thrill and accomplishment for him, for his family and it was so rewarding to just witness his winning that great GAM tournament,” he said. “It’s also been a pleasure to host the GAM tournaments at Washtenaw. I know it’s hard for golf courses to give up some revenue and host tournaments, but at Washtenaw the golfers who are exposed to our course and the relationships with rules officials and tournament directors of the GAM have great value, too. The GAM has given so many of my students opportunities to test themselves, to be better golfers. Growing the game is important to me as a PGA professional. It has been a big part of my teaching career.”
Soon after his diagnosis, Kendall said Washtenaw hosted a visit from Dennis Walters, who has become famous for his trick-shot artistry and inspirational shows he performs across the country despite being paralyzed from the waist down in a golf cart accident years ago.
“Dennis, who I had met before and played golf with before, did his show at our Folds of Honor Classic, and I was inspired and I guess a little embarrassed when I told him I had cancer,” Kendall said. “I mean, its not easy for him just to get out of his car and I know that he has to practice two hours a day just to be able to do his shows.”
Kendall said watching Walters helped him decide to quit thinking about not playing golf and instead using it as a strength exercise. He could not walk for three months following brain surgery, and chemotherapy was a battle.
“But I started to eat, gain weight, walk and swing a club for exercise,” he said. “I played every day I could and started enjoying the competitive part of the game I have always loved, even though I was just competing against myself most days. It was still very satisfying, and Karen (his wife) and I played a lot, and I started feeling better. She was there one day when I was lining up a 12-footer on the last hole for a 69. That was important to me. It was me shooting my age after all I had been through. I made it, and it felt as good as any championship I’ve won, really any putt I’ve ever made.”
Kendall said his doctor now calls 2024 a good year.
“Were working on another each day,” he said.
Young golfers he inspired and worked with have reached out to sign Kendall up for 2025 tournaments. The two-time Michigan Senior Open winner is playing in the Michigan PGA’s Adidas State Pro-Am with Casey Baker, chief operation officer of Carl’s Golfland, and Ian Ziska, one of his former assistant pros and currently the PGA head golf professional at American Dunes Golf Club, has tabbed him for a Michigan PGA team event.
“So many nice things have been happening, and the GAM doing this for me is so nice, unbelievable really,” he said.