Day 10: Happy 100th Birthday Dan Cullen, Legendary Australian Golfer!

CLICK here for VIDEO INTERVIEW with Dan Cullen, Legendary Australian Golfer. You meet the nicest people at golf clubs in Australia! Dan Cullen Jr. was one of those I met at New South Wales Golf Club. Then you meet their father, who happens to be celebrating his 100th birthday, and then his devoted daughter Marianne and then an admiring neighbor Vally May comes over with a birthday card for the man that helped her lower her handicap from 27 to 16 (and she is still smiling about that). Next thing you know you feel part of a great family celebrating life in its purest sense with simple humility and gratitude and you feel what must be that special sense of what it means to be an Australian—today and 100 years ago. I have been inspired by some great people in the game of golf, beginning with my father who came to golf as a caddie at Scranton CC soon after the depression hit, my older brother L.P., a Cornell educated golf course architect and park designer, many professional golfers growing up through television and now in person, Dick Donovan, the renowned bibliographer of golf books and the written word, the hickory club restoration expert Harry Horton and many, many, many others in golf—the game and the business. Dan Cullen, Sr., the Centenarian, impacted my life and inspired me in all of two hours time that I visited with him and his daughter Marianne. If you ask me what I want to do for "the rest of my life," my reply will be "I want to be like Dan Cullen." As much for his longevity, golfing prowess, and his patriotism; but more for his love of life, family and his attitude and perspective on all of the above and what is beyond in the ultimate home hole for all of us. I conversed with a 100-year old man who has the spirit of a 40-year old man. I once read somewhere that every 40-year old man needs an 80-year old man for a friend and vice versa. That goes for a 55-year old and 100-year old youngsters too! Well anyone can benefit from knowing or meeting Dan Cullen. What a joy our visit together was! Not only did Dan celebrate his 100th birthday on November 14th, he and his wife Enid celebrated their 74th wedding anniversary on the very same day! A picture of them together in their younger days hangs with a clothes pin nearby Dan and tells you all you need to know of their love affair. Obviously meeting their son Dan and daughter Marianne does tell you more—two of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. Dan's story is a simple one in life made simple by how he followed his heart and his God-given abilities. He inadvertently came to golf tending to horses as a kid in bushland outside of Perth. He would watch them in a field for a shilling while their riders went nearby to have lunch. The riders turned out to be landowners who were building a golf course. Dan became a caddie, learned of and developed his golfing skills to twice reach the height of being the Western Australia Amateur Champion. Bobby Locke came along and suggested he go to the east coast of Australia where golf was more prevalent and the opportunities greater. There was also another reason for the move, to follow his girlfriend Enid whose family was relocating east to become Sydneysiders. They were married and then the Australian Air Force called him into service in WWII. His bravery and success as a bomber pilot are well documented. I asked him if Bobby Locke really hooked his putts and his reply was "I don't think so, he just rolled them in (to the hole)." He took a bold move in his mid fifties which would set the course and be the foundation for another legendary accomplishment. He saw the need for and took the risk of opening up the Cullens Golf Range adjacent to St. Michael's Golf Club and not far (maybe a driver) from the New South Wales Golf Club. Before that Dan and other club PGA golf professionals would instruct their students out on the first fairway dodging errant tee shots from other members more in need of their services. With excellent practice facilities and interactive instruction with students like Vally May, Dan's golf game progressed to a new plateau. He would become an inaugural member of the Australian PGA's Senior Circuit. He traveled to Great Britain for competition and an opportunity to qualify for the British Open. He did so thus becoming the oldest to ever qualify for the British Open at age 64. Mr. Cullen felt at home on the driving range and his objective in anyone's first lesson was to "get to know then a little, be a bit friendly." He wanted people to be comfortable  and believed that "golf is easy, it is not hard. If you get people relaxed and they think golf is playable. They don't know what they can do with a golf club." Dan's job was to help them discover what they could do with a golf club and how much fun they could have doing it! Five years later, after retiring at age 95 and selling the driving range, that is still called Cullens Golf Range, Dan Cullen is still practicing what he preached, only now out of a recliner in his living room, with a smile and the confidence of knowing he lived life to its fullest. He is a shining example of what life and the game of golf are all about. Happy Birthday Dan Cullen and wishing you many, many more!