Although she wasn't in a foursome with Tom Watson and Stewart Clink, Diane Roney Mester played the legendary Old Course at St. Andrews
during the British Open. It just happened that The Open was being played on the Ailsa Course at Turnberry instead of St. Andrews this year.
Diane, a 1994 graduate of Russellville High School, and her husband Tim recently went on a mission trip to Scotland. They enjoy golfing and wanted
to play St. Andrews while in that country. They had to play a few rounds of golf under the watchful eye of a golf pro in Huntsville, Ala. where they
live. That established the handicap they had to make official before getting a tee time on the legendary course.
Unlike the guys playing in The Open, the Mesters' results were not made public, which may be a good thing, say her parents, Charlie and Pat Roney of Russellville.
The 2010 British Open will be played at St. Andrews, but no word yet if the Mesters are being invited to participate in a pro-am there.
The 2009 Open will always be remembered as the one 59-year-old Tom Watson almost won, just like the '09 Masters is destined to be recalled as the
one 48-year-old Kenny Perry let slip away. Both had leads near the tourneys' ends, only to lose in a playoff.
Former Logan Aluminum CEO Mike Harris walked every step at Augusta with Perry, who is the world's fourth-ranked player. They have more in
common than just being from Franklin or even members of the same church. Justin Harris, the son of Mike and Brenda Harris, is married to Lesslye Perry
Harris, the daughter of Kenny and Sandy Perry. Lesslye is also a Tennessee Titans cheerleader. Justin and Mike have opened a Zaxby's eatery in Franklin
and are in the process of building other franchises of the popular restaurant featuring chicken.
Kenny, who set multiple course records in dominating the Russellville Country Club Invitational as a college student, made news this week for
donating another $90,000 to his alma mater, Western Kentucky University, for the new Play Golf American University program. Perry has donated huge sums
over the years to Lipscomb University, part of an agreement he made whenRonnie Ferguson of Franklin bankrolled his attempt to make the PGA Tour.
Perry has now won over $30 million on the tour.
Also along the Lipscomb lines, former Lipscomb national championship (NAIA) basketball coach Don Meyer performed admirably while on the
national stage in accepting the Jimmy V Award for Perserverance at the ESPY's, which are given to the biggest names in sports. The award was presented
by acclaimed actor Rob Lowe, and Meyer received multiple standing ovations from people like Kobe Bryant, Ben Roethlisberger and Michael Phelps.
Meyer became the winningest men's coach in men's college basketball last season, surpassing Bob Knight, with whom he has a mutal admiration
society. The biggest news, however, was his not only surviving a wreck which cost him a leg but also withstanding serious cancer conditions to attend
every practice and game of his Northern State (South Dakota) University Wolves.
Don has been a good friend of my wife Elaine's dad, and his wife Carmen and Elaine's mom were especially close. Carmen beamed at the ESPY's as Don
made a memorable acceptance speech. One of Meyer's proteges is Mike Haynes, the current Logan County High School assistant principal who coached
the Lady Cougars to two state quarterfinal berths, using many of Myer's coaching principles along the way,
When Meyer came to Russellville as a favor to my family 15 years or so ago, I told the Rotarians that our oldest son Clay, who was present,
"thinks Don Meyer invented basketball, and I tend to agree with him." Moments later, Meyer had all those business people at Rotary taking notes on what
he had to say. Why? He told them to, and you don't say no to Don Meyer.
The entire nation has taken note of Don Meyer in the past year, and deservedly so.
You can see Lowe's introduction and Meyer's speech at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGSCalTjpU
The LoJo
Death has struck a number of families with local sports ties. Most recent were the deaths of Rob Wynn and Tim McKenzielast week.
Tim and his twin brother Terry McKenzie recently celebrated their 50th birthday(s) at Russellville Country Club. Tim was discovered in a
motel room in Florida, a state which had become his home after he had lived and worked in Canada for several years.
Tim was one of three McKenzie brothers who spent time as sports journalists. Tim began writing sports for the Logan Leader while he was a senior
in high school and helped me with sports while he was in college. Kevin McKenzie (RHS Class of '73) had been a solid receiver for coaches Jim
Gladden and Wayne Shewmaker when he started covering RHS football while I was editing and publishing a newspaper Al Smith and associates owned in
Brentwood, Tenn. Kevin had the honor of covering Russellville's first state championship football team in 1980. Terry became a sportscaster on WRUS and
called some of the biggest games in RHS history, including the two Final Four state basketball appearances.
The twins were also wide receivers. Hall of Famer Jimmy Smith and several others attending the Michael Gough Group concert Saturday
lamented losing their teammate.
Rob Wynn was a young man who had gone through a number of health problems recently, including pneumonia. He helped coach RHS basketball under Phil
Todd and then became a member of the Logan County High School coaching staff in the mid-2000s. He was soft-spoken, kind and caring.
It's been a difficult time for his family. His mom, Lillian Posey Wynn, undergoes dialysis regularly. His uncle, former Adairville
basketball player John Wynn, died much too young not long ago. Rob was the nephew of the late Ricky Posey, a former RHS defensive
standout who played football collegiately for Murray State.
I'm sure Rob's death hit Lonnie Mason hard. Lonnie and Rob coached together at LCHS and were often seen together before games. Not long ago
Lonnie, who had a commendable multi-sports career as a Cougar and then ran track for WKU, lost his dad,James Washington, to a long illness.
James was an outstanding athlete at old Adairville High School. He had two other sons,Chris and Brandon Washington, who had solid sports careers
at RHS. All three sons earned college educations.
Many Russellvillians are mourning the untimely death of Gentry Allison in Georgia. Michael Morrow said he knew of 15 carloads from Logan
County who attended Gentry's funeral in Georgia Friday.
Gentry Allison was an excellent runner for Coach Dennis Sydnor's Panther track team. He was a member of a super relay team that included Mikie Benton, Dustin Sydnor and Alonzo Woods. Last week Benton, who is competing for playing time in the University of Kentucky defensive
backfield this fall, was disappointed that he was not able to attend services because of summer classes and Wildcat football practice.
Gentry was the son of Jay Allison, a leader of the group which has worked hard to teach Russellville's youngsters about sports and about
the difference between right and wrong. Jay has spent countless hours making life and the future better for lots of kids. He's going to need others to
"Give Back" to him in this tragic time.
Another death recently came to Butch Varble after a long illness. Butch was the father of former RHS football player Travis Varble.
One of Butch's brothers is Larry Cook, who hasn't been back long from visiting the new Yankee Stadium in New York City. Larry is not onlly
Logan County's biggest Yankee fan, he may be the most devoted Russellville fan of any professional team. He annually appears in Florida to watch the
Bronx Bombers in spring training.
Larry sent The Lo Jo some pictures from NYC, under the heading "Pictures don't do justice!" He added, "You can't imagine what it's like
just through pictures."
The LoJo
Some other health notes: Denny Milam, who coached the Olmstead Ramblerettes to an undefeated regular season in the late 70s, looks very
healthy as he recovers from heart surgery that required six bypasses.
Former Russellville Country Club championship finalist Joe Grace was scheduled to undergo a knee replacement at St. Thomas Hospital in
Nashville this week. He's been playing pretty good golf on one leg for a while, so he may be hard to handle when he returns to the links.
William Swatzell has said "some of the glamour" faded from his retirement since he and Assistant Principal Bob Birdwhistellkissed
Chandlers School good-bye at the same time this spring. Swatzell coached the Bears to the Logan County Middle School championship game in February.
After all, Bird has this retirement thing down pat. I wrote a story about his retiring from coaching 33 years ago when his Lewisburg Rangers won
the district and lost in the regional to eventual state basketball champion Edmonson County. Then when he retired as principal of Logan County High
School 16 years ago, it was big to-do. Six years later he laid down his weapon after having served in the Department of Probation and Parole. After 10
years, he has retired again as assistant principal at Chandlers.
Bird is a dominating presence wherever he is. Since this latest retirement, he has picked up a boatload of friends on Facebook. There is a special
Fans of Robert 'Bob' Birdwhistell page on Facebook, even a Birdwhistell for President page. Google his name, and you'll find a dozen stories about him.
So when the two close friends retired from The Chapel at the same time, Swatzell flew under the radar beneath Bird's wide shadow..
No more. In fact, Swatzell's been flying pretty high and very fast.
Swatzell and his wife Martha, who also retired from Logan County Schools this spring, decided to celebrate with a cruise. Now I may not have the
story entirely correct, since Birdwhistell told it to me, but on the first day they were out to sea, William got a severe headache. He went to the ship
doctor, and pretty soon he was in a hospital on the island of Belize. They decided he had suffered an aneuiysm. After he was stabilized, he and Martha
were flown by jet to Bowling Green where they were met by a brain specialist. Turned out he didn't have one. (aneuryism, not brain)
After more testing, William was released from the hospital and is now at home. He's had some scares since then, but the news was good.
And Bob Birdwhistell was briefly upstaged.