Ken Darlington shot a 100 a couple of weeks ago at Riverside. Then he shot a 99.

So what’s so interesting about that? Well, how about this: Darlington is 100 years old and those two rounds were the 339th and 340th time he has shot his age.

“It’s miraculous that a guy is still playing golf at 100 let alone still shooting his age,” said Dunc Mills, a rules official of the Alberta Golf Association.

“That’s incredible.”

“Good heavens. I had no idea I had shot my age that many times,” replied Darlington. “I’ve been lucky.”

Lucky? Hardly. A guy who shoots his age 340 times is not lucky; he’s just that good.

While Darlington, who seemed to shoot his age just about every round when he was approaching his 90s, didn’t know the extent of his achievements, it was Stu Orr, president of the Riverside Senior Men’s League where Darlington plays, who uncovered all of the numbers.

“At Riverside alone Ken played 1,367 rounds and shot his age 280 times. That means every time Ken tees up his ball he shoots his age or better more than 20 per cent of the time.

“Amazing. Absolutely amazing,” said Orr, who said he saw somewhere on the internet that the percentage of golfers that shoot their age is just 0.0000089.

“I’m not sure how to say this but near as I can figure it means not many,” laughed Orr, who believes that the reason Darlington shoots his age so often is because of his chipping.

“He chips it to five feet from the pin and then he putts it in. And here I am four-putting.

“And he can still hit his driver 200 yards. And straight.

“Ken is my hero. He’s also a fantastic person. He’s as easy going as anyone you’ve ever met.”

Jim Dove, 90, who regularly picks up Darlington and then plays with him, believes Darlington’s success is his lob wedge.

“He’s deadly from 60 yards. He doesn’t get to most par 4s in two so he has to rely on his lob wedge.

“Ken and I hit our tee shots about the same distance and our second shots are usually within 10-12 feet of each other too.

“But then Ken gets out his lob wedge and it’s all over.”

Orr and Dove and several other friends of Darlington were going to hold a surprise 100th birthday party for Darlington a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, Darlington’s health prevented him from attending.

“My heart has been acting up and I’m short of breath,” said Darlington, who was born in Essex, England and came to Canada with his family in 1928. “I also get so tired. What can I say? I’m getting old.”

Working for the government in the agricultural department, Darlington said he never really took up the game until he retired in 1985.

“Before that I might have played one or two rounds a year.

“But then I met Jim Dove and some of his friends and Jimmy asked if I would come out golfing with them. I guess I must have liked it because we used to play about four times a week,” said Darlington, who has had a heart attack, quadruple bypass surgery, a detached retina and has an artificial aorta.

“Lucky,” he said again.

“I’ve had a lot of fun.”

Originally published in the Edmonton Journal – May 28th, 2017