Charles Kimmel, Official Golf Scorer
September 28, 1990|By Kenan Heise.
Charles Kimmel, 88, a golf scorekeeper, served as the official scorer for more than a thousand professional golf tournaments in a career that spanned 59 years.
A resident of Des Plaines, he died of cancer Wednesday at Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge.
``He was very outgoing and friendly and had a fantastic memory to go with it,`` his daughter, Marilyn Meyers, said. ``He could recall names, places and dates in every sport, but especially in golf. He would walk into a club and would know the first and last names as well as the faces of all the members.``
His scoreboards have been famous since 1931 when he scored his first major tournament. He wrote the players` names and scores in flawless Old English script. As electronic scoreboards took over on the course, his clubhouse boards remained the ones next to which the winners posed.
Mr. Kimmel started playing golf in the mid-1920s and continued playing into his late 80s, proud of the fact that he continued to be able to shoot his age. He learned calligraphy from his father and developed a style that was similar to a printer`s work.
A neat and accurate man, he was appalled in 1931 when as a spectator he attended the U.S. Amateur Tournament at the Beverly Country Club in Chicago. He saw a scorer doing sloppy work and frequently having to cross out earlier errors. He felt he could do better and applied for the job at the Western Open. Tournament officials agreed and hired him.
One of four or five scorers in the country, he worked as many as three dozen professional and private tournaments a year. These have included Masters tournaments, U.S. Opens, Ryder Cups and 50 Western Opens. Among the private ones was the King of Morocco Tournament in North Africa.
Mr. Kimmel excelled also with the violin and at billiards. His musical talent took him onto the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour and the Bing Crosby Show. He won the Chicago billiard championship and played against world champion Willie Masconi in exhibitions.
Survivors, besides his daughter, include his wife of 65 years, Constance; three other daughters, Shirley Shabazian, Barbara Demma and Pamela Becker; a son, Allen; 19 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and a brother.
Services will be private.
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