My friend and partner, Blair Leburn, has one of the truly great dad’s in golf…his mom and the rest of the family are two-under also but it is Father’s Day after all. .
Blair, Dad, and brother Kevin are pictured here, credit to Mark Burris.
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In 1960 “Lord” Leburn began a group at his home club, Royal Troon, that he dubbed the Pink Elephants.
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He described it to me once as “You know the guy who finally gets into the club after years on the waiting list and is somewhat of a dolt? He can’t ever find a game because he’s just not very smart, pleasant, funny, or a good golfer?”
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“Yes”, I replied, I know what you mean.
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“Well”, Mr. Leburn continued, “we make him a Pink Elephant”. Ah, I get it.
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I also had one of the great dads in golf, and I’ve missed him every day in the 20 years he’s been gone. I don’t always behave correctly as my friends will attest but when a big life decision needs to be made I simply think of what my dad would do…he was a man who never intentionally hurt anyone and treated people the same no matter who they were…superb guy.
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Back to John Leburn. He has a silly way about him…boylike in so many ways. The way he pretends to hide from the press at the British Open because he’s afraid he’ll be recognized, to the way he says after every driver swing (with ball still in mid-air) “Oh No! Oh No!, Oh, it’s perfect!!”
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I also had one of the great dads in golf, and I’ve missed him every day in the 20 years he’s been gone. I don’t always behave correctly as my friends will attest but when a big life decision needs to be made I simply think of what my dad would do…he was a man who never intentionally hurt anyone and treated people the same no matter who they were…superb guy.
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Back to John Leburn. He has a silly way about him…boylike in so many ways. The way he pretends to hide from the press at the British Open because he’s afraid he’ll be recognized, to the way he says after every driver swing (with ball still in mid-air) “Oh No! Oh No!, Oh, it’s perfect!!”
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He will “shush” you if you describe a match you’ve won…he says gentlemen never talk about the opponents they’ve beaten…he has a sheepish smile on his face when he says this but if you pay attention, you just might learn something important.
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Blair knows how lucky he is to have the family he does, we talk about it often…so as a representative dad on Father’s Day, let’s agree that Mr. Leburn is a Best In Golf.
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