Dan Parkinson, Golfweek Super Senior leader, is finding success in his return to competitive golf
There was period when Dan Parkinson was raising his seven children that he simply put the clubs away. Many players can probably relate.
Parkinson’s off period lasted roughly 15 years. That he’s back, and leading a national senior event 2,500 miles from his Lehi, Utah, home, says it all about this sport.
“What other sport allows a guy, at my age, to have that competitive spirit again?” Parkinson.
At 65, Parkinson falls into the super senior category at the Golfweek Super Senor, Legends and Super Legends National Championship. After rounds of 68-70 at the Falls Club in Lake Worth, Florida, Parkinson is 6 under and on the top of the leaderboard.
Kevin Macy of Tampa, Florida, is second at even par.
Leaderboard: Golfweek U.S. Super Senior, Legends, & Super Legends National Championship
“The harder the course is, the more advantage I have just because I play a lot of golf,” said Parkinson, who tees it up three or four times a week at Alpine Country Club in Highland, Utah.
In his Utah home, elevation comes into play. His home course sits right up against the mountains, at an elevation of 5,000 feet. Normally it takes longer for him to make the transition to such different course conditions. Where the elevation change is concerned, Parkinson says he’s not sure he hits it far enough to notice. His short irons are particularly affected, but once you get past 125 yards, it’s roughly a full club length of difference from sea level to his Utah home course.
Parkinson played college golf at BYU his freshman year (1972), on a team that was ranked in the top 5 in the nation at one point. Then he went into pre-med and decided to focus on his studies.
He is a recently retired orthopedic surgeon who spent 17 years in the Army.
Since retiring, Parkinson’s first foray back into competitive amateur golf happened roughly a year ago at the Golfweek Society of Seniors Challenge Cup. He attempted qualifiers for USGA events earlier in his golf life, but his most recent USGA experience has been as a caddie.
Parkinson carried the bag in two U.S. Amateurs for his son, Joe, who also played for BYU.
At the 2015 U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields, the Parkinsons played stroke-play qualifying alongside Bryson DeChambeau.
Dan Parkinson’s goal with his golf game at this point is simply to enjoy it.
“I just want to play good, that’s all,” he said. “I love the competition, it’s great.”
Over the course of two days at the Golfweek Super Senior, Legends and Super Legends Championship, there have been 69 rounds in the 70s with Parkinson’s first-round 68 the low score.
Walt Martin of St. Augustine, Florida, leads the super legend division and Charley Yandell of Cashiers, North Carolina is ahead in the legend division.
