October 11, 2007

EBENSBURG, PA — Kevin Long, Sr. the quiet, but very excited senior-member who rode the Carl Spackler Open from infancy to maturity, died Thursday morning at his home in Ebensburg at the age of 60, after a four-year struggle with lung and kidney cancer.

He played golf for 35 years through golf trips and leagues. Kevin, a.k.a. Big Kev, embraced golf trips nearly all his life. He took at least a week’s vacation each year for his annual golf trip with friends and family for nearly 35 years. “I remember asking him a couple of times where they were headed,” says son Chad Long. “His reply was always the same, ‘I have no idea. We drive until it is warm and dry and then find a golf course. We stop and play golf until we get tired.’”

He scored his ‘hole-in-one’ at Jackson Valley Country Club back in 1996. “The windy downhill 6th hole never had a chance,” says friend Jim Campbell. “It was a great moment in time.”

The love for the golf trip transitioned over to his sons, which helped create the Carl Spackler Open.

Kevin Long, Sr. entered the Carl Spackler Open as a rookie back in June 2003 after being diagnosed with cancer in February 2003. He played the opening round at Thunder Hill, went to Cleveland for chemotherapy afterwards, and returned in plenty of time for Round 2. He finished his first tournament in northwest Ohio well above his friend Jon Munksgard, who wore the Carl Spackler Outfit. “That was really funny,” he said of final evening in Madison, OH. “The trip home in the morning with Jon was very quiet. I don’t remember him moving, his eyes opening, or his mouth opening the entire ride home.”

He returned on borrowed time with more excitement in June 2004 and took advantage of the wide-open Tanglewood Park design. He fired 45 points in the final round to finish in 13th place.

Long survived a severe-stroke in December 2004 and remained 60 percent paralyzed in January 2005. In late-January, he started to feel his fingers and leg. He shockingly started walking in mid-February with a walker and did the unthinkable in March 2005. He played a round of golf in Virginia Beach with son Kevin Jr..

A weaker Big Kev returned to Mountain Valley for his only tournament with all six sons. “It was totally amazing what the guy would do to live,” says second son Greg Long. “He overcame paralysis while traveling from Pennsylvania to Chicago for 15-straight weeks to obtain experimental drugs. He did it all for the possibility of adding life. I remember him traveling to Chicago to pickup his pills while I played a practice round at Mountain Valley. He flew that day with two direct flights 2 hours apart. Then traveled from Pittsburgh International Airport to Ebensburg before hitching a ride to Pottsville. It sounded so crazy, but sanity puts a ghost on the tee at Mountain Valley.”

His final tournament rounds came in Raleigh where he surprised everyone with 7 bogeys and one par worth 57 points. The stellar round was good enough for an early tournament lead for one evening. He finished in a tie for 19th position.

Kevin traveled to Michigan for his last Carl Spackler Open as a fan. He enjoyed the week and being around friends and family. He returned home with wonderful memories and a logo flag with 62 signatures.

Besides his wife Thelma, six sons, Kevin, Greg, Chad, Shawn, Brian, Marc, and 10 grandchildren survive him. Kevin follows Jim Zavinski in 2005 as the second member of the Carl Spackler Open to pass away.