Al had a down payment on an island until his wife found a working ranch near Port Lavaca, TX.
His golf clubs were a surprise gift from her on their way to dinner in Houston.
It was as much of a surprise because he hadn't played in many, many years.
The golf course was her idea too - thank you!
He always had a pair of beautiful black Giant Schnauzers (Diablo and Demonio during construction, who were the real inspiration behind the name Infierno, not The Old Course).
He hired the animal trainer from The Ringling Brothers Circus to help take care of his horses, cattle, Watusi, zebras and the friendliest camels ever.
Al enjoyed westerns, politics and bourbon.
He admired a man with "a lot of hard bark," one of his favorite lines from Paul Newman's Hombre.
Al taught himself and became fluent reading a Spanish newspaper to better communicate with his crew.
He liked owning cattle, especially because it permitted a whole new language with his fellow cattlemen.
He read books every night and scoured the internet for answers to interesting questions.
One day he found me.
Al loved his family and friends and loved to play, especially his daily match at his course.
He and Don played a bunch of golf together, and they surely played more on their "other" betting games.
When it was on Don's turf, like whether their local John Deere agriculture store was allowed to sell golf equipment, the bet went in Don's favor, only after they went to the dealership together for proof. And if it was anything else, the odds were always against Don, even if the lamp near the evening hang out was going to flicker during the storm in the next three minutes.
During my first working meeting back at his home after lunch, I was giving Al a slide show on his TV of great golf courses around the world to see what peaked his interest. After two minutes of me talking and showing great bunkers, I turned around to see if Al had any input. He was fast asleep. I tip-toed out, and we never had another indoor meeting about design.
Al was the definition of loyal: giving firm and constant support, and patient: able to accept delays or problems without becoming annoyed or anxious.
He tried to adopt his long time employee, our own bunker guru.
Carmen was looking for a job, and he offered her one at the course during construction; she's been in charge of the greens ever since.
Al had several businesses. His oilfield man, who supplied equipment, suggested when the golf course was half finished, it could be done without me at considerable savings. Al disagreed, and that guy didn't last much longer.
Al, to beautify the cattle ranch, used to clear the trash trees himself in his backhoe.
He was so good, that when the backhoe really got stuck, he was last one called for rescue, and he got it out every time.
Before the golf course, the backhoe arm was jammed, and his helper had climbed up trying to release the debris.
Al identified it as a dangerous situation and swapped places with him to keep his helper safe.
Unfortunately, Al was correct, and his hand was smashed, breaking many bones.
He lost significant use of that hand, and you would never know it in a match against him.
Most construction days at 5:00pm, Al wanted us to come to his house to have a beer with him. He knew we could get in another 3 hours of work before dark, and he would rather hang out with us until dinner time.
Al enjoyed his guys so much that he decided to build a separate clubhouse for everyone, so when dinner time came they could stay, and he would leave!
Initially, Don would bring Al on site during construction, in part, to make sure we were headed down the right path.
All he ever said was, "It just looks like dirt to me. I'll let you know how I like it when it's finished. If I don't like it, we'll just bulldoze the whole thing."
We were playing together soon after it was complete, Al, Dale, Don and I, when Al & I were alone in the middle of the 13th fairway - Don still blocks it right on #13.
I remarked to Al how great everything was at the course.
Al looked at me with his twinkling blue eyes and said, "I really don't care how good the course is; I'm just thankful you brought Don into my life."
You are most welcome Al and thank you for everything.
Peace