John K. Darling - Biography updated 2011

John is the founder and president of Senior Friendly Golf LLC. As the published author of THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO A SUCCESSFUL FUND RAISING GOLF TOURNAMENT, his time is committed to speaking, tournament consulting, golf writing and the SFG web site http://www.SeniorFriendlyGolf.com. THE GUIDE is available on the Internet through Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites. The focus of the company is presenting articles (journal entries) about golf and course and product reviews. COURSE REVIEWS include some of the famous courses in Scotland and the United States. There is a drop down menu for over 15,000 courses in the USA.

John often serves as a volunteer for both the USGA and PGA. His positions include 2008 Senior Open hole captain, Special Marshalls Captain at the 2010 Senior PGA Championship and Area Captain at the 2011 USGA Women's Open. John frequently attends PGA Merchandise Shows in Orlando, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada and is a member of the USGA and the PGA Foundation of Colorado.

When not involved with golf, John and his wife, Marilynn, are world travelers. These adventures include trips to the Caribbean, the Virgin Islands, Ireland, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, Tahiti, Antarctica, the Galapagos, and Baja California.

On August 18, 2000 John retired from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service where in 1985 he helped roll out the Burger King franchise world-wide. His first duty station was Giessen, Germany. In 1988 he was transferred to Colorado Springs where he managed Burger King food facilities at the United States Air Force Academy and the Fort Carson Army Post. While managing the Burger King facility at Fort Carson, his unit was once number one, with 33% profit, out of the over 200 AAFES BK restaurants in the United States and abroad.

Upon retirement, John became an Independent Associate with Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. and was the secretary of the Rocky Mountain Franchise Association (Burger King). He served for 10 years as an Ambassador with the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. While at the Chamber he served on Small Business, Military Affairs and Political Affairs committees.

From 1968 to 1980 John averaged a promotion every two years with Alcon Laboratories, Inc., an international ophthalmology and dermatology pharmaceutical company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. While at Alcon he held many sales and management positions including product manager in the International Division. He left the company as the national sales manager of Alcon's Specialty Products division when the 1980 recession forced out middle managers nationwide. His passion for competitive chili cooking prompted his next career move.

From 1980 to 1985 John owned and developed a new concept restaurant format, "Chilico's Chili & Otherstuffs" in Arlington, Texas. The restaurant was a chili parlor with gourmet burgers and Tex-Mex style offerings. The venture was closely tied to the international competitive chili cooking culture. He has judged three world championships in Terlinqua, Texas and placed "honorable mention" for best chili at a Texas State Fair.

From his graduation at the University of Texas, Austin, in 1962 with a Bachelors of Business Administration degree, until 1968 he was a retail advertising sales representative for the Miami Herald, the advertising manager for The Casa Grande Dispatch, and a sales representative for Southland Life Insurance Company in the Dallas company's Phoenix branch.

John served in the U.S, Navy Reserves as a postal clerk in Adak, Alaska and aboard the USS Pine Island AV12 (sea plane tender now retired).

John has been married to Marilynn M. Darling for over 40 years. Marilynn was a math teacher at Cheyenne Mountain High School, Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she was the 2004 Teacher of the Year. John has three sons, all of which are Eagle Scouts. John N. is an Emergency Medical Technician out of Love Field with Children's Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Michael is the President of Education Logistics, Inc. in Missoula, Montana and is also President of Inetekk.com, Inc. in San Diego, California. Michael is the webmaster for SeniorFriendlyGolf.com. John's youngest son, Eric, is the Assistant Professor of the Medical Science Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, & Biotechnology at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.

Now in his seventies, John is a stroke and cancer survivor, has two artificial hips and deals with a number of other minor health conditions for his age, yet still manages to play 30 to 50 rounds of golf a year. He is still trying to bring his GHIN to below 18.