One of American golf’s finest historians left us on St. Patrick’s Day, when Don Holton, historian of Exmoor County Club, died after a long battle with ALS. He was 78.
Mr. Holton, after a distinguished career in the financial industry, worked arduously at telling the story of Exmoor and those who made it famous, notably two-time U.S. Amateur winner H. Chandler Egan. He arranged to purchase a trove of Egan memorabilia from members of the family, then donated it to Exmoor and curated it for future inspection.
More visibly, he found and purchased trophies either awarded by Exmoor in its early years or won by other early members and arranged for their display in the club’s Heritage Hall.
Finally, after a series of monographs on aspects of Exmoor’s past, from the course to the culture, he authored “The Spirit of Exmoor,” a coffee-table examination of the club’s first 125 years. Heroically, he wrote and supervised the production of the book even as ALS took its toll. Friends believe the quest to get the history in print kept him alive. The book was released last year to acclaim from the club and the community of golf historians who looked up to him.
Mr. Holton is survived by his wife Valerie, sons Scott and Andy, daughters-in-law Kyle and Julie, four grandchildren and brothers David, Ross and John.
A celebration of his life is scheduled for June 8. — Tim Cronin
Rory Spears, a fixture in Chicago sports radio with a well-known passion for golf, died at his home in Arlington Heights on April 2. He was 65.
Rory had a love for radio and was one of the initial members of Chicago’s WSCR-AM all-sports radio station. After five seasons there, he moved on to ESPN Radio and covered a wide variety of sports for other stations. He was a regular reporter for all the Chicago professional sports teams, but his special passion was golf.
In recent years, Spears hosted his own golf podcast and the long-running “Golfers on Golf” radio show. He took the radio program to new levels by becoming the director of content and creation for the “Golfers on Golf” website blog that provided local and national golf information year-round.
A Hersey High School graduate, Spears attended college at both Aurora University and Wisconsin-Parkside. However, his thorough education in golf went further back than that.
During his school years, he held jobs at Rob Roy Golf Course in Prospect Heights and Chevy Chase Country Club in Wheeling. He dated the start of his golf coverage to 1986, and it went beyond covering tournaments. He got around as a player, too, and badly wanted to play a few more courses to get his career total to 600. He documented his playing at 589 courses across America.
In the last few years, he returned to working on the Chicago club scene. He was working at both Heritage Oaks in Northbrook and Medinah Country Club, and also did a stint at The Grove Country Club in Long Grove.
Golf had to take a back seat when he was diagnosed with diabetes in late 2024, but he appeared to be on the mend when he made his annual appearance at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando in January. He won his eighth Outstanding Achiever honor for his journalistic work in the International Network of Golf’s Media Awards, which are presented annually at the big show.
Spears is survived by his parents, Ralph and Geraldine, brother Reid (Stacey) and niece Jaidyn Spears. —Len Ziehm