By Justin Pelletier,Staff Writer

There was something extraordinary about Al Biondi.

His dashing smile, his calm, raspy voice and his propensity to talk to anyone and everyone in sight were his trademarks. They made him more than just well-liked; they endeared him to everyone.

His extensive golf talent and knowledge of a sport to which he devoted his life? They made him a legend.

Biondi, who never wanted his true age revealed, died Friday at his home in Leeds.

“He was Mr. Golf in Maine,” said Joe Golden, owner of Springbrook Golf Club, the course Biondi fashioned on his own in 1966. “Even at this point in his career, he wanted to play golf all the time. He always wanted to play in pro-ams. He actually came to me this year and told me he didn’t know if he wanted to play anymore, though. He said he didn’t want to embarrass himself, and I told him, I said, Listen, you don’t have to apologize to anyone.'”

In his lifetime, Biondi won nearly every major professional golfing award in Maine and New England, including being named the New England PGA Professional of the Year, the Horton Smith Award (a national teaching award for outstanding service to the PGA) and the Bill Strausbaugh Award for mentoring fellow PGA professionals. A member of the NEPGA Hall of Fame, he at one time or another held the title to every NEPGA championship.

But what personified Biondi weren’t necessarily his titles. Sure he won a bunch, but they never made him too busy for the people who mattered most to him, and to his club, whether at Augusta Country Club in Manchester or at Springbrook – the members and guests who played golf at his courses.

“This is a huge loss for the whole state,” said Golden. “Certainly it’s a big loss for our club and for all of us personally, for our family, for everyone who knew him.”

Known for cooking dinners that, according to Springbrook member Pat Murphy, “could put local restaurants out of business,” Biondi treated everyone fairly. He always volunteered lessons, especially to junior golfers.

“He gave free junior lessons all season this year,” said Golden. “His manner of teaching was really effective. He had a rule. With the young kids, you do nothing with their swing. Maybe help them with the putting or show them how to chip, but not swing. As they got older, he’d gradually work into it. He really enjoyed, more than anything, teaching other people.”

Even in teaching adults, Golden said, Biondi never tried to reinvent a person or a swing, but rather worked around physical limitations.

Sometimes, though, he would play a hole or two with some members.

“He didn’t play much this summer,” said Murphy. “But he’d play two or three holes, just enough to show you up, and then say, I’ve gotta go.'”

Even without playing much, Biondi continued to look for an edge, going through as many as seven drivers last summer alone, according to Golden.

“He kept ordering them,” laughed Golden. “He was trying to get that extra 5 or 10 yards. He actually came in one day and told me that he’d found the right one. That changed again, of course.”

Of course.

Biondi will be remembered for his 16 Maine PGA Senior Championship titles, for the seven times he qualified for the U.S. PGA Seniors’ Championship and for the bevy of awards he won and positions he held.

But many people, from fellow professionals to local hack golfers, from regional golf legends to regional golf writers, will remember Biondi as a caring, nurturing golfer with a gift. He had a knack for teaching the game he loved and, as Golden said, “This really is the end of an era in Maine golfing history.”

“Al personified the word professional,” continued Golden. “When it comes to golf, Maine’s going to miss him.”

We may never know exactly how long he was here on Earth, and according to Golden, he was “many different ages to many people.”

“He was going to live forever,” said Golden.

In the hearts and minds of the many thousands of people he touched during his life and through his work and chosen profession, Biondi was truly one for the ages.