Michael Bonallack, amateur great and R&A secretary, dies at 88

Michael Bonallack once said he never considered turning pro because he didn’t realize he was good enough until he was too old. No matter. His influence on the game was enormous, from his standing as Britain’s greatest amateur to his running the Royal & Ancient Golf Club.

Bonallack died on Tuesday at age 88, a month after he made one last appearance at St. Andrews for the opening ceremony of the Walker Cup.

Jack Nicklaus said Bonallack always embraced the game’s traditions and that his friend of 65 years was an “important voice through golf’s growth, evolution and global expansion.”

“He was an influential ambassador, and someone always dedicated to properly shaping the future of the next generations of golfers,” Nicklaus said in a statement.

Bonallack was a five-time British Amateur and five-time English Amateur champion, part of nine…