CGA Bids Farewell to Dean Cassell

The Carolinas Golf Association is saddened to learn the news of the passing of Lewis Dean Cassell. Cassell was inducted in the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 2016 alongside Johnny Harris.

Cassell of South Dartmouth, Massachusetts and Charlotte, North Carolina passed away at his Dartmouth home on September 5, 2018 at the age of 90 years. He was born on March 29,1928 in Jersey City, New Jersey, and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1950 where he was Phi Beta Kappa, a Rhodes Scholar finalist and an all-conference baseball pitcher. After serving in the United States Navy for three years, he attended the Harvard Business School where he was awarded a MBA with honors in 1955.

Among his business interests Mr. Cassell was president of the Acushnet Titleist Company, President of Dunlop USA Sports, and president of the National Golf Foundation. In his retirement years he was a frequent lecturer at the Universities of North Carolina and Massachusetts and Furman University.

On the golf course, he is a two-time winner of the Irish Senior championship, won the New England Senior Golf Association championship, and the National Society of Seniors Four Ball title.  He qualified for the USGA Senior Amateur on seven occasions.

One of Cassell’s most cherished accomplishments was spearheading the campaign to adopt world-wide equipment standards, including a one-sized golf ball for all play.  The US ball was selected, and players can thank Cassell for not having to play the British sized smaller ball.  That historic event occurred at the Charlotte Country Club in 1972 during the U.S. Amateur championship.

Mr. Cassell is survived by his wife of 68 years, Ruth; two sons, Dean and Timothy; daughter-in-law, Alma; grandchildren, Isabella and James; sister, Hope Jolly; and his beloved dog, Belle.

Dean Cassell was a man of great faith, and he lived his life with passion, optimism and drive. His memory will live on with his family, his colleagues and students, and his many friends on the golf course.