Lake Miona Beach Chickens shuffleboard team captain, Robin Legg, refers to Lowell Gurley as the teams “secret weapon.”
Opponents have referred to Gurley as a “ringer”and have suggested,according to his daughter, Laine Gurley, that “there be an age limit to throw him out of the Game because he was so good!”
Gurley, who will turn 90 in March, has been playing team shuffleboard since 2013.
As a young man Lowell Gurley served as a gunner’s mate on two different destroyers in the North Atlantic. After the war. the native of Metropolis, Ill. married a New Jersey girl and began a career in New York City as a traffic manager for a transport company. After his wife passed away he began visiting The Villages with his daughter and son-in-law. He has a place in the Village of Buttonwood and has been in The Villages full time for two years. His daughter says he refuses to go north in the summer.
To stay in shape, Gurley works out on a stationary bicycle three times a week at the MVP fitness center. He also plays golf regularly with his daughter and son-in-law.
Doug Kinchen, a team mate of Gurley’s, refers to his friend as a stalwart of the team. Both Kinchen, Gurley and other teammates will often go to the Cane Garden Country Club for lunch after a game. As a regular at the restaurant the waitresses refer to his favorite sandwich as a “Lowell,”which, like Gurley, has become a team favorite.