One of the Greater San Diego Dart Association founders, Alf Buckley sadly passed away on April 7th, 2006. His passing was do to heart failure.

Alf was born on December 29th, 1923 in Manchester, England. He lived through all of the night bombing raids in England, during WWII, as did everyone living there at that time.

He was an excellent table tennis (ping pong) player and was selected to play for his county, Lancashire, on several occasions, which was quite an accomplishment. Alf was a big supporter of the Manchester City Soccer Club.

As an adult, Alf immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1962 in search of better work opportunities. Later on in 1970, he got the chance to come to the United States, living for some time in Houston, Texas. Eventually Alf made his way to Southern California, settling in Escondido.

Alf has three sons and a daughter; Mark, Paul, David, and Sheila. In Escondido, Alf was a partner in "Crown Steel" along with Harry Walker, Gordon Johnson, and John Carr. They make stainless steel fixtures.

Alf really did not play darts much until he moved to Canada and the United States. He was involved early on when San Diego formed the GSDDA, as was evidenced by his member ship number, 90. He was the captain of the Churchill Knights, which was formerly the Camelot Knights, probably the oldest continuous San Diego dart team. Also, he was so well regarded that he received the Trevor Mallison award, which entitled him a lifetime membership in the GSDDA.

Because of his commitment to darts, Alf was well regarded in both the US and UK. He had many famous darting friends, among them John Lowe and Cliff Lazarenko. Alf will truly be missed by all of his passed teammates, friends, and family.

On September 30th, 2006, the 1st Annual "Alf Buckley Memorial Dart Tournament" held in Poway at the Elks Lodge, with a $1,050.00 guaranteed pay out, thanks to the efforts of the Alf Buckley Memorial Tournament Director Mike Enright, Board Members Dave Loudon, Ron Zacarro, and special thanks to all the sponsors and volunteers. 

In just one year this tournament has evolved to include the memories of all darters in San Diego County who have passed from our sides, and now in 2007 with a new name we have the first annual "San Diego Memorial Dart Tournament" and a guaranteed pay out. With thanks to our Tournament Director Mike Enright and our expanded Board to include Dave Loudon, Ron Zacarro, Dan Jager, Freeman Daugherty, Bob Zochowski, Ivan Derezin, Charles Bradish, Denise Klein and Sue Noon with special thanks to all our Benefactors, Sponsors, Friends and Volunteers.

ALF, THANKS YOU!