Golf history has an unusual way of repeating itself.

A year ago, Pat Cailler of Poland, 90, shot his age with an 81, which included a hole-in-one on the eighth hole of that round at Fairlawn. That feat was equaled May 29 at Prospect Hill by Auburn’s Kervin Ray, who shot an 86 at age 86 with a hole-in-one on the 110-yard 15th hole, using an 8-iron.

“This is rather unique,” Ray said of his feat. “And I took an eight on the par-5 12th hole.”

A “snowman,” also known by some other names, often does not lend itself to a good round. But Ray had the ace, a birdie and four pars to keep the score down while playing with his friend Bill Higgins.

Unfortunately, Ray was unable to watch his ace fall into the hole, he said, because players cannot see the 15th green from the senior tee on that hole. He thinks he saw it bounce once, but he could not locate his ball when they reached the green.

“Then he found it in the hole,” Ray said of Higgins. “I’ve shot my age once before, when I was 75 with a 75.”

Next he corrected himself, because this was not accurate. While talking about his two previous holes-in-one, he began to rummage through old scorecards and records when he realized he had shot a 69 on May 26, 2004 when he was 70 in Florida. He and his wife lived in Citrus Hills, a golf course community, and it was there on the Meadows Course there that he had aces on the 148-yard ninth hole in 1999 and on the 189-yard seventh hole in 2000.

Ray is a Mainer and worked 37 years for Hannaford, retiring as a director of operations/vice president in the Bangor area at age 60, which is when he decided to play serious golf. He lived in Florida for 22 years but moved back to Maine.

“I tell everyone I moved back to Maine to get closer to the cemetery,” he said with a grin. “Actually it was to get closer to our daughters. One lives in Florida, one lives in Connecticut and two live in Maine.”

When asked where the Maine daughters reside, he said upstate a few hours, to which he again said smiling: “That’s closer than Florida.”

Ray has tapered off in terms of his golf play, to the extent that he no longer maintains a handicap. At his best in Florida, he was a seven and won some tournaments. He is frank to admit that he no longer has golf expectations and just plays occasionally for fun.

Don’t we all wish we could have that approach to golf, and in the process, record a round, shooting our age with a hole-in-one?

Sugarloaf celebrates

This coming Saturday, Sugarloaf is celebrating its 30-year anniversary.

It will be a throwback greens fee of $39 for anyone who plays in a 1 p.m. shotgun start that afternoon, with a reception (invitation only) held later in the day. Speakers at the reception will be Sugarloaf founder Peter Webber along with general manager Carl Strand and head pro Steve Nievgoda.

Unfortunately, Sugarloaf architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., will not be present because he will be at the U.S. Open in Chambers Bay, Wash., on the Puget Sound. Chambers Bay, which opened in 2007, is another course Jones Jr. designed.

“The course is in spectacular condition,” said Ethan Austin, Sugarloaf director of marketing the past 10 years. “We have the best June course conditions ever. During the winter, there were not a lot of thaw cycles, so there was no ice build-up on the course.”

Owned by the Town of Carrabassett Valley, the course and the ski resort is run by the Sugarloaf Mountain Corp., which has made substantial investments in improving the property.

If you have not played Sugarloaf, many times named by Golf Digest as the Maine course of the year, you owe it to yourself to get on it, and the price will never be better than Saturday afternoon. More information can be obtained by calling the pro shop at 207-237-6812.

MSGA rolling along

The Maine State Golf Association tournament schedule continues this week with a Senior Tour event Tuesday at Purpoodock. On Thursday, there will be a “mid-week special” at The Woodlands. The weekend tournament will be Friday and Saturday at Province Lake.

Province Lake is unique in that it is the only MSGA course which has holes in two states — Maine and New Hampshire. And if a player would like to purchase an adult beverage from the cart girl on a New Hampshire hole, she will tell him he must wait until he has returned to a Maine hole, because her license to sell is good only in The Pine Tree State.

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