Longtime Clubs at Ole Brook greens-keeper Kelly retires
Published 8:00 am Saturday, October 4, 2025
Flora Mae Kelly is hopeful that this time, her husband of 64 years might actually retire and mean it.
She’s holding on to a dusty honey-do list that’s been 70-something years in the making.
Friday marked Phillip “Pete” Kelly’s official retirement from The Clubs at Ole Brook, where he has kept the greens looking like a golfer’s paradise since he hit double digits.
Kelly started as a caddy at Brookhaven County Club when he was about 11 years old. For most of the Brookhaven man’s life, he worked at various labor jobs during the day, then headed to the golf course in the evenings to labor some more.
Since 2006, Kelly’s been arriving at 6 a.m. and cutting holes in the course or whatever else needed to be done until Jeff Henning, the club’s golf pro, told him to go home.
Kelly’s wife has pulled out her list again now that he’s retiring for real. She’s got gardening for him to do and museums to see. The couple has two children and two grandchildren to visit. They also volunteer with the Greater Hope Foundation through their church, New Hope Baptist.
“I was thinking we’ll really get to travel and do things,” she said. “He told me he’s going to be playing golf. He used to work all the week and on weekends he’d be playing.”
The Clubs at Ole Brook gifted him a lifetime membership that lets him play golf anytime he wants to.
Henning expects to feel a void when Kelly’s isn’t there every morning and said the 85-year-old is irreplaceable.
“He’s the hardest-working man I’ve ever met,” said Henning, who has known Kelly for at least five decades. “He’s very loyal to his family, to his church, to his work. He’s just a super guy.”
This weekend, The Clubs at Ole Brook is hosting the second annual Pete Kelly City Open Golf Tournament. There will be four flights between Saturday and Sunday at the 36-hole Stroke Play event. It’s $100 for members to play and $120 for non-members. Lunch is provided both days. The golfer with the lowest 36-hole score wins a $500 cash bonus.
“Were basically trying to find the best golfer in town,” Henning said.
To play, sign up in the golf shop or call 601-833-6841.
