On July 16, 71-year-old Carmel Valley resident Ray Kelly hit his first-ever hole-in-one at Lomas Santa Fe Executive Golf Course. And then he did it again.
“Is it in? Is it really in?” he asked his friend recording him, approaching hole #5 and checking in the cup, picking up his first ace ball and enthusiastically dispensing high fives. Just 12 holes later during the same round, he unbelievably sank his second hole-in-one on hole #17.
Ray Kelly with his golfing buddies Craig Koehler and Niall White after shooting two holes in one at Lomas Santa Fe. (Courtesy David Randleman)
Two aces in one round is an extremely rare feat—the National Hole-in-One Registry puts the odds at 67 million to one.
Kelly worked for SAIC for 30 years before retiring in 2019, leaving much more time for golf. He plays Lomas Santa Fe weekly with his group of golf buddies and was golfing with his two close friends Craig Koehler and Niall White when he scored the impressive double.
Ray Kelly made two holes-in-one in one round at Lomas Santa Fe Executive Golf Course on July 16. (Courtesy David Randleman)
A former athlete, Kelly was a gymnast on the South African national men’s team, competing in all six events and training toward the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He never got a chance to compete as South Africa had been barred from the games due to its apartheid segregation system. After relocating to California, Kelly has lived in the same Carmel Valley home for over 30 years with his wife Mary—together they raised three children, Kate, Ryan and Liam, all Torrey Pines High School graduates. The whole family enjoys golfing together and they were the first people he texted after his historic round: “You’ll never believe what happened.”
“The whole family is really proud of him,” said his son-in-law David Randleman. “It’s really cool to see him enjoying life in his retirement. Not only that, but he’s accomplished something that is quite amazing. This will be something all of his buddies will not stop talking about.”