Ace of ages: Golfer, 91, sinks hole-in-one

I often think of a number. It's usually 80. It's the age by which if someone could guarantee me to reach, to live long enough to see my children grow and graduate college and begin their own families, would suffice. I would think it would be a good run, while reserving the right to recalculate things at 79.

Paul DeBaugh probably never bothered with such stuff.

He's still too busy living at 91.

Too busy doing things like this: DeBaugh on Monday walked to the front tees at the par-3 17th hole at Boulder City Golf Course, gave his 4-iron a swing and watched his ball take flight and land on the green some 146 yards away.

He thought it rolled past the pin. One of his playing partners thought he heard it hit the pin. The partner, approaching 80 years old, seems to have better hearing than perhaps DeBaugh has eyesight.

"Must have dropped square in the hole," DeBaugh said. "It was a nice shot. I walked up and said, 'My God. I made a hole-in-one.' The other guys were happy for me. I'm the oldest in the group.

"I guess I'll play until I can't anymore. It's still a lot of fun. Some days, the way I'm playing, I don't know why they don't kick me off the course. I'm just thankful I can still get out there."

He says it was his first hole-in-one during a recreational career that began when, while doing some work on a new course near Kernville, Calif., he thought golf was a game he might try. That was more than 50 years ago.

Stories like this amaze me. My father-in-law is 98 and still played 18 holes as recently as five years ago. But he's getting on a bit now and has taken to hoarding Reuben sandwiches from a local deli, meaning his days of shooting under his age have been replaced with making the third floor at his senior residential facility smell like a wastewater treatment plant.

The deli has been put on notice: Just one Reuben a week for Dad.

DeBaugh spends three days a week playing the back nine at Boulder City with his pals, shooting anywhere from 38 to 42, teeing off as the sun begins to rise and finishing before most have enjoyed their morning coffee.

The town of Boulder City was built during the Great Depression and thought of as a place where people could hope for a better future. It still holds that historic sense, where time seems to have stopped not 20 miles from the glitz and glitter of Las Vegas.

It's a place where 91-year-olds making holes-in-one just makes sense.

"We don't have as many retired golfers of Paul's age group anymore," said Tony Fiorentini, head pro at Boulder City for the past 18 years. "We're down to around 10 to 12. They're pretty set in their ways. I'm sure they have found most of their golf balls, probably ones I've hit into the trees. Some have probably played with the same ball the last five years. They don't hit it far, but it goes right down the middle. It's a social thing for them, a way to get some exercise. It has been great serving them all these years.

"To still be playing at 91 like Paul and still knocking them in is great. It's wonderful to have people be part of this community that way. Paul is a good player. He just walked in after the round (Monday) with a smile and said, "I shot 38 and had a hole-in-one.' I put my arm around him and said, 'I want to be just like you when I'm 91.' "

DeBaugh was born in Ohio, lived most of his life in California and retired here in 1977, after 30 years of working for Southern California Edison, the final five on the Arizona side of Hoover Dam.

He and those playing partners stroll onto the Boulder City course each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, striking their first shots around 6:15 a.m.

His buddies were there to witness the hole-in-one, to verify that swing of a 4-iron indeed produced such a memorable shot.

"I have never met anyone like him in my life," said Kevin Shambarger, DeBaugh's stepson. "It's unreal. The one word to describe him most is humble. He wouldn't say the word 'crap' if he had a mouthful of it.

"I'm sure at 91, I wouldn't be able to even find a golf course, much less play one and make a shot like that."

I'll keep my number at 80 and reserve the right to recalculate at a later date.

And today, maybe even mix in some corned beef and Thousand Island dressing on rye with the turkey and dressing and give thanks for men such as my father-in-law and stories like that of Paul DeBaugh.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.