Somerset — Golf is one of the few sports where a father and a son can spend a lifetime of playing and competing against each other.
Millions of fathers and sons around the world have spent countless hours on the links bonding and spending quality time together.
Golf is a nice, relaxing activity that allows a father and son to enjoy their surroundings without the pressures of the outside world.
However, you might have a hard time convincing Mickey Ray, and his son Michael Ray, that golf is a leisurely father-son sport.
Yes, the Rays have spent countless hours together going from tee to green, but these two take their game of golf a little bit more serious than your average father-son.
Over the past four years, Mickey and Michael Ray have won three Kentucky Golf Association Father-Child Championships. Most recently, the Rays won the 2009 KGA event at Andover Golf & Country Club with a two-day total of 16-under par, which included a first-day (-10) two-man scramble and a second-day (-6) two-man best ball.
The Rays claimed back-to-back state titles in 2006 and 2007.
Both, Mickey and Michael sport impressive one-handicaps and have the unique ability to compliment each other’s ‘already strong’ games.
“We both shoot about the same, but I have a little better short game and Michael hits his drives better and can really putt,” Mickey Ray said. “We have played in (the KGA Father-Child Championship) for about 10 years and we have always been competitive in the event. We just have been on a good run these past couple of years.”
Both, Mickey and Michael enjoyed stellar high school and college golf careers prior to working together at Modern Vending.
“We play golf together, we work together and we go to church together,” Mickey Ray said. “I have really been blessed in that sense.”
Both played their high school golf at Somerset High School, while Mickey went on to play at the University of Kentucky from 1974 to 1978 and Michael played on the Transylvania University golf team from 1999 to 2003.
With two top-notch, highly-competitive golfers like Mickey Ray and Michael Ray, a ‘friendly round of golf’ is not something these two often partake in.
“We are always competing against each other every time we go out and play a round of golf,” Mickey Ray said. “Neither one of us like to lose to one another and no matter who wins, we always brag to other family members about it.”
“As Michael was growing up, I never let him win and I always played as hard as I could against him,” Mickey Ray recalled. “I can’t remember when he first beat me in golf. I was probably glad to see him finally beat me, but I wasn’t happy about it.”
Mickey Ray says he picked up the game of golf from his father Bill Ray, and it wasn’t long before father and grandfather passed on the Ray golfing secrets to Michael.
“I think I had a set of golf clubs before I was even born,” laughed Michael Ray. “My father and grandfather taught me how to play golf. My dad taught me until he was tired of me, and then I would get instruction from my grandfather until he got tired of me.”
And now that Michael’s 2-year-old son, Jaxson is beginning to swing a golf club, Mickey Ray has the newest golf prodigy in the Ray family.
“We are already working with Jaxson, but his grip is terrible,” Mickey joked about his toddler grandson. “And for some reason, we can’t keep him focused.”
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Local golfers Michael Ray (left) and his father Mickey Ray claimed their third Kentucky Golf Association Father-Child Championship in four years. Most recently, the Rays won the 2009 KGA event at Andover Golf & Country Club with a two-day total of 16-under par, which included a first-day (-10) two-man scramble and a second-day (-6) two-man best ball. The Rays, both sport impressive one-handicaps. Steve Cornelius Photo
A Family Tradition
Rays win third Father-Child Kentucky State Golf Title
- Local Sports
-
-
Warriors squeak out 5-4 win over McCreary
Heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, visiting McCreary Central had a slight edge over Southwestern, as they held a 4-3 lead over the homestanding Warriors.
But Alex Eaton’s Warriors would not let that slight edge affect them, as they plated a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame to grab a 5-4 victory in the opening round of the 48th District Baseball Tournament last night at Warrior Stadium. -
Somerset grabs district crown from Pulaski
Early in the 2012 high school baseball season, the Somerset Briar Jumpers were having their fair share of struggles at the plate.
However, Phil Grundy’s club appears to be hitting its stride at the perfect time of the year. -
Lady Jumpers win back-to-back district titles
In 2011, the Somerset Lady Jumper softball team — who had won its first regional crown the year before in 2010 — brought home its first ever district title with a win in the finals over Pulaski County.
-
Impact of a state track meet
For most high school track athletes, the state championship is the grand finale to a to grueling high school track season or the cultivation of a long prep career filled with sweat, pain, nagging injuries and constant sore muscles.
-
An old friend and a new face
On Wednesday afternoon, Somerset High School announced their new basketball head coaches for the upcoming season.
-
A ‘Storm’ is heading to UK
Somerset High School’s WB Jones Auditorium was packed with ‘purple and gold’ clad students on Tuesday afternoon during their annual year-end award cermony.
-
Warriors top Pulaski in Scott McAninch Memorial
Over the past three weeks, not a single baseball team inside the 12th Region had been any hotter than the Southwestern Warriors or the Pulaski County Maroons.
-
Somerset track teams win Region, again
Both the Somerset High School boys and girls track teams claimed regional team titles late Saturday night in the Class A Region 6 Track and Field Championships at Somerset’s Joan Spurlock Track Complex.
-
Pulaski boys finish second in Regionals
Less than three weeks ago, the Pulaski County High School boys track team downed Madison Central by a whopping 50 points in the Warrior Classic.
-
Lady Maroons down Madison Southern, 3-0
On an afternoon when the Pulaski County Lady Maroon softball team honored seniors Kendra Hyden and Brittany McKee on ‘Senior Night’, it was only fitting PC’s two seniors were at the center of a key victory for coach Scott Taylor’s club.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
Secret Service Boss: 'I Apologize'
Giant Bull Head Draws Drivers to South Dakota
Astrodome Fades As Houston Decides Fate
Egyptians Vote in Historic Presidential Election
Franciscan Files Tell Stories of Priest Abuse
Wildfire Destroys 2 Homes
Flight Diverted After Suspicious Note
Joplin Remembers Deadly Tornado, 1 Year Later
Panel Recommends Against Routine Prostate Test
Fired Lingerie Employee Claims Discrimination
Joplin Marches to 'Remember' Tornado Victims
Facebook Shares Continue Negative Slide
Cuba Waiting for Cyber Age to Come
8 Hurt in Oklahoma Shooting After NBA Playoff
Sheriff: DNA Links Suspect to Missing CA Teen
US Airways: Diverted Flight Has 'Landed Safely'
Revived Focus on Regulation After JPMorgan Loss
