
Dave Kelly “Three Dot Dave”

Dave on hole 9 at Raintree Country Club,
Charlotte NC

Me congratulating Dave at his 95th birthday
party at Raintree Country Club

Dave’s family at his big party. Some family
members traveled all the way from Michigan.
Below are remarks I made at Dave’s party.
Dave Kelly, a Great Golfer and Human Being
by
Rev. Dr. Chris Ayers
October 31, 2009
Tiger Woods, Nancy Lopez, Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam, Bobby Jones, Amy Alcott, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Judy Rankin, Billy Casper, Ben Crenshaw, Byron Nelson, Betsy Rawls, Tom Watson and——-and Dave Kelly. Yes, Dave Kelly. If you think Dave Kelly is not one of the all time great golfers, if you think I’m exaggerating, then you obviously haven’t played golf with Dave.
I first played golf with Dave four years ago and I was amazed at his golf skills then and I’m amazed by “Three Dot Dave” every time he tees it up.
We call Dave “Three Dot Dave” because he puts three dots on all his Titleist golf balls for the purpose of being able to identify his ball, but let me tell you, Dave is wasting his time putting three dots on his golf balls because his golf balls aren’t hard to find. Dave hits the ball in the middle of the fairway—-always, like clockwork, as predictable as the sun coming up every morning. Dave is what we call a boring golfer. Most of us play what is called “army golf”—as in marching troops going right, left, right, left, as in we hit our shots way left, we hook them, and then we overcorrect and hit way right, we slice them. Dave, Mr. Boring Golfer, hits his down the middle all the time.——————–Dave, I repeat, you don’t need three dots to identify your golf balls. There’s no danger of confusing your great shots with our bad shots.
Three Dot Dave. I also call him Mr. Raintree because he is the oldest golf playing member at Raintree Country Club. I think that deserves some applause.
If Dave wants to hit a mulligan or do a practice shot, I tell him, “Go on, Dave. You own this club.”
If you want to experience a precious moment I invite you to go down to the tee box on hole number one on the North course. I’ll describe it for you. Dave steps up the tee, his shoes shiny clean—-get him to tell you about his father getting up early to shine the family’s shoes before going to church—-Mr. GQ Golfer Dave steps up the tee dressed to the nines, dressed to the hilt —–and frequently there is a crowd, a multitude watching him, cheering him on. Dave is a living legend at Raintree. The recently retired in the crowd, the 60 year-olds, 70 year-olds, the 80 year-olds gather to watch Dave swing the club, coveting his longevity, coveting his athleticism, coveting his golf swing, coveting his ball which has just landed in the dang middle of the fairway.
Last year Dave’s children bought him a new Ping driver for Christmas. Dave’s been hitting his tee shots 20 yards longer. I remember the smile on his face when he got the club and hit it so well. He looked like somebody that had just won the lottery, like a kid in a candy shop.
Dave loves golf. He will not play if it’s pouring down rain or if it’s too cold but I’ll have to tell you, there are have been occasions we’ve played and he’s been more enthusiastic than me about hitting the driver, making approach shots, and chipping and putting in the 40 degree windy conditions. On one such teeth chattering, body shivering outing, Dave, at the end of the round, said, “Well, it wasn’t bad when we were in the sun.”
Dave loves to play golf so you will understand my surprise when he informed me he didn’t want to play on a certain Friday. He mentioned something about having to go to a Navajoe meeting, some high school group he had been in. You can get Dave to tell you why they called it Navajoe, not Navajo. Anyway, I thought it must be some high school service organization he belonged to in his younger days. When I inquired, though, Dave informed me the Navajoe’s were a group of guys in high school that rented a house so they would have a place to dance with, as Dave puts it, their honeys.
There’s not a lot that can keep Dave off a golf course, except maybe a Navajoe meeting.
O.K., here are the facts. Inside 100 yards, Dave Kelly 9 times out of ten is on the green. I’m serious.
Here are the facts. Dave Kelly makes most of his five foot putts. He is a great putter. He can read greens. He has an outstanding short game.
Here are the facts. Last year on the North Course, on the front nine, with its very difficult hole 3 and hole 4, from the senior tees, not the front tees which he should be hitting from, Dave shot a true 47. That deserves applause.
One comment I make repeatedly to Dave before he hits is “Do your magic, Dave.” Really, what he does with a golf club is magical.
Two years ago I went on a beach golf trip with Dave, his son, David, and Bill Hartsell. We let Dave plan the trip, let him decide how many days and how much golf we would play. We played 3 straight days. Yep, 54 holes of golf. Almost killed me. Dave played every day, playing all 18 holes the first day, 15 holes the second day, and around 14 the last day. After that last round, I told Dave I was going to have to find some younger friends with whom to hang out because he was wearing me out.
I only have one complaint about Dave when it comes to golf. I told you Dave typically, predictably hits boring golf shots; he hits his three dotted Titleist golf ball exactly where he wants the ball to be. My complaint, though, has to do with the 2% of the time he doesn’t and Dave’s habit of going where nobody, not even a teenager, should go to retrieve a lost ball. I don’t want Dave getting hurt on my watch. It’s just a golf ball Dave.
Last week on hole number 4 on the North course, Dave went down a red dirt bank that had—-I’m not kidding, at least a ten foot drop off right at the edge of the pond. I was yelling at Dave—-“Dave, don’t go down there.” Dave later called that retrieval experience his “Waterloo”.
As it turns out, the retrieved golf ball wasn’t his ball. Guess where his golf ball was? He had out hit the fairway and it was in the rough, but it was not to the far right side where he was looking. It was right smack dab in the middle. Dave, if you’ve got to guess, guess middle. Dave, we are thrilled you don’t act your age, but please—– when it comes to your few lost golf balls for once in your life – act your age.
What I’m trying to say is this: about four years ago I went on the internet and logged onto the Raintree golf tee time reservation system. Bill Hartsell and I were going to play together and so I put down 2 players for a nine o’clock tee time on Friday. We had no idea if we would be paired with anyone else or with whom the pairing might be. When we showed up we met Dave Kelly. How lucky can you get! It turned out to be a serendipitous meeting. And we’ve been going down fairways and chatting on greens together ever since.
One of my brothers who is a smart aleck says that the reason I play with a soon to be 95 year-old is because he’s the only one I can beat. And I respond, what’s your point?——–For the record, Dave, from time to time, beats me.
Some people think I play with Dave Kelly because my wife will not complain about me playing too much golf with a senior citizen. Others may think with me being a preacher I need all the brownie points with God I can get and I play with Dave because I need to do a good deed.——–But I do not play golf with Dave to do a good deed or because I need an out with my beloved to play golf or because I need a “W” in the golf win column. I play golf with Dave because Dave is Dave, because Dave is a great golfer and an even greater human being.
Happy birthday Dave! And may you have many more—-and I’m confident you will—may you have many more happy golf shots!