GALION–A Galion golfer has scored a hole-in-one with his recent find. A golf ball as special as the love he shared with his wife of 43 years.

Mike Laughery was playing at one of his favorite area courses this spring, Woody Ridge in Shelby when he discovered a white ball along the muddy creek of hole number seven. It had a red heart and a message – I LOVE YOU. He calls it his “forever ball.”

In his heart, Laughery knows he was meant to find the “heart ball” and that it was put there by his late wife, Denise “Dennie,” who died in 2017. The two, always inseparable, were regulars at Woody for more than 40 years.

He golfed; she looked for lost balls.

“She knew the course, she knew the woods, and she knew where the good ‘looking’ places were,” said Laughery, 70. “I can honestly say that with the thousands of balls that I’ve washed, I’ve never seen one like that, and I think she sent it to me.”

The couple amassed quite the collection over the years. A basement brimming with balls, all stored in egg cartons neatly stacked on the ping-pong table: Srixon, Titleist, Callaway, and more. Never to be sold. Only to be given away to family, friends, and neighbors.

“We’d be sitting here on a Sunday afternoon watching T.V., and she’d say, ‘Do you want to go out golfing?’ and I’d say, ‘You really just want to hunt for golf balls, don’t you?’

I figured it was the second-best way to be together on a golf course. We were both having fun.”

Dennie usually hauled in dozens. A record 130 balls one afternoon. Laughery did the cleaning, scrubbing, and sorting. The good ones were organized by brand and color. The rest were returned to the golf course so they could use them on the driving range.

“I bought her a ball retriever, so she’d walk around the lakes and pull balls out,” said Laughery.

“I have not bought a golf ball. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a golf ball.
She always kept me supplied.”

The two, who were married June 22, 1974, started their tradition when they drove to a resort in Pennsylvania for their three-year anniversary celebration. Unbeknownst to him, Dennie had taken a few golf lessons, so she surprised him on the nine-hole course the first day.

After a few holes, however, the game went sour. Laughery said he quickly found fault with her driving, putting, and even her choice of clubs.

“I was young, I was stupid, and I can’t believe I didn’t have all the clubs wrapped around my neck when we ended.”

From then on, Dennie left her bag behind. She got hooked on hunting instead.

Since her passing after a two-year battle with cancer, Laughery has faithfully taken over the ritual.

He heads to the rough off the fairways and past the greens to scout for strays. It’s his way of adding to the collection and continuing her legacy.

“I keep it going just to do it for her,” he said. “I have to come home with at least one, yes. If the ground is soft, sometimes they plugin, but mostly you have to go into the woods or look in the ponds. Most of the guys know. They’ll say, ‘Well, have you found your ball yet?’”

This golfer definitely has, and it’s a keeper. No matter how you “slice” it.