Ray Claveran displays to wife Aline the balance that has served him well for 50 years as a member of the Professional Golfers' Association. Photo by: Jerry Budrick Second-place foursome of, from left, Ray Claveran, son Ray, family friend Bob Bartman and Jerry Budrick. Photo by: Jerry Budrick The winning foursome of, from left, Jon Bellotti, son Brian, non-Bellotti Steve Simmons and Jeff Bellotti. Photo by: Jerry Budrick The foursome of R.J. Brooks, Brett Brusatori, his dad, Ray, and Michael Rhoades pose on the first green at Castle Oaks. Photo by: Jerry Budrick Tournament coordinators Karen Baker and Lisa Trucco manned the gate for the Amador High School Football Golf Tournament. Baker is the wife of first-year football coach Bill Baker, with whom she can trace family histories back through three generations at Amador High. Her mother Diane graduated in 1965, Bill's dad, Jack, is class of '63 and mom, Carol, class of '65. Grandmother Mary Studebaker graduated in 1938. Photo by: Jerry Budrick

Last Saturday's Amador High School Football Team Benefit Golf Tournament ended with former Amador quarterback Jeff Bellotti's stunning, walk-off ace on the 11th hole at Castle Oaks Golf Course in Ione, putting a dramatic exclamation point on a remarkable round of golf by the foursome of Jeff, Jon and Brian Bellotti with Steve Simmons.

Sixteen under par after 17 holes of golf in the scramble format, Jeff Bellotti's final shot of the day took the team to 18-under, which translates into a score of 53 on Castle Oaks' par-71 layout.

Having begun their round on the 12th hole in a shotgun start, lucky No. 11 became a fortuitous finishing hole, in a picturesque setting with its elevated tee looking down at a green that's officially measured at 124 yards from the white tee, which was being used for the tournament.

The sudden, perfect stroke eclipsed a superb, 16-under-par round turned in by the second-place team of visiting PGA Professional-for-life Ray Claveran, his son, Ray-ray, long-time family friend Bob Bartman and Jerry Budrick. Father of three PGA members, Ray and Canadian-born wife Aline have been in Amador County on their annual visit with his son Troy.

Shanghaied by friends and family to play on a team with son and namesake Ray in the football charity event, Claveran added his usual lustrous short game to the prodigious drives by his younger teammates to bring home a slew of birdies and one eagle.

"I'm 72 years old but I feel like 82," Ray replied to an inquiry about his age. Claveran does suffer from a couple of handicaps: He lives in Ottawa, Canada, with his wife and constant companion Aline, where he plays golf only three or four times a year; and, he has what he describes as a titanium cage bolted to his spinal column that makes him fearful of overswinging, which could potentially rip a bolt from a vertebra. Other than that, his game seemed fine.

The hero of the day, Jeff Bellotti, preferred to change the topic from his hole-in-one to the real purpose of Saturday's gathering - Amador High School football.

"The kids are excited," Bellotti said. "We're going to change things up, from the atmosphere at practice to play-calling on the field."

Bellotti has come back to Sutter Creek, after graduating from California State University, Stanislaus and the Police Academy, to a new job as a Sutter Creek policeman. Perhaps more importantly, he is joining new Amador football coach Bill Baker on the coaching staff, where he will be offensive coach.

"The team only won one game in the last two years," Bellotti lamented, "but we have 12 to 15 returning players" - and high hopes.

Coach Baker said, "The winners of this tournament will be the football players of Amador High School. It's been a baseball (benefit) tournament for a number of years, so now that I've become football coach, I've switched it to football."

There were more than 90 players in the field - a majority of them alumni from the Mother Lode League football trenches of seasons past.

Tournament organizer Karen Baker said that the local wineries were very generous in donating raffle prizes, as were Kamp's Propane, Jackson Rancheria Casino, Hotel and Conference Center, and The Beauty Emporium, among others.

Jeff Bellotti displayed a touch of anxiety at the mounting bar bill from 91 of his closest friends and football buddies celebrating his hole-in-one, but more excited by the prospects for the future of Amador football.