---

After running the Front Street Mile, Leeroy Rodgers knows that golf is a much more leisurely game.

He has plenty of running trophies, but his recent hole-in-one is his proudest sporting accomplishment.

The 16-year-old Warwick Academy student has only been golfing since last year so it was a bit of a shock for him to eagle the 12th hole at the Fairmont Southampton two weeks ago.

While he was on vacation with his parents in Florida last year, his dad went golfing with his uncle.

“I didn’t get to play,” Leeroy Rodgers said.

His dad decided to let him have a hit, but “I couldn't even hit it. I kept swinging and missing the ball,” Leeroy Rodgers said.

After that incident he took up the sport by doing the Eardley Jones Junior Golf.

“I really like it - it's a lot of fun.”

So he poured himself into the game, making sure he was out on a course at least once a week. Francis Rabain and Tim Allanby have given him tips on how to improve his game and they must have paid off because two weeks ago Rodgers and his dad went up to the Southampton Princess course he created a thrill that he'll remember for the rest of his life.

“At the 12th hole, I hit the ball and my dad said 'It went in the hole! It went in the hole!' I didn't believe him. I told him 'It didn't go into the hole, daddy.'

“I wasn't expecting a hole-in-one.”

He ended up shooting 64 on the par 54 course, not that it matters much in comparison to the hole-in-one.

Rodgers said he cleaned off the ball and now rests in a place of honour in his house.

“Everyone's been coming up to me shaking my hand. Even the guy that was playing behind us…he saw it and came over to shake my hand.”

“People kept telling me “I’ve got a great swing.” I’m definitely going to keep playing golf.[[In-content Ad]]

---