Considered among the finest basketball players ever to don the purple and gold at Williams, former Eph men's basketball coach Harry Sheehy '75 who later became Athletic Director at both Williams and later Dartmouth, recently added a most remarkable athletic achievement to his long list.
When Sheehy played for Williams, NCAA rules prohibited freshman from participating in Varsity contests and yet with only three seasons of Varsity play he scored 1,449 points. But this past Friday was even more remarkable than the night while playing for Athletes in Action he dropped 35 points on the Russian National team in the LA Sports Arena. Even more remarkable than Sheehy being the all-time leading scorer and rebounder for Athletes in Action. More remarkable than never losing to Amherst in men's basketball as an Eph player going 8-0 in freshmen and Varsity play.
On Friday, August 19, Sheehy registered one of the most unusual hole-in-ones on the par three ninth hole at Taconic Golf Club.
Playing with former teammates Bob Patterson (captain, '74) and Mike Parker '74, and friend Annette Alvarez, Sheehy hit a 9 iron. "I felt I had hit the ball well, but of course I cannot see its flight path or landing," said Sheehy. "I was playing with Bob Patterson and Mike Parker, two former '74 Williams teammates, so initially I thought they might have been kidding, but I could hear genuine excitement rising in their voices as they described the ball's high arc, the soft landing just off the green, a bounce and a then slow fifteen foot roll towards the cup before it disappeared. In the end, it was just really 'blind luck.'"
"My first hole-in-one took place in Nashville in 2006," recalled Sheehy. "I didn't see that one either, because I had bent over to pick up my tee as the ball rolled into the cup."
True, two hole-in-ones in a career is not all that remarkable, but Sheehy's second ace is in a class of its own. As a result of an eye stroke during heart surgery last September, Sheehy is legally blind in his right eye with 20/200 peripheral vision (no central) and totally blind in his left eye.
Harry's wife Connie added, "A group started by Al Cece and Gary Guerin on Wednesdays years ago has grown to include every day of the week and anywhere from 8-32 players. They have shepherded Harry through these dark times for which I am eternally grateful."
Original source can be found here.
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