Former Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks records his second hole-in-one

Former Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks is living it up in his retirement, recently enjoying fishing trips and spending countless hours on the golf course.

That is well-deserved, as his coaching career spanned from 1966 through 2009. However, his hard work on the golf course paid off on Monday when Brooks hit a hole-in-one at the Coaches Classic at Pebble Beach.

The shot was not caught on video, but one of Brooks’ golf-mates were on scene to watch him pick it up out of the hole. According to Brooks, it was the second time he’s ever shot a hole-in-one.

Number 8 at Spanish Bay for my 2nd hole in one. Steve on the comments. pic.twitter.com/A9mfH5GKLB

— Rich Brooks (@UKcoachbrooks) May 27, 2024

“Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay [CA] — we think Rich just got a hole-in-one,” Brooks’ partner said on the video. “None of us saw it but what was it? 135 yards?”

“My caddie Mike saw it,” Brooks responded. There, Brooks pulled the ball out and raised it triumphantly.

The Pebble Beach Coaches Classic began in 1991 and has been held for 32 years annually. Roughly 30 coaches attend the private event each offseason — and Brooks typically finds himself on the list as he was a notable attendee last year. Invitations for the event are typically given to acting college football coaches, but there are exceptions. Obviously, Brooks has proven he belongs in any club with a shot like that one.

It appears as though current Oregon head coach Dan Lanning was a first-time attendee at the event on Monday as well. Brooks snapped a picture of Lanning with a microphone in-hand. He reportedly sang ‘Jessie’s Girl’ by Rick Springfield and apparently hit a hole-in-one at The Hay on Sunday, another golf course at Pebble Beach, just like Brooks did on Monday.

“How about that,” Brooks wrote.

Of course, Brooks was the longtime head football coach at Oregon 1977-1994 where he is credited for helping revive the Ducks program into what we know it as today. Tasked with reviving a program that hadn’t had a winning record in seven seasons, Brooks went on to guide the Ducks to their first Rose Bowl appearance in 37 years and was the school’s first to coach the Ducks to nine wins since 1948.

He moved on to the NFL for several seasons before landing at Kentucky in 2003. He stayed there in 2009 where he helped lead Kentucky to four consecutive bowl appearances to end his coaching career.

His most memorable moment in Lexington came when No. 17 Kentucky took down No. 1 LSU at Kroger Field, then called Commonwealth Stadium, when the Wildcats downed the Tigers in triple overtime in October of 2007.