SLIPPERY ROCK — Julie Powell learned how to play golf through her husband.

“He taught me how to do a lot of things in life,” the Slippery Rock resident said.

The couple were married in 1982. Jim Powell died five years ago.

But when his wife secured the first hole-in-one of her lifetime last week, she was convinced her husband was there.

“Just too many variables there ... he had to have something to do with that,” Powell said.

Powell, 61, plays in two women's leagues — the Lady Duffers at Stoughton Acres and the newly created Twisted Tees at Slippery Rock Golf Club. She also plays with several ladies who travel to other courses.

Three such ladies — Sue Weigle, Bobbie Bollinger and Brenda Shick — played a round with Powell June 22 at Hunter's Station in Tionesta.

“My husband was superintendent of that course exactly 40 years ago,” Powell said. “The front nine holes as they exist today weren't even put in yet.

“That part of the property used to be mountain woods. Jim and I took a lot of walks through there together. I have so many memories from there.”

The couple was on one of those mountain walks when, about a half-mile up, Jim Powell looked down at a rock.

“He said he wondered what kind of rock that was,” Powell said. “He picked it up, turned it over and the words 'I love you' were painted on the other side. He had placed that rock there at another time.

“How he remembered exactly where he put it — because there were other rocks around it — I'll never know. But I kept that rock. I still have it next to my bed.”

Jim Powell only worked at Hunter's Station for a year. He left to become superintendent at the former Armco (now Slippery Rock Golf Club) course for 20 years.

One of Jim's best friends — Rick Obenrader and his wife, Terri — own and operate Hunter's Station now. Rick was coming out of the maintenance shed sitting off of Hole No. 8 just when Julie Powell was teeing off there.

She used a 7-iron on the 120-yard par-3 hole.

“The shot was heading toward the sand trap to the right, in front of the green.” Powell said. “I figured the ball was going into the sand.

“It landed right in front of it, kicked to the left and rolled into the hole. I could see the shot the whole way.”

So could Obenrader, who saw someone was about to tee off. He stopped to watch the shot.

“Rick had no idea it was me,” Powell said “He walked over to congratulate whoever it was that got the hole-in-one. When he did see it was me, we just hugged and all of us started going crazy.

“To do this at this course, 40 years after Jim, worked here, his first job since graduating with a degree in turf management from Penn State, and having his best friend just happen to walk out of that shack and see it ... The whole thing was just very special to me.”

Obenrader said that “it's exciting to see anybody get a hole-in-one anytime. When I discovered it was Julie, yeah, that was pretty special.

“Of all the places for her to get a hole-in-one ... this was the first course he ever worked for. The whole thing is amazing when you think about it.”

Powell was never a golfer until she married one. Though she's been golfing for 39 years, she had never shot below 90 in an 18-hole round — before June 22.

She shot an 89 that day.

“I guess I needed that hole-in-one,” she said, laughing.

“Jim and I played a lot of golf together. It was frustrating for me at times. I would need three shots to catch up to his drive. After a while, he said I needed to get in a league.

“Once I joined a women's league, I realized I wasn't the worst golfer out there. You're going to have good holes, you're going to have bad holes. The key is to keep playing,” Powell added.

By her own admittance, Powell is not a standout golfer. She generally shoots in the high 40s for nine holes in league play.

But she has become heavily involved in the sport. Powell serves as per per and statistician for the Lady Duffers League. She has also been executive secretary of the Northwestern Pennsyl;vanioa Golf Course Superintendents Association for 20 years.

“She's a really great gal,” Karen Perry, a fellow Lady Duffers league member for 20 years, said. “We try to get together and play golf at different courses. We have fun and I know she's been improving her game.

“She's playing some of her best golf now. And that hole-in-one could not have happened for Julie in a better place.”

When her husband died, Powell didn't feel like playing at first.

Obenrader didn't blame her.

“What a great person. I miss him every day,” he said.

After a while, Powell realized golf was the best way to remember her husband.

“A friend of mine kept telling me, 'let's go play golf, let's go play golf.' I finally got back out there,” she said.

“Now golf is therapeutic for me. The camaraderie with the women in these leagues is fantastic. Now I'm playing more golf than I ever have. And I think of Jim.”

As for the hole-in-one?

“I know he was thinking of me that day,” she said.