Over the past 100 years of the Bellingham Country Club, a lot of miraculous shots have been made on the course and probably even more have been lied about in the clubhouse bar.

But only one member can lay claim to having hit a "special" shot on each and every hole at the Country Club.

By hitting a hole-in-one on the 167-yard 13th hole on April 21, Ray Scott is believed to have become the first person to eagle each of the 18 holes at Bellingham Golf and Country Club.

"It took 42 years, but I was finally able to do it," Scott, who turns 85 this month, said in a phone interview. "It's kind of special that I got to do it this year, with the club turning 100 years old, and all. ... I feel pretty good about it. I guess I'm the only one - at least I'm the only one I've heard about."

Scott said his first eagle came on the par-4 ninth hole a year after he joined the club in 1971.

"I remember I was pretty surprised when I hit that one," Scott said. "It was my first hole in one. It was a par 3 then, but it's a par 4 now."

Scott has since eagled the hole in its new format, as well.

In fact, he's eagled a number of holes multiple times and has seven hole-in-ones in all.

"I think it's amazing," Country Club head pro Mike Montgomery said in a phone interview. "I was watching him in a mixed horse race we held to celebrate his and a couple other peoples' hole-in-ones on Friday. What I saw was a true competitor. I think it goes back to his days of playing basketball. You can tell he's a (heck) of an athlete, and he still loads up the golf club better and makes it go further than I can. He still has the fire in his eye to compete. My guess is this feat was a deep-down-seated goal and something he felt he needed to accomplish. He's modest, and probably wouldn't tell you that, but that's what makes it fun."

The most difficult hole to eagle, Scott said, was the long par-4 ninth hole, which he said he needed to use a driver and 5-wood on during a county seniors tournament when he was 60.

He said he crossed the 18th hole off his list with a hole-in-one five or six years ago, leaving the unlucky 13th as the only hole he had yet to card an eagle on.

"I was close a couple of times over the years," Scott said. "I put it in the hole a couple of times, but it jumped out. I came up and saw it sitting only an inch or two from the hole a couple more times. About two months before I actually hit it, I came up and saw it sitting right on the edge."

His friends and playing partners started to give him a little bit of good-natured ribbing, and he admitted even he started to wonder if he was just destined to go eagleless on the 13th.

But on a warm April Saturday, Scott found the bottom of the cup on the 13th green with only one swing.

"When I hit it, one of the fellas I was playing with left for the green, so he was up there when I hit it," Scott said. "There was a group on the 14th tee, and they had a pretty good look at it, too, so I had plenty of witnesses. I was extremely happy when it hit it. I figured that I had completed my bucket list. ... I don't have a clue what the odds are that I would have hit an eagle on all 18 holes, so yeah, it was pretty special."

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2286.

Reach DAVID RASBACH at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2271.