Press
Marin Independent Journal, January 20, 2009
Dave Albee: Despite short stint on PGA Tour, Ray Leach has lasting insights on the game
THE QUESTION KEEPS coming back to Ray Leach like a five-foot par putt that lipped the cup. In the 60s, he was a teenage golfing phenom out of Marin County. He won his first tournament at the age of nine. At 14, while a student at Novato High, he held the San Francisco City and Northern California Junior Amateur titles simultaneously after beating Johnny Miller, the reigning national junior champion and future Hall of Famer. At 15, he nearly became the youngest golfer ever to qualify for the U.S. Open. At 16, he was partnered with a Hollywood actor at a celebrity pro/am tournament at Peacock Gap in San Rafael that drew 3,000 spectators. He was a four-time All-American at Brigham Young University who stills holds the NCAA Division I record for career tournaments wins (18) and he shot a 28-32 60 at the Meadow Club in Fairfax that to this day no one has beat. Read more...
Golf Digest, May 2001, by Guy Yocom
The unknown genius
When I'm asked about the best players I ever played against, the names Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino come immediately to mind. But there's another guy I competed against as a kid in California who had the potential to be just as great as those guys, but strangely didn't pan out. His name was Ray Leach (left), and he could do things with a golf club that were almost supernatural. Read more...