A good round of golf typically sees a player hit their 63rd stroke somewhere around the 15th or 16th hole.

However, back on Aug. 2, Michael Furey, 31, of Summit Hill, sank his putt on number 18 at Mahoning Valley Country Club to conclude a round totaling 63.The 10-under par score marked the first time a player has ever turned in a round that low on 18 holes of competitive play at the Lehighton golf course."It's a pretty cool feeling and an honor to have (the record)," the son of Michael and Deborah (Lill) Furey said. "The course has been here since 1926 and that's a lot of history, and a lot of great golfers have played here in tournaments throughout that time."Furey, the golf professional at MVCC, had posted career-low 63s on two other occasions in his lifetime. However, it had never been done in competitive play, making this time all the more special."A round like that doesn't come around too often," he said. "It is a great reminder as to why you put in all of that time and effort practicing and playing round after round."Five years ago, the Marian alum fired a 63 for the first time, before duplicating it a year ago. Both rounds, which came at MVCC while playing with friends.With the recent tournament played at his home course, some might think it would be to his advantage. However, hosting a Pro-Am is not simply chow up and go play. A lot of time and preparation went into hosting the event at Mahoning, a public course."It was stressful because I wanted to make sure things were set up correctly, that employees knew what to do, etc.," he said. "It's not like other events, where I can just show up and play. I needed to coordinate with the superintendent and manager and others about different details to make sure the event went off smoothly."In the second annual Mahoning Valley Pro-Am, Furey began his round facing adversity nearly immediately. From 100 yards out, he missed the green on No. 1, which Furey claims, "never happens."The former Marian golfer got up and down for par, then made birdie on two and par on three. Consecutive birdies on four and five put him back on track for a career day. A par on six and another birdie on seven gave way to the 516-yard par 5, dogleg to the right eighth hole.His second shot put him about 20 yards away from the green. Furey chipped it in for an eagle."That was the point that I sort of realized that I am playing pretty well," Furey said. "But even then, I knew that I still had a lot of golf left to play. I birdied nine to shoot 30 on the front nine."With par being 37 on the front nine at Mahoning, the 31-year old was seven under after nine holes, which began to turn some heads in the clubhouse."That stretch, from number four through nine, was ridiculous," Furey said. "I just didn't think. I knew what I wanted to do. I would picture the shot and just swing. I didn't think too much about the score, but I knew I was playing well. After the ninth hole was where I kind of realized I was seven under."Heading into the back nine ,Furey wanted to stay aggressive with his game."Anytime you try and protect a lead, it can turn out badly," he said. "So I didn't want to try and play protective defense. After the small break at the turn, my swing was affected a little on number 10 tee shot. But I was able to recover and par the hole."He birdied 11, and made pars on 12 and 13. He missed a birdie putt on the par-5 14th, but saved par."That was the first time where I thought I missed a really good opportunity there," he said.Then thunder and lightning halted play for 90 minutes."During that delay, I was more or less just chilling and not overthinking things," he said.After the delay, the groups headed back out and Furey went to the par-4 15th hole with positivity and some rust."I was definitely a little tight on my tee shot after the break, and it affected me," Furey said. "But I made solid contact, followed with a great wedge shot, and made the putt for birdie. In all honesty, I would have been happy to make four pars after that delay and call it a day, because at that point I was eight under."However, on the par three number 16, he surprised even himself with a 5-iron to six feet and sank the putt for birdie."That was crazy because the delay should have made it difficult to restart," he said.Pars on the final two holes made the record round a reality.The showing not only gave him the record but helpedhis team of Duane Zeleniak, Terry Fritz and Gerald Knappenberger win the low net prize as well.More than a month has passed since his record-setting day."It's there as a reminder of what I'm capable of," he said. "A round of 67 or 68 is one thing, but a 63 is on another level and it made me realize what I can do. It also made me appreciate all the hours of practice and all the traveling and all the rounds of golf are worth it."