115
YARDS
FAMILY AFFAIRS
ALEX MAHONE (Farmington CC)
First ace: Farmington CC, No. 6
As told by his father, Phil:
When Alex and I started the round on Tuesday, April
28, I almost had a hole in one on No. 2 and Alex and I
discussed what we would do if one of us had a hole in one
under social distancing. We jokingly decided that if one
of us had a hole in one, we would celebrate with a club
high five since we couldn’t hug or do a real high five. Sure
enough, Alex gets a hole in one on No. 6. When he got the
hole in one, we realized that not only was it Alex’s first,
but that my first hole in one was also on No. 6. Also, both
of Alex’s grandfathers (Joe Palumbo and David Mahone)
had a hole in one on 6.
CRAIG OLSON (Greendale GC)
First ace: On a course in Cote d’Ivoire
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
I’ve had three holes in one—each one on a different continent:
in the Ivory Coast, Venezuela, and at Pinecrest GC
in Arlington.
Shortly after my last hole in one, I called my mother, who, at
the time, was 91 years old and living in a nursing home suffering
from severe memory loss. But when I told her about my third
hole in one, she said “Oh my, now you’ve had one more than me.”
It was never clear to me when I called her that she knew with
whom she was talking, but she still had a very clear memory of
her two holes in one—both also with a 9-iron on hole 17 at Eastmoreland
golf course in Portland, Ore.
DAVE INGALLS (Bull Run GC)
First ace: Westpark GC, No. 16
In May 2015, my wife had a scheduled sonogram and I was taking
the day off work to sneak in a round afterward. I’ll give a slight
tip of the scale to my daughter for the great events that coincided.
I headed to the course nervous and excited like any
new soon-to-be parent and promptly tripled the first hole
at Westpark Golf Course in Leesburg. I played well from
there out and, after three straight birdies on the back,
ended up at the par-3 16th playing 200 yards on the
dot that day. I hit my 5-iron and was dumbstruck
when it took one hop, rolled, and disappeared.
I heard my daughter’s heartbeat for the first
time, got my first hole in one, and shot a
67, which is my lowest round to date, all
in one day.
TINA GWILLIAM (Army Navy CC)
First ace: Army Navy CC Arlington
TINA GWILLIAM
I was playing with my husband, Tom and our friends, the Anhuts.
Our last hole was an uphill par 3, 115 yards from the forward tees.
Tom hit a great shot at the flag, then I did the same. As we drove
towards the green, we joked they both could be great shots, or
could be very short—which can easily happen on this hole. Bill
Anhut arrived at the green first and exclaimed “It’s in the hole.”
Well, my ball was in the hole, and Tom’s ball was 5 inches directly
behind the pin! An ace and almost-ace for the Gwilliams was
a memorable day. I got one before my husband, who has been
golfing for 35 years. His license plate is “NOHLN1”.
S EPTEMBER/O CTOBER 2020 | V IRGINIA G OLFER
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