MY FIRST HOLE IN ONE
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
front of the flagstick and joked to the other three: “This is the
safest place to stand, when Stub hits.” As soon as I hit the ball, I
knew it was headed right for the hole, so I called out, “Charlie,
move!” Overweight, and with his bad knee making him look like
Chester from Gunsmoke, Charlie began to hobble away from the
hole. Not fast enough. The ball hit the ground, hit Charlie’s leg
on one bounce, and went in the hole, accounting for my first HIO
certificate from the VSGA!
TOM HAYES (Kinloch GC/CC of Virginia)
First ace: Raintree CC (N.C.), No. 10
I was playing in a Fourth of July themed tournament in Charlotte,
N.C. I got to select six holes to play from the blue tees, six
from the whites and six from the reds. I decided to play the par-4
10th hole at Raintree Country Club from the red tees in hopes of
an eagle as it weighed in at 267 yards. I grabbed my driver and
swung out of my shoes pulling my drive slightly to the left side
of the green. A favorable starboard bounce from the left rough
sent it gently rolling onto the front of the green. I lost sight of the
ball as the pin was back and the green sloped away. I looked for
the ball for quite a while before checking the hole. The result—a
hole in one on a par 4 where I was stroking. It felt great writing
down “0” on the card.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
BRADY DIDLAKE (VSGA uClub Richmond)
First ace: Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech, No. 14
On Apr. 9, three of my buddies and I were playing the Pete Dye
River Course on a windy Thursday afternoon. I was having
a horrendous front nine and almost quit after losing at least
$10-20 worth of golf balls. On hole No. 8, I ran across a neon
orange Nitro Ultimate Distance golf ball and decided to pocket
it. After the turn, I started swinging it better. We approached
hole No. 14, a 137-yard par 3 with the New River running down
the left-hand side, my partner and I had brought the match to
within one hole. I chose pitching wedge and decided to use the
found Nitro ball. The ball flight was perfect, a small baby draw
landing on the front right side of the green and rolled out about
10-15 feet until the ball disappeared. Moral of the story: Never
pass up on a free golf ball.
The average player has about a
12,500-to-1
shot of making a hole in one, and even
tour professionals will only make an
ace once for every 2,500 tries.
PAUL ROWAN (Trump National, Washington, D.C.)
First ace: Sands Point GC (Mass.), No. 2
I was 15 years old and a caddie at Sands Point Golf Club. It’s a
classic course designed by A.W. Tillinghast and has a who’s who
list of original members. I was playing with my late younger
brother, which made the shot “extra” special. I said to him that if
I didn’t break 100 I was quitting the game. I made bogey 5 on the
first and then on the second hole, par 3, I hit the ugliest banana
slice with a 5-iron of my life that somehow landed 172 yards on
the right side of the green and bounced left and rolled 50 feet
into the hole. I saw it go in and my brother called me a liar only
to find the ball in the hole. I ended up shooting 87 that day and
have played the game avidly ever since.
SHELLEY SAVAGE (Army Navy CC)
First ace: West Shore G&CC (Mich.), No. 10
137
YARDS
BRADY DIDLAKE
I was 14 years old when I made my first of six holes-in-one.
On July 26, 1968 while playing with my brother Doug and the
Naglick brothers I hit a solid 5-iron to the uphill 140-yard 10th
hole at our home club, West Shore Golf & Country Club in
Grosse Ile, Michigan. Since the hole was uphill and surrounded
by bunkers we couldn’t see the ball go in the hole but found
it in the bottom of the cup upon reaching the green. I don’t
remember much excitement but the club must have thought
it was quite a feat because they contacted the media. The
media being my hometown newspaper, the Trenton Times.
Trenton is 17 miles south of downtown Detroit. That afternoon,
Mr. Joe Soults, a Trenton schoolteacher and part-time
sports reporter arrived at my house to conduct an interview.
Later that summer I hit another 5-iron in the one-shot only
Detroit News Hole-in-One Contest to a respectable 14 feet,
feeling relieved to just hit a solid shot in front of many people.
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