Question of the week [August 3–9]: If you’ve ever landed a legitimate hole-in-one, share your story. Where did it happen, how did you feel, and what was the celebration? If you had more than one, share your favorite.
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Bruce Mahon | Elgin, IL
Oklahoma City CC, Quincy CC, Terrace Hill Golf Course, Elgin CC, Blackstone Golf Club.
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Anthony Austin | Orlando, FL
Arizona Assistant Professionals Championship, 1979, Pinnacle Peak CC, Scottsdale. Opening round, shotgun start, I started on No. 7. Played scrappy in windy conditions, 2 over through No. 13. Two-putt birdie on No. 14. On No. 15, downwind 200-plus yards, the flagstick was in the center of the green offering a clear look. Hit a 5-iron that felt a little thin at contact, but looked good all the way. Fellow players said, “That’s close, Tony.” Then the passenger in the cart ride said, “I don’t see it. Must be in.” It was. Now I’m 1 under on the round with nine to play. Started thinking too much, but ended with a 75, good enough for eighth place on the leaderboard. No celebration. Called my father. On the second day, there was a closest-to-the-pin competition on No. 15. The committee honored my Day 1 success anyway with a $50 check.
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Paul Kimbar | Hubbardston, MA
I have three, but saw only one actually go in. My last one was kind of an embarrassment. I hit a 6-hybrid to a pin 165 yards away. It never got more than 5 feet off the ground. You could not see much of the green from the tee box, but I could see that the ball was headed toward the flag. I remember saying to my playing partners, “Please don't be in the hole,” as we drove up to the green. The course was packed that day for a season-ending tournament. I had company at my house, so I couldn't hang around after. I put $500 on the bar as I walked out. The timing could not have been worse, as I was leaving for a Myrtle Beach golf trip four days later.
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David A. Cremeans | Carmel, IN
I'm a really lucky golfer with 13 holes-in-one. It's really hard to identify the best, but some do stand out. My first was a 165-yard 7-iron, which got me into a hole-in-one contest where I won a pair of FootJoy shoes for coming in second in a shootout. My longest was 215 yards uphill with a 5-wood; we searched for it before a partner found it in the hole — we thought it was long into the heather. One was a wedge from 125 yards to close out an Old Buddy match. There were two on consecutive Saturdays on the same hole. Just great fun and lasting memories.
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Pete Napolitano | Millsboro, DE
No. 8 hole at Baywood Greens in Delaware. 9-iron from 128 yards. It rained most of the afternoon during league competition. With drops of water coming off the brim of my hat, I hit the sweet spot on my 9-iron perfectly. The ball hit the green and took one hop into the cup. My golfing buddies and the ranger witnessed the shot. At the club restaurant, my bar tab was over $150. It was my first hole-in-one after playing the game for 30 years. I was over the moon with excitement.
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Dan Hallenbeck | South Lebanon, OH
Playing in a golf outing at Coyote Creek Golf Club in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1993, my foursome came around the corner to the 155-yard 14th hole, which had lots of signage and several ladies in hula skirts on the tee. The prize: the first hole-in-one receives a trip to Hawaii for eight people. After a brief discussion about who would go if one of us made a hole-in-one, I offered that the maker would have final say. We were playing into the wind and I was last to hit. I hit a 7-iron right at the pin, saw it land and stop what I thought was a couple of inches short of the hole. As I turned to walk back to my cart, bedlam occurred. My ball had been leaning against the pin and had fallen in — and I didn't even get to see it! We went to Hawaii that November and had an excellent time. This was the fourth of my eight career holes-in-one, and by far the most exciting.
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Scott Shreeve | Westminster, CO
Fourth hole at Hyland Hills Golf Course in Westminster, Colorado. I was so excited that I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the round and played horribly, but I didn't notice because I hit a hole-in-one.
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Larry Lahnan | Aurora, OH
I have seen about 50 aces in my life and have made 13 myself, winning a car with one. My first, in the late 1980s, was while visiting my in-laws on a holiday. My brother-in-law wanted to play nine, so we went and brought my kids (ages 6 and 8). My wife and sister-in-law came to watch. I made an ace; my brother-in-law got excited, and my sister-in-law asked, “Isn't that what you're supposed to do?” Three years later, visiting my in-laws for another holiday, my brother-in-law suggested we play golf again. We went to the same course with my kids. As we were driving there, my brother-in-law asked if I remembered last time. We got to the same hole with the same iron in hand. As I stepped up to hit, I was thinking ace, then thought, “Just hit it.” It went in for an ace — kind of like The Twilight Zone. Both aces were on a holiday, playing with my brother-in-law and kids. I haven't gone back to that course since, but I may go back after 40 years to see what happens.
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Mike Whisler | San Diego, CA
I had played golf for 45 years, been as low as a 3 handicap, and won some tournaments, but had no ace. One night I watched "Stroke of Genius," a movie about the life of Bobby Jones. The next day on a par 3, I remembered that Bobby Jones just swung smoothly every time. I tried that single swing thought and — bingo. First ace.
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Jeff Driggs | Dayton, NV
Eagle Ridge No. 16 in Gilroy, California. I mark my ball with a “W” for Walrus, my nickname. I was playing a weekly two-man best-ball match with three friends. It's a two-tiered green, high on the right side, with only the upper half of a right pin visible, partially blocked by a large scrub oak tree. You need to carry a deep crevice with a stream about 15 to 20 feet down right before the front of the green. We all hit nice approaches, assuming all were on the green. As we drove across the bridge, we only saw three balls on the green. Assuming I had rolled off the back into a bunker, I headed back to check. Tom, who appeared closest, marked his ball, then for no apparent reason checked the hole and said, “Wally, come check this out!” I peered into the cup and saw a Titleist Pro V1 No. 3 with a black “W” marked on it looking up at me! We high-fived with a little hooting and hollering. There were a few people in the bar after, so I bought them drinks and enjoyed a very nice lunch on my partners. Great feeling to record a hole-in-one!
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Reid Farrill | Toronto, Ontario
My one and only hole-in-one came at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. There was no time to focus on the hole-in-one as I was in tournament play and that shot leaped me into the lead. As a non-winner in competitive golf, my sole focus was on winning the golf tournament, not the hole-in-one. My memory of that day is more of the tournament victory than anything else. Despite that, RTJ made me a beautiful hole-in-one plaque, and to this day it proudly hangs in my home.
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Thomas Marzolf | Greenville, SC
Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) — "The New Hole," as it is called on the card. This was in 1991 on a golf trip with 55 USA golf course architects during a closest-to-the-hole contest. The 6-iron flew into the cup on the fly on a very windy and cold day. After the round, we all boarded reserved dinner train cars to London. I bought the drinks on the train ride from Liverpool to London after the hole-in-one. What a great way to meet everyone in the ASGCA on my very first meeting becoming a member of this group.
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James Clinton | Houston, TX
I have had three holes-in-one, but the most memorable was my only double eagle. On a 425-yard par 5 at River Ridge near Houston (now closed), I hit a downwind driver to about 170 yards from the green. With a 25 mph wind behind me, I hit an 8-iron that landed 50 yards short of the hole and rolled in. This happened back when these kinds of shots were reported to the Houston Chronicle. The course reported the wrong tee with a yardage of 550 yards, so the published writeup was: "Double eagle, 550-yard par 5, 8-iron." I had just turned into a flat-belly gorilla.
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Robert Weiss | Pauma Valley, CA
I hit a 3-wood on our club’s short par 4. Couldn’t find the ball and thought it might have gone over the green and out of bounds. Then the guy who was playing with me noticed a ball mark on the front right of the green, and when he looked in the hole, there it was. The hole has since been remodeled, but I was the last person to ace it, and one of only four in 100 years. Still have the ball and pin sheet. It was late on a Tuesday, and when we finished, the three of us had a drink. Literally no one else was around the clubhouse, so that left the club’s hole-in-one pot of $750 almost entirely to me.
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Spencer Sappington | Atlanta, GA
I have made four holes-in-one, all of them in Georgia. Two of the four were in tournaments. I started playing golf at 14, but didn’t have my first ace until I was 49.
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Chuck Zirkle | Mount Pleasant, SC
I took up this crazy game in 1984 and have had four aces since then — all at the Charleston Municipal Golf Course in Charleston, South Carolina. Three were on the old course, which was temporarily closed in late 2019, and one was on the newly renovated course that reopened in January 2021 (now ranked No. 19 municipal course in the U.S. by Golf.com). My first was on May 6, 2001, using a 4-iron from our championship blue tees from 181 yards. High cut, two bounces in the hole. What a surprise for me as well as the guys I was playing with. No one took me up on a free drink; it's not really something we believe in. Number two was on May 4, 2012, on No. 11 from the white intermediate tees at 130 yards with a 9-iron — again, two bounces into the hole with an excitable group of non-drinkers. Number three was on December 23, 2015, on hole No. 4 from the gold senior tees at 125 yards with an 8-iron in competition with my weekly Rascals senior group. I won the big hole-in-one pot! Yes, this one did cost me a few Cokes and beers, against my belief — I think the pot I won was $185 at the time. My last and most memorable was on January 25, 2021, on the renovated course. Hole No. 11 again, but a newly Seth Raynor-redesigned Reverse Redan playing into a three-club wind. Hit to the very back of the green and the ball rolled back down slowly into the hole. Playing from the gold senior tees with a hard, high 6-iron at 138 yards. A really solid shot. Fortunately, we were the last group of the day and no one was around. No brews today, except for the two guys doing the payouts, and they passed. I have been chasing Hole 14 ever since, hoping to complete all four par 3s on the course. I guess my first and last were my most exciting, No. 11 my most memorable, and the most rewarding will be No. 14 when that day comes. I've come close!
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Wayne Yeaw | Pleasanton, CA
Playing ready golf with friends at Spring Valley in Milpitas, California. Par 3 on the back nine, about 160 yards. A friend teed up and decided he had the wrong club. As he walked away, I teed up, and on the second bounce it went into the hole.
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Jeffrey Easton | Port Huron, MI
My father and I learned to play golf together when I was 9 years old. My game advanced enough to ultimately play both high school and Division III golf. My wife and our family returned to our hometown of Port Huron, Michigan, after living and studying in Ann Arbor for 13 years. We joined Port Huron Golf Club upon our return and saw that five or six members (all future golf buddies) had personalized license plates that declared "Aced 3" or 4 or 5 or whatever. My loving wife thought it would be a really special Christmas gift to get me a plate that said "Aced 0" after 30-ish years of somewhat serious golf without an ace. Well, two years later I finally made one in the practice round of our spring member-member tournament. Our club had hole-in-one insurance for about $350 to cover the cost of drinks. I remember the club manager coming up (the club was full due to the event) and telling me that I was already well over the $350 limit. I told him to just let it ride, as I might not live long enough to get another! The bill was ultimately around $850. I now have four aces and they have all been with an 8-iron. I've been waiting eight or nine years for No. 5 and always get a little bit charged up when I'm hitting an 8-iron on a par 3.
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Allen Martindale | Hoover, AL
Just an interesting occurrence. My eighth hole-in-one happened on the eighth hole from 158 yards with an 8-iron.
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Mike Shannon | Spokane, WA
I have had five. The most memorable happened last year at Liberty Lake Golf Course in Liberty Lake, Washington. The shot was a 125-yard shot on hole No. 3. What made it memorable was another player got a hole-in-one on No. 11. So while we were buying beer for everyone, an LPGA tournament was on TV. A player got a hole-in-one and won a Porsche. We buy beer; she wins a Porsche. Doesn’t seem fair.
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Rick Kimbrell | Weston Lakes, TX
I have had eight legitimate holes-in-one. My favorite was during a company tournament at Houston's Cypresswood Golf Club (Cypress Course) on hole No. 14. It was closest-to-the-pin for the "D" players. We already had two balls on the green close to the hole, and I was just sitting in the cart. The guys asked me why I wasn't hitting, and I said we already had two close enough for birdie. They kept telling me to hit, so I hit a wedge up behind the hole, and the ball spun back into the cup for my fifth hole-in-one. It was a hoot, to say the least, because I worked with my entire group. We celebrated with a bottle of Glenfiddich the rest of the round and afterwards.
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Stewart G. Abramson | Davenport, FL
My only ace was on the third hole at the Ghost Creek Course at Pumpkin Ridge in Portland, Oregon. A good friend and I flew from New York to Portland that day for our first trip to Bandon Dunes. On the flight, we met a group of eight guys who were also on their way to Bandon. We hit it off with them talking about golf courses and golf trips for much of the flight. We never mentioned our plan to stop at Pumpkin Ridge before driving to Bandon. My friend and I drove straight to Pumpkin Ridge from the airport and were amazed to find the eight guys from the flight checking in for their tee times — which, by coincidence, were the two tee times in front of us. On the third hole, I used an 8-iron from about 135 yards. It landed just a few feet short and left of the flag and rolled right into the hole. As it went in, we heard raucous cheers from the fourth tee, perched above and left of the third green, where our new friends from the flight had been watching us. It was a nice memory to have had that gallery view and cheer my lone ace. After the round while driving to Bandon, I called one of the guys we were meeting that night at Bandon to tell him about the ace and left him a voicemail. I missed his call back, but he left me a message congratulating me on the ace and adding that he had just made a triple bogey at Bandon Trails. I still have that message saved on my phone 15 years later and get a laugh replaying it from time to time.
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Barry Burks | Knoxville, TN
After playing golf for over 54 years, I made my first hole-in-one in November 2024 on the 8th hole at Three Ridges Golf Course in Knoxville, Tennessee. From the elevated tee, we could see the ball land about 2 feet short of the hole, take a short bounce, and roll in. My three friends playing with me were jumping up and down, shouting with excitement, and rushed over to congratulate me. I was more shocked than excited. After many close calls, I had given up hope of ever making an ace.
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Steve Daugherty | Alpharetta, GA
I felt great. It was a par 3 of 151 yards at St. Marlo Country Club in Johns Creek, Georgia, on hole No. 8. My son and nephew were playing with me, and my three brothers-in-law were in the group in front of us. There was a group of four ladies playing behind us who heard us scream and saw us jumping up and down. Two of the ladies drove up, asked about the celebration, got out of their cart, and gave me a hug. It was a great day.
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Don Randall | Scottsdale, AZ
Sixth hole, Marina Vallarta Club de Golf, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We knew it was a good shot as soon as I hit it. It landed a few feet in front of the pin and rolled in. I was playing with a gentleman and his caddie. We high-fived and celebrated as I plucked my ball from the hole. When we got back to our carts, out came the tequila. Turns out this guy owns a tequila factory. We toasted, and then he pulled another bottle out of his bag and gave it to me!
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Robb McCreary | Scottsdale, AZ
I've been fortunate to have two — 30 years apart. The most recent was in March 2023 on No. 13 on the Piipaash Course at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale. Playing with three friends on one of the toughest short par 3 holes in Scottsdale, I was so happy to see my ball was going to land and stay on the green that I bent over to retrieve my tee — and was the only one in our group not to see the ball go in. I never saw the first one in 1993 go in either.
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Richard Whitaker | Anthem, AZ
I've scored two legitimate holes-in-one, neither of which I could see as the ball rolled into the hole because on each, the green was higher than the tee. The second was my favorite. It happened in August eight years ago at the country club to which my wife and I belonged. We were playing in a couples' Friday afternoon outing with a shotgun start. We finished our round on the 170-yard par-3 13th hole. On the tee, I said to my wife, “If I par this hole, I'll finish with an 84,” and I felt good about that because I had parred each of the last three holes. I hit a 5-hybrid off the tee. The shot felt good. I watched it arc up and land in the middle of the green, but nothing more than that because the hole plays about 25 feet uphill. The pin was cut that day near the back of the green, and from the tee, we could only see the top half of the flagstick. My wife hit her tee shot a little short, played up, and was on in two. She walked up asking, “Where's your ball?” I had already looked in the back bunker and in the rough behind the green, but found nothing. I said, “I don't know,” adding, “I'm afraid to look...” My wife asked, “What do you mean?” I had left off the words “in the hole.” And that's where I found my Titleist 3. My wife asked, “Well, now what do we do?” It was 4:50 on Friday afternoon. The club's unwritten rule requires a hole-in-one maker to buy drinks for the whole barroom. Friday happy hour usually means about 100 thirsty retirees at the bar and maybe a $700-plus bar bill. All this flashed through my mind. I answered, “Don't tell anyone.”
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Charles Mick | Horseshoe Bay, TX
July 7, 2021, at Star Ranch Golf Club, hole No. 7. Bunker on the right, water on the left. The shot felt good and was dead at the stick. It hit about 10 feet short of the pin and kept rolling all the way in. Felt surreal.
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Chuck Wallace | Scituate, MA
I had a hole-in-one in 2006 on the eighth hole at my home club. As luck would have it, our clubhouse had been razed and a new one was being constructed. Therefore, no bar bill! Instead, I went to a local liquor store and ordered two cases of nips. I gave them out in the parking lot over the next few days. For years after, I’d occasionally hear someone rummaging in their trunk across the parking lot call out, “Hey, look what I found — a nip from your hole-in-one!”
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Keith Smith | Bountiful, UT
It happened on the Mad Russian Golf Course in Colorado on August 11, 2004. An 180-yard par 3 on hole No. 3. My friend had a small tournament there that day. It was his birthday, and he had us play a hole for every year of his age — 56 — so we played 56 holes that day. My hole-in-one was on the third hole of the day. I didn't care what happened for the balance of the day! The ball I played was a Titleist No. 7 that I had found that summer. I usually only used it for putting, but that day I pulled it out of my pocket by accident and it found the bottom of the cup! My friend's daughter was walking with us and captured me pulling the ball out of the hole, then took a picture of our foursome. I was 62 at the time. The golf course gave me a hat and wrote on it what I had done. Everyone in our tournament was so excited and kept congratulating me. I've had several within a foot, and one was hanging over the lip but didn't fall — so just a birdie.
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Rick Eaton | Atlanta, GA
On May 23, 2005, I made a hole-in-one on No. 11 at The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. On that day, I was fortunate to be playing with the late Jim Farmer, who was the Honorary Professional at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, his son Jamie, and my college basketball coach, Dr. Jim Logue, a great player in his own right and my dear friend. The pin was behind the Strath Bunker and I hit a 6-iron from 174 yards. I couldn't see it go in, but it was in the hole. I was in shock and had tears running down my face. After the round, Mr. Farmer, who was a gem to play with, brought me to the New Club and wouldn't let me buy drinks, but kept buying drinks for me. Needless to say, the thrill of a lifetime.
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Marshall Zimmerman | Wake Forest, NC
I had my first two holes-in-one in the same round on June 22, 2013. It was an American Cancer Society charity outing at the Airport Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio. We started on hole No. 4, and I hit a 5-iron on No. 8 that one guy said went in, but the rest of us thought was still on the green. Turns out he was right! I was over the moon and texted the whole family, including my stepdaughter who had just given me the shirt I was wearing for the first time that day. We bought a bunch of beers at the turn and began to celebrate. Shortly thereafter, I heard a strange voice in my head telling me I was going to get another one. I didn’t say anything to any of the other guys in my group, but on No. 17, I hit a wedge and as it left the club I yelled, “It’s in the hole!” It bounced twice and, sure enough, went in! We all literally fell to the ground in amazement. It was the first time this had happened in Ohio. To add to the craziness, my father had died of lung cancer seven years to the day prior, and my aunt had just been diagnosed with cancer the week before. The local radio station, TV station, and newspaper all did feature stories about it. I felt humbled that perhaps God was using this as a way to encourage people fighting cancer that if I could beat the odds (65 million to 1), they could too.
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Robert Floresca | Wilmington, NC
I have been fortunate to have three holes-in-one. The first was in New Hampshire on a 145-yard par 3 with a 7-iron. I didn’t get that excited because some of the holes had 10-inch cups and I thought this was one of them, but when I got down to the hole, it was a regulation cup — then I smiled! The second was at Beau Rivage in Wilmington, North Carolina, on an elevated green from 155 yards with a 6-iron. When we got up there, I thought I might have hit it long. I was looking in the back of the green when my partner said, “Why don’t you look in the cup?” And there it was! My third hole-in-one was at Masonboro Country Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, from 175 yards with a 4-hybrid. I was paired up with two gentlemen, but unfortunately they had to leave by the 17th hole, so I didn’t get to buy them drinks. I’ve been blessed.
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Jim Morgan | Kokomo, IN
I am 77 and have only one hole-in-one. It happened on No. 15 at Green Acres Golf Course in Kokomo, Indiana. I will never forget it. I was playing with my father-in-law, who had called in sick to play. He said he couldn't verify it for that reason, so it was never put in the paper. He and I are the only ones who know.
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Richard Garrison | Port St. Lucie, FL
I had played golf for 30-plus years and had never made a hole-in-one, though I was close a number of times. I left ball marks on the edge of the hole twice. Once while playing at Citrus Hills in Florida, the ball went in the hole, hit the edge of the cup, and bounced off the flag into a pond in front of the green — I made a 6. I left one hanging over the lip to win a $50,000 tractor in a tournament in Charlottesville, Virginia; the spotter had to ride to the green because he thought it went in. My fiancée and I played the RTJ Golf Trail in Alabama a few years ago. We spent several days in Auburn/Opelika and played the courses at Grand National. The first day we played the Lakes Course. On hole No. 8, I hit an 8-iron to a front flag behind the bunker. I could not see the base of the flag. My fiancée was on the ladies' tee above and saw it go in — she went crazy. The people on the next tee were yelling that it went in. To me, it was just another shot I have hit a million times, for sure more bad than good. I did not get excited, no real celebration, though I did get a plaque. Since that time, I have made two more aces at my home club in Florida within the last year, both on the same hole with the same club and the pin in about the same place. Just two more golf shots. If I had won the tractor, I would have been excited and celebrated that one!
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Bob Gillespie | Toronto, Ontario
I’m 83 now with three holes-in-one. I started golfing when I was 10 years old and didn’t get my first until 51 years later, in October 2004, at my home club, Scarboro Golf & Country Club. It was a cold fall day with not many people around. The amazing part was that I was playing with my son and son-in-law, who witnessed the not-well-thinly-struck shot on our postage-stamp 110-yard 11th hole. It hit the false front, took a huge bounce, and eventually rolled into the cup. My son Neil said he had never seen me that excited. I thought it would never happen.
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Andrew Turnbull | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
It was my brother’s, not mine, but I like the story, so I’ll tell it. He, my dad, and I had been to Scotland twice and Ireland once on golf trips, but I’m far more compulsive about the game than my brother is. It’s Fourth of July weekend, and the family is visiting my brother, his wife, and their family. We have a tee time at his club, Morris County Golf Club in New Jersey, on the Fourth — a Saturday. It's my bro, my dad, one of my brother’s friends who was on one of the Scotland trips, and me. We get to the fourth hole (if I recall correctly), a medium par 3 with a back shelf. My brother hits his shot; it looks ordinarily nice and should end up on the green. Well, it lands on the back shelf, and in full view of all of us, it starts rolling back toward the lower tier, where the hole is cut that day — and drops in the hole! The first one in our family to get one, and I truly was happy, not envious at all. 20-plus years later, I still don’t have one! Word quickly gets back to the clubhouse and pool that someone — unnamed — just made a hole-in-one! My sister-in-law and her friends are chatting about it, and she learns from the conversation that the lucky golfer has to buy drinks for everyone. It just so happens to be on the busiest day of the year at the club — it’s packed with people! My sister-in-law remarks, “Oh, that’s awful. I wonder who’s gonna be stuck with that bar bill?” — completely unaware that it will be her and my brother! She was mortified when they notified her: “Your husband is the one who got the hole-in-one.” (Happy ending: the club’s dues include hole-in-one insurance.)
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Denny Poer | Castle Rock, CO
July 10, 2021, was the date of my only hole-in-one (my wife has had three). It was on hole No. 7 over a small pond at Bear Dance Golf Club in Larkspur, Colorado. My response was, “I thought that ship had sailed,” as I was 81 at the time. My wife, brother-in-law, and a fourth player added to our threesome witnessed it.
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Steve Moore | Birmingham, AL
Steele Canyon in San Diego in the fall of 2003. The day before, we had also played there in a convention tournament, and this 215-yard par 3 offered a $25,000 cash prize for an ace. We played hooky and returned to the course the next day. It was a bit of a blind shot with a 5-wood, and when we got to the green, due to the leaves all over, we couldn’t find the ball. Sure enough, one of the guys found it in the hole, didn't touch it, and called us all over to see it. It was a Titleist Professional ball that I handed over to the pro shop when I purchased their $160 commemorative shadowbox. I also had to buy dinner that evening, so not only did I miss out on $25,000, but I was now down about $1,200. The guys also told on me, and the trade publication busted me for getting a hole-in-one while playing hooky! When the box arrived a few weeks later, the ball had been replaced by a Top-Flite. I called the shipper, who emailed me a photo of what they received from Steele Canyon. I called Steele Canyon, and the staffer offered to send a dozen Professionals. I explained that I wanted THE ball and asked that he please look for it. His response was: “What's the big deal?” You can’t make this up, and it's a more memorable story than the lucky blind shot.
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The First Call invites reader comment. Write to editor Stuart Hall at shall@buffalogroupe.com. If your comment is selected for publication, we will not publish your email address. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and brevity.
Front: Ruairi Kennelly celebrates a hole-in-one during the second round of the East of Ireland Men's Amateur Open Championship at County Louth Golf Club in Baltray, County Louth, Ireland in 2023.
Photo: Thos Caffrey / Golffile