A grandson and a hole in one

Our 1st grandchild, a boy, Boden Christopher, was born on April 3rd 2103. Mom and Boden were, and still are healthy and happy, for which we are all very grateful.

On April 5th 2013 I played in a match play event against an opponent who i was giving 9 strokes over the 18 hole match. Everyone who has done this knows it is tough to win match play when giving so many strokes! To make the story shorter, the match came to the 18th hole all even. #18 at Silver Creek is a mid length par 5. I birdee'd the hole! Unfortunately my opponent made an eagle and I lost the match.

I was disappointed of course. In the clubhouse afterwards, a friend asked me if I would like to go out and play again. I said ok, and we headed to the 1st tee. #3 is a 169 yrd par 3, and usually plays with a strong right to left crosswind. I selected by 6 iron, being a lefty, decided to play a high fade out to the right, which would allow the ball to avoid green side hazards on the left , and, hopefully, drift back to the middle of the green pin.

I hit the ball crisply. Indeed, the ball started out right of the pin, was high in the air and began to drift back to the pin. We both lost view of the ball, but we both heard the unmistakeable "clank!" of a ball hitting a pin and hitting it hard. I said to Bruce, my playing partner that day, "I think that hit the pin". He agreed, and we thought no more of it. As we approached the green there was no ball short, long, left or right. I thought to myself that either the bounce was a crazy one or the ball is in the hole. And, what do you know, the ball was in the hole! After 40 years, my 1st hole in one! I celebrated by running in circles for about 30 seconds. It was absolutely wonderful! I kept the ball (a titleist pro V1) and wrote on it with a sharpie - " Boden Christopher, never give up" . I also wrote the date of his birthday on the ball. We placed the ball into a nice wood and felt golf ball holder and presented it to our grandson to be his. I have been assigned the job of teaching him to play golf!

The moral of the story ? Who cares about losing a match when hole in one opportunities and a grandson are both present? :-)