Hole in One – September 15, 2009
Hockley Valley Resort – Par 3, 17th hole – 138 yards – 8 iron
As the coach of our high school golf team, on September 15, 2009, our team went for a sanctioned preliminary round at Hockley Valley Resort prior to our regional championships. It was a nice weather day with some light wind. I was playing the worst round I've played in years, shooting an honest 59 on the front nine mainly because of the horrendously slow pace of play. I started the back nine with a birdie on the par 3, 10th hole and the game progressively improved. On the scenic 17th hole which also happens to be my favourite hole at this wonderful course, my student and our best player pulled out an 8-iron and hit it dead centre to the pin but long and it stopped on the fringe. Since I know I hit my irons about ten yards less than him, I took the same club and struck the ball perfectly. As the ball was launched high in the air, my student cited that I "attacked the pin" and while we watched the ball begin to descend, I told him that I thought it was going long like his ball did. Well it was long, landing about six feet past the hole and then miraculously it spun backwards toward the hole until the ball disappeared into the cup. I was in shock and my student went absolutely ballistic. We were laughing our heads off and in the laughing frenzy I managed to lose my 8-iron in the bushes in front of the tee box. All this time, a female student golfer stood on the forward tees about 30 yards in front of us and 30 feet below us, as this hole is on a multi-elevated tee box. She had no idea why we were laughing and cheering so much because she was not paying attention to the shot. When we told her what happened, she didn't believe us until we got to the hole and I removed the ball from the cup. I ended up shooting 45 on the back nine and finished with a total score of 104. For such a horrible round, it was the best golf moment of my life and one that I certainly do not think will be duplicated. The club was retired and the ball and the score card were framed and my wife could care less!!! LOL!!!