As you might have guessed, this was not my first HIO, but it had been a long time coming. I have been participating in an annual three-day golf outing with a group of guys from work for the last 15 years at the Lake Morey Resort in Vermont and this year was their 24th outing. Over those 24 years (and countless rounds), no one had managed to ace any of the five par 3s on the course... until Sunday Aug 29, 2021.

The 7th hole at Lake Morey is a 114 yard shot over water from an elevated tee box to a postage stamp of a green. The elevation drop is the real challenge here because it plays more like a 75 yard shot where you can't be short (water), long or right (bunkers).

I teed my Tour Soft up high and took a half swing with my pitching wedge. The ball came off the club face clean and solid with a nice high trajectory right on the stick. It landed five feet short of the flag and bounced right into the hole. I let out a loud "WOOOO" and my buddies Marshall, Jon and Ed all shouted "YEAH". I think we may have temporarily disrupted play around us but... oh well!!!

For the remainder of the Sun-Tue outing, my name became Ace. Of course, I bought a round for the guys at dinner on Sunday evening and they presented me with a nice golf shirt with the resort logo embroidered on the pocket. I finished second overall for the outing but will always hold the honor of having the first hole in one in our annual tournament.