Sad story of my only ace

[HonestPlayer]

When I was in my teens learning golf (badly) I once got paired with 2 other juniors my age. The teacher paired the children off in groups of three. One I knew, the other was a hyper aggressive kid (teen), very large for his age in width and height. Back story - there were rumours of him hitting other kids and being aggressive for no reason, I was a very small kid. He was the type that hated anyone hitting good shots but himself.

 

It was a 9 hole course and the 9th hole was a 167 yard Par 3 hole over water and believe I took a 5 iron. I nailed my shot over the water into the cup. When I got to the green I naturally wondered where the ball was, nothing at all behind the hole (short grass) and nothing in clean water in front of the green. But I hit it pure and it made no sense that the ball could be in the water. Neither player carried, or played, the brand of ball (Titleist) I was playing. It was a brand new (prov1) ball out the packet.

 

As I thought about taking a drop in front of the water the aggressive overweight kid knocks in his putt and finds my ball in the hole. I and the other kid playing with me announced it must be my ball. Kid aggressively asked brand. I of course say Titleist. What Titleist he asks. I say ProV1. Then asks what number and I say I'm not sure, but can check box seeing as it was fresh out the box. Kid marches in saying ace doesn't count and that he is keeping the ball! He then Stormed off the course and out the club in a blink of the eye.

 

Never played with the kid, saw him or spoke to him again. I later remember however that the other junior I played with told others of the ace I made. A few kids congratulating me. However, It's a hollow feeling making an ace, but not picking the ball out of the hole yourself, not seeing the ball or not taking the ball home with you.

 

However, I think counting it as an ace is the only logical thing to do for myself despite not claiming or seeing the ball. He seemed very angry upon hearing my answers of what ball I was playing, the water in front was very clean (one of those par 3’s that has a net to retrieve balls in), short grass behind the hole. The kid putted out from 30 putt with a 2 putt and stood in amazement that another ball was in there, so it was definitely my ball. Just a sorry tale to be honest, and I do wonder if roughly 20 years on if this kid has ever thought about how much of a dick move that was.

 

I always wondered if anyone ever experienced or heard about anything similar to this happening?

 

I tell this story as I almost got an ace yesterday. Ball rolled up the green slowly off a thinned tee shot (short 110 yard p3) into the stick, didn’t drop, went around the lip and ended up inches behind the hole. Shame that one didn’t sink.

 

Please share any interesting tales of the course you have witnessed or heard

 

HonestPlayer

[jut111]

Wahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! signed everyone with no aces.

[DFS PFD]

Wow.

[ClevelandKyle]

Sorry you had to endure this mate. I've witness two aces in my lifetime, both were some of the purest shots I've ever seen. One was at the Cadillac Championship years ago, I went to watch it live with my uncle at the Doral Golf and Country Club before Trump acquired it. The other time was at a local course of mine. I was waiting on the group ahead of my buddy and I at a par 3. The dude in front of us hit a solid shot with a 6 iron and cupped it in a one bounce. The dude nearly lost his mind over it. We all snapped out fingers as a way of elegantly clapping lol. Again, I'm sorry about your experience. Golf is a gentleman's game and that bloke just didn't fit it.

[trilerian]

What a horrible story! The good news is at least you have an ace, but I feel for you that you didn't get to retrieve the ball. I would have lost my head and probably got the crap beat out of me, because he wouldn't have been taking it without a fight.

But remember, if you hit it good, and you can't find your ball around the green, check the hole. You never know...

[Windlaker_1]

I do wonder if roughly 20 years on if this kid has ever thought about how much of a dick move that was.

 

Sounds like maybe it was jut111?

[Ferguson]

Hole in one.

 

The DB kid is probably shucking Korn at the grocery store.

 

 

[HonestPlayer]

> @trilerian said:

> What a horrible story! The good news is at least you have an ace, but I feel for you that you didn't get to retrieve the ball. I would have lost my head and probably got the crap beat out of me, because he wouldn't have been taking it without a fight.

> But remember, if you hit it good, and you can't find your ball around the green, check the hole. You never know...

 

Yep. Ever since it’s what I’ve done so far to no avail! Unfortunately he was a foot taller and twice my weight! But still I am happy to have hit that ace and remember the hole vividly despite not playing the course I got the ace on for over ten years. Thanks for other comments too.

[bulls9999]

Hah, unfortunate story by nice ace. I've never made one, but my son has made at least 3-4. One of his was a funny story. So I'm in another town at a business dinner with a friend. So when my phone rang, it wasn't that impolite that I quickly answered it seeing it was from my 12 year old son. I said "what is it, I'm in a business dinner". He quickly said "I was playing by myself and I got a hole in 1". I think I said something like "fantastic, but I think un-witnessed hole-in-1's don't count, I'll talk to you later, but I gotta go", and hung up and I was feeling bad that I should not have said that and hung up like that but I didn't want to keep my host waiting. So later my son told me, no he was playing alone but caught up to this group of 4 guys on the par-3 tee and they invited him to join them on the par3 and then go on ahead.....so he teed up last (from same tees; yea, he started beating me at around 12 or 13 as he had been playing since ~5 yrs old). He said he got a hole-in-1 with those 4 guys there. So a few days later, an article shows up in the paper, a nice little paragraph detailing the events that lead up to the hole-in-1.... those 4 guys where the owner of the local newspaper, the sports editor of that paper, and 2 other managing editors/writers at the paper..... they got all their own names correct of course.......but evidently to my son's frustration, bungled his name, getting his first name correct but used the last name of another kid at his high school, ugh. Called it in, but the correction was a 2-liner burried in the paper without the story. Oh well.

[Mr. Grumpy]

Great stories... A regular playing partner of mine often goes out for a quick round during the less crowded days, this particular time he was playing alone. This was his story.. He steps up to a par 3, and hits his first in the water,,,, drops another ball on the tee box and leaves it short of the green. In no rush he drops a 3rd ball on the tee box and Wack Bam Boom 2 bounces and into the cup! He drops his club, raises his arms and looks around only to find nobody around at any of the close holes... Hahahaha, he did call me while he was walking to the hole.. It was a good laugh,, his only "AceNonAce" ever....

[HonestPlayer]

> @bulls9999 said:

> Hah, unfortunate story by nice ace. I've never made one, but my son has made at least 3-4. One of his was a funny story. So I'm in another town at a business dinner with a friend. So when my phone rang, it wasn't that impolite that I quickly answered it seeing it was from my 12 year old son. I said "what is it, I'm in a business dinner". He quickly said "I was playing by myself and I got a hole in 1". I think I said something like "fantastic, but I think un-witnessed hole-in-1's don't count, I'll talk to you later, but I gotta go", and hung up and I was feeling bad that I should not have said that and hung up like that but I didn't want to keep my host waiting. So later my son told me, no he was playing alone but caught up to this group of 4 guys on the par-3 tee and they invited him to join them on the par3 and then go on ahead.....so he teed up last (from same tees; yea, he started beating me at around 12 or 13 as he had been playing since ~5 yrs old). He said he got a hole-in-1 with those 4 guys there. So a few days later, an article shows up in the paper, a nice little paragraph detailing the events that lead up to the hole-in-1.... those 4 guys where the owner of the local newspaper, the sports editor of that paper, and 2 other managing editors/writers at the paper..... they got all their own names correct of course.......but evidently to my son's frustration, bungled his name, getting his first name correct but used the last name of another kid at his high school, ugh. Called it in, but the correction was a 2-liner burried in the paper without the story. Oh well.

 

You and him know who it was meant to be at least. In which case I'd be putting a white sticker over the surname and writing the correct name! Good story.

[Dpavs]

Don't feel bad. You are one of a very elite group of golfers who have ever experienced an ace-hole in one!

[cb24]

That’s a messed up story! Congrats on the ace, hat kid sounds like a sad sap, I feel bad for him

[fly47]

How about an ace playing by yourself? No witness.

When asked how many I've made, I tell them 4 1/2. For pride ,self esteem and satisfaction I claim the no witness ace as the 1/2.

[flip flappy]

> @"Mr. Grumpy" said:

> Great stories... A regular playing partner of mine often goes out for a quick round during the less crowded days, this particular time he was playing alone. This was his story.. He steps up to a par 3, and hits his first in the water,,,, drops another ball on the tee box and leaves it short of the green. In no rush he drops a 3rd ball on the tee box and Wack Bam Boom 2 bounces and into the cup! He drops his club, raises his arms and looks around only to find nobody around at any of the close holes... Hahahaha, he did call me while he was walking to the hole.. It was a good laugh,, his only "AceNonAce" ever....

 

I almost did close to the same thing yesterday. I was playing by myself as my regular playing partner is on family vacation. I was first off at 6:45 am and was playing really well for me until i got to the 7th hole which was playing 135 yds. I teed up my ball and promptly shanked it out of bounds! Teed up another one and tried to take a relaxed swing and hit it to one foot! Still would have been cool if it had gone in! Thanks for sharing the story of your friend.

[Mr. Grumpy]

> @"flip flappy" said:

> > @"Mr. Grumpy" said:

> > Great stories... A regular playing partner of mine often goes out for a quick round during the less crowded days, this particular time he was playing alone. This was his story.. He steps up to a par 3, and hits his first in the water,,,, drops another ball on the tee box and leaves it short of the green. In no rush he drops a 3rd ball on the tee box and Wack Bam Boom 2 bounces and into the cup! He drops his club, raises his arms and looks around only to find nobody around at any of the close holes... Hahahaha, he did call me while he was walking to the hole.. It was a good laugh,, his only "AceNonAce" ever....

>

> I almost did close to the same thing yesterday. I was playing by myself as my regular playing partner is on family vacation. I was first off at 6:45 am and was playing really well for me until i got to the 7th hole which was playing 135 yds. I teed up my ball and promptly shanked it out of bounds! Teed up another one and tried to take a relaxed swing and hit it to one foot! Still would have been cool if it had gone in! Thanks for sharing the story of your friend.

 

That would have been epic! I have yet to get inside a foot and I have played this game for over 30 years..

[TexC04]

> @bulls9999 said:

> Hah, unfortunate story by nice ace. I've never made one, but my son has made at least 3-4. One of his was a funny story. So I'm in another town at a business dinner with a friend. So when my phone rang, it wasn't that impolite that I quickly answered it seeing it was from my 12 year old son. I said "what is it, I'm in a business dinner". He quickly said "I was playing by myself and I got a hole in 1". I think I said something like "fantastic, but I think un-witnessed hole-in-1's don't count, I'll talk to you later, but I gotta go", and hung up and I was feeling bad that I should not have said that and hung up like that but I didn't want to keep my host waiting. So later my son told me, no he was playing alone but caught up to this group of 4 guys on the par-3 tee and they invited him to join them on the par3 and then go on ahead.....so he teed up last (from same tees; yea, he started beating me at around 12 or 13 as he had been playing since ~5 yrs old). He said he got a hole-in-1 with those 4 guys there. So a few days later, an article shows up in the paper, a nice little paragraph detailing the events that lead up to the hole-in-1.... those 4 guys where the owner of the local newspaper, the sports editor of that paper, and 2 other managing editors/writers at the paper..... they got all their own names correct of course.......but evidently to my son's frustration, bungled his name, getting his first name correct but used the last name of another kid at his high school, ugh. Called it in, but the correction was a 2-liner burried in the paper without the story. Oh well.

 

Hole in 1’s all count the same whether there is a witness or not

 

 

[Wriggles]

Was playing a course with the missus, never played before. (30 years ago.) On a 150 yard par 3, could not find my ball, you guessed it, in the hole. The missus tells me to report the ace in the clubhouse. I did, and the guy there didn't even answer me, just looked at me, as if I was lying, and turned away from me. Of course, I didn't argue with him, and walked out VERY upset.

Had two others since, playing alone.

Didn't really care about aces after the guy in the clubhouse ignored me completely. I get angry just thinking about the incident, but I probably would have gotten arrested if I had confronted the guy..

Congratulations on your ace.

[BermBuster]

That's too bad about the guy in the clubhouse ignoring you. When I got mine, we reported it to the starter while returning the cart key, then headed to the clubhouse for a beer. About 10 minutes later, they announce my name and accomplishment on the PA, and present me with a neat certificate. Very fun!

[padget]

> @BermBuster said:

> That's too bad about the guy in the clubhouse ignoring you. When I got mine, we reported it to the starter while returning the cart key, then headed to the clubhouse for a beer. About 10 minutes later, they announce my name and accomplishment on the PA, and present me with a neat certificate. Very fun!

 

Maybe they announced it on the PA so everyone could run over to the bar and have a drink on you! Lol, and congrats on the ace.

 

A buddy told me about a poor experience he had when after a round the pro shop didn’t care about an ace a junior in their group hit that day. Seems like a wasted opportunity by the course to build some lifetime goodwill with that group, get some free publicity as our local newspaper will mention it in the sports section if they phone it in, and just do the right thing by showing some love to the customer on their feat. Instead the elders in that group now hate that course and don’t mind telling others about their experience.

[SnapHooker_307]

> @BermBuster said:

> That's too bad about the guy in the clubhouse ignoring you. When I got mine, we reported it to the starter while returning the cart key, then headed to the clubhouse for a beer. About 10 minutes later, they announce my name and accomplishment on the PA, and present me with a neat certificate. Very fun!

 

You should have ran to the hills when they announced your name. Honestly, if I ever play with someone who gets a hole in one (I was 17 or 18 the only time I saw one), I am buying them a beer, not taking one from them. That rule is backwards.

[HonestPlayer]

> @Wriggles said:

> Was playing a course with the missus, never played before. (30 years ago.) On a 150 yard par 3, could not find my ball, you guessed it, in the hole. The missus tells me to report the ace in the clubhouse. I did, and the guy there didn't even answer me, just looked at me, as if I was lying, and turned away from me. Of course, I didn't argue with him, and walked out VERY upset.

> Had two others since, playing alone.

> Didn't really care about aces after the guy in the clubhouse ignored me completely. I get angry just thinking about the incident, but I probably would have gotten arrested if I had confronted the guy..

> Congratulations on your ace.

 

Don't worry about that. Some people are very jealous. Others have had enough bad experiences in life to not care about anything anymore. Good job regardless. You know the truth (and your wife) so the guy in the clubhouse was and is irrelevant. Like my hole in one I guess.

> @padget said:

> > @BermBuster said:

> > That's too bad about the guy in the clubhouse ignoring you. When I got mine, we reported it to the starter while returning the cart key, then headed to the clubhouse for a beer. About 10 minutes later, they announce my name and accomplishment on the PA, and present me with a neat certificate. Very fun!

>

> Maybe they announced it on the PA so everyone could run over to the bar and have a drink on you! Lol, and congrats on the ace.

>

> A buddy told me about a poor experience he had when after a round the pro shop didn’t care about an ace a junior in their group hit that day. Seems like a wasted opportunity by the course to build some lifetime goodwill with that group, get some free publicity as our local newspaper will mention it in the sports section if they phone it in, and just do the right thing by showing some love to the customer on their feat. Instead the elders in that group now hate that course and don’t mind telling others about their experience.

 

The strange part would be not even saying well done. Some people do lie about stuff on the course for free stuff. However, if the course is that worried they should still be happy about aces on their course..be congratulatory and made note of it. Even just a print of certificate from the course for a hole in one, doesn't need to be anything valuable. When I hit the ace in the original post I was quite young, I didn't even think about telling the course about it.

[BermBuster]

> @SnapHooker_605 said:

> > @BermBuster said:

> > That's too bad about the guy in the clubhouse ignoring you. When I got mine, we reported it to the starter while returning the cart key, then headed to the clubhouse for a beer. About 10 minutes later, they announce my name and accomplishment on the PA, and present me with a neat certificate. Very fun!

>

> You should have ran to the hills when they announced your name. Honestly, if I ever play with someone who gets a hole in one (I was 17 or 18 the only time I saw one), I am buying them a beer, not taking one from them. That rule is backwards.

 

I offered drinks, but nearly everyone had bought the "All Inclusive" package. Golf, cart, lunch and two drinks for something like $34. Everyone in the clubhouse had two drinks in front of them already. They now have a Senior package for $24, with a reduced lunch and only one drink.

[Moonlightgrm]

I like to think that people such as that punk, get theirs in the end. It's unfortunate that you cannot be there to witness it! That said, a belated CONGRATULATIONS on your first ace.

[Mcfly]

Is the kid on the left the one you were playing with?