A First!

[maverick]

After playing golf for 60 years I finally got a hole in one. I had no witnesses but that's OK. I know and that is what counts. I had given up on getting one. With over 600 scores in my current Sky Caddie account one would think I would have one by now. That's just the scores I have since buying that Sky Caddie. LOL I have lipped out and hit the pin so many times I just figured I would never get one. I guess the moral of this story is never give up.

Approx 130 yds, par 3 large green, traps along the right side.

[raggal62]

Congrats! Better late than never.

[justasgood]

Way to go!!!! A raise a glass of Tito’s in celebration of your wonderful feat!!!!!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Well done.

For what it's worth, I've never had one. I have witnessed a guy get one on a short par 4, which was pretty cool.

 

[NCLancer]

As Verne once said: "Yes Sir!"

[jkinger89]

Congrats! Here's to many more!

[maverick]

Thanks all for the kind words! It still has not really sunk in totally yet. If I had been with a group it would have been much more fun but it's OK. They are mostly luck but many have a lot of skill too. I did actually see one go in for someone years ago.

Not my normal club for that hole, not my normal ball, a Callaway Truvis.

[disco111]

Leave a message on the Callaway web site that you got a hole in one using their ball. They may just send you a little something. I've had 2, one with a Titleist and they sent me a nice hole in one bag tag and one with a top flight and they sent a nice plaque.

[tkwilliamson22]

Congrats! So awesome

[BIG STU]

Congrats--- This may sound funny but you can certainly relate--- I have been playing on and off over 50 years and have never had one on a regulation course---- The old par 3 course at the place the old man ran ( longest hole 110 yards) I had over the course of 13 years 198 no joke. But remember I played that thing from when I was 5 years old until I left there the first time at 18 years old. In the summer time there was no telling how many rounds or partial rounds I played there over the years. I can remember a couple of worm burners I made with a 5 iron when I was a kid kid. The one that sticks out the most was maybe the 3 rd one I made. The 5th hole of that course ran up by the 5th hole on the regulation course. There was a crowd of the old man and his cronies gamblers on that hole. They were BSing and watching me. I hit a worm burner 5 iron on that hole ( 65 yards) and I heard them cheering and my old man hollering " get into the hole for that boy" and it did! The whole bunch was cheering and clapping. So I guess that may have been my moment in the sun. Years later when I heard the place was closing I played there for a week straight trying to get the last 2 sorta like Richard Petty's record of 200 NASCAR wins. Never did get the last 2. I do remember when I made that one I described my old man asked me how many I had. He told me to keep up with every one I made. Every time I made one from then on I filled out a score card and put what number it was. Kept them in a shoe box which I still have somewhere in all my stuff. Footnote what is funny looking through that thing is how my penmanship evolved over the years. The little par 3 up the street from me I have had 5 in fact 2 in the same night. The same people own one on the North end and in a money shootout one night I had 2 in the same 9 holes on holes 4 and 6. LOL my partner and I that night took Dustin Johnson's money among-st others that night. That shootout was every Wednesday night and all the hotshot CCU golf team and high school players came up to play. Those games were a heck of a game we had everything from the hotshot college players to mini tour players and club pros in that thing. Usually $25 to $50 a man in the pot winning team take all no seconds plus side bets no handicaps no BS winner take all. That course is lighted and if we finished in time sometimes we would play a 9 hole match too. Yep on the old man's Par 3 I made aces with everything from a 5 iron to a 60*. Made a HIO one time in a one club match with a Calamity Jane style putter. I think the funniest one that stood out was we were gambling high and I had hit gimmie birdies on the first 3 holes with a 56* wedge and the press was on. It was 2 down automatic so I was +3 +1--- 4th hole I flat out skulled belly bottomed that 56 but it ran up and went into the hole for an ace. The guy I was playing paid off right then and there and went to the club house. My old man heard about that and quipped " I would not take credit for that one if I were you" I told him hey they ain't no pictures on a score card. I credit that course with developing my wedge and around the green game. The 7th hole was right beside the house and I kept an old wedge and a bag of balls behind a tree and hit there all the time especially on weekends when the regular course was crowded. And a lot of times I played 3 4 6 and 7 when i was supposed to be working because they could not be seen from the clubhouse. Lot of good memories this rainy cold morning

[HitaHouse]

Congrats, now there will be many more to follow. I have never had one either. I had one at the driving range, they had little target greens and real cups and pins. When it went in, I kinda looked around like - hey, anybody see that??

[cardoustie]

Way to go Mav .. took me 30+ years to get mine ... I can relate to the sense of relief

[Rambler1277]

Well done, what club did you use? I've personally heard more stories of people making aces with woods and rolling it in than nailing short irons.

[Chip Duffer]

Congrats Maverick! It’s the shot you’ll always remember, distance, club, ball etc. What a beautiful game it is.

[cardoustie]

Oh and I am sorry about Goose

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

He shouldn't blame himself for that. As soon as Goose's wife turned up with the wee kid, Goose was toast.

[maverick]

It's not a long par 3 but you have to have to get over a stream bed and a cart path. I normally hit an 8 iron since I have lost a lot of SS at 72. But this time I decided to use a fairly new hybrid and just swing real easy. It went nice and high right at the pin, landed just to the side and rolled some. On the tee I could not see it went in the hole.

At my age and at 60 years of playing this crazy game it makes me feel like I did want most do and it's a satisfying feeling. As I said if I was with a nice group it would have ben a really huge celebration and probably cost me a fortune but who cares when it's a hole in one?

[Kirasdad]

Congratulations that's really great. I had one in a tournament at my home course when I was in college and home for the summer in 1978. I was twenty. Then seven years later another ace when I was living in NYC. This was at Bethpage Black now in the US Open rotation but even harder then for almost everyone was still using persimmon. I hit a Titleist Black with a Ping Eye two five iron 180 on the fly, one bounce in the jar. Nothing cheap about it and even cooler was the fact that the group ahead of us had waved us up so I had a gallery. They got almost as big a kick out of it as I did.

So now I'm 63 and haven't had one since.

Its a thrilling experience no matter the circumstsnces.

[Kirasdad]

I've been thinking about this, I think I know exactly what the cause of my hole in one drought of THIRTY FOUR years! And the reason is...

My clubs are too new. I need to go back to the late 70s, early 80s. That would certainly do the trick. Even though that Ping zz lite shaft (that I used to handle comfortably) now feels like rebar. Maybe I could skull one in the hole.

[Kirasdad]

[nitram]

A sincere congrats Maverick!

Better late than never, right? I've got 40 years and over 5,000 rounds in this crazy game and have yet to get an ace. I have 4 Albatross and have come as close as a friggin dimple, three different times, but no ace.

[Les Strokes]

I had one, almost. Hit a gap wedge to a 130 yard pin, towering trajectory, it went straight in, hit the bottom of the pin and ricocheted straight out and 50 feet away. Golf can be cruel

[maverick]

Such great replies and I can relate to all! Once my ball damaged the side of the cup on the fly but didn't go in. Also, I never have had an Albatross but that's OK now.

I used to live in St. George where I had a regular golf partner for about two decades. We played at least 5 days per week. He got one after I left that area he was then in his 70s then.

I think it is more of a feeling of satisfaction that it's finally done but for me very hard to put into words. Maybe others can shed some light on that. One thing I believe most don't think about is that when you get one it's a surprise unlike a really long putt you read, think to yourself, "I can make this" and then do it as you pictured.

 

[Les Strokes]

I have seen two, both were really bad shots but went in. On a 130 yard par 3 this hacker who joined my threesome hit it so fat he dug a trench behind the ball, but it bounced up to the green, hit the pin and dropped. The other time, it was a howling crosswind 20-25 mph I'm guessing; short par 3, guy hits a wild slice/shank , wind catches the ball and puts it back on course. It drops in. Drinks afterward still went down well though.

[NRJyzr]

Hearty congrats, @maverick!!!
I like to think I can understand what you mean about the aftermath. I got my own ace this past season (May 17). I'd never really come all that close previously, I think 2 feet is the closest I'd gotten on a 120 yd hole. My wife had been far closer, having a ball finish above the hole, hanging over the lip of the hole; talk about cruel.
To me, even 7+ months later, it's kind of a surreal experience. The sort of thing you might expect from a David Lynch movie, perhaps. "Did it really happen?" That sort of feeling. It's the best way I've come up with to describe it. Even from the point where I saw the ball in the hole (mine was on a 206 yd par 3, I saw the ball hit the green, but then lost sight of it as it released)... I think that's when the director called "Action." LOL
Side note: you can say some stupid things when you realize you've made an ace. I'm not particularly proud of what came out of my mouth. 

[donaldp83]

Congratulations, Maverick! Your appreciation that has followed makes your story that much better- Well done on both parts ?.