This blog hits a hole-in-one

Posted on June 08, 2005 at 05:25 PM

Posted as a collaboration of the Day Late and a Dollar Short and Broken Scanner departments here at JoeSchmidt.com

Some of you may have heard about this already. I wanted to post about this feat the day after it happened but two events prevented it from happening. The clip of my hole-in-one didn't appear in the newspaper until two days after the fact (Saturday). Once I had the newspaper clip I wanted to scan it in, however my scanner had other plans. So here we are about 6 days after the fact. Better late than never I guess.

Last Thursday (June 2nd) I was playing in our weekly golf league held at the Johnny Goodman Golf Course here in Omaha. I approached the par 3, 145 yard, seventh hole having played pretty well up until that point. Yet a hole-in-one was the furthest thing from my mind at that moment. I am the type of golfer who is delighted to fix a ball mark on the green, which for you non-golfers out there means that the ball must have been hit from pretty far a way in order to make a "dent" in the green.

The tees were playing a little up so I decided to hit a pitching wedge. I struck the ball solidly and it turned out to be a good looking shot as it tracked towards the pin. At this point I am thinking about how I usually average about a 5 on this hole due to the undulating green and the water that lay in front of the hole (On in two and three putts is the norm for me) but this time was different. My shot landed in the middle of the green, and started rolling towards the pin, which was tucked back a little behind the sloping front edge of the green.

It was a little hard to tell from the tee whether the ball went in or not, I figured it either dropped or trickled on past. But judging from the reaction of the guys on the tee next to the green I could safely assume it went in. I was just happy I didn't have to look at a birdie-putt-turned-bogey-three-putt scenario.

Here's a clip from the local newspaper:

The ball was a Titleist, just not a PRO V1. Because at the rate that I lose golf balls it would be akin to throwing money out the window. See below:

Some Interesting facts about this round:

• If you look at my scorecard, you'll notice that I shot a 43, which is the lowest 9 hole round this year for this blog. My score was comprised of an eagle, 4 pars, a bogey, a double bogey and 2 triple bogeys.


• On the par five, 2nd hole, I was on the green in three shots and putted for a birdie. I ended up four putting for a seven.


• Not a single shot from this entire round was struck while the ball was resting in the fairway.


• Total putts for the round: 17


• Total amount of beer purchased by me after the round: $40.

A common question I received was this my first hole in one? No. This would be my second in about 14 years. I went into the JoeSchmidt.com media archive and pulled this newspaper clipping from Saturday April 13th, 1991:

For the year to date, I have as many birdies as I do hole-in-ones. Not many people can make that statement.

Other Hole in One Trivia

Most Holes In One

Norman Manley - 59 "Aces"
His first ace was in 1964. In 1979 he hit 4 holes-in-one.

Longest Hole-In-One

Michael J. Crean of Denver, CO- 517 yard par 5 9th hole at the Green Valley Ranch Golf Club on July 4, 2002.

Former Longest Hole-In-One

Robert Mitera - 447 yard 10th hole at Miracle Hill Golf Course on October 7, 1965 in Omaha, NE.

Oldest Player

Harold Stilson, 101 years old, from Boca Raton Florida, is the oldest golfer to have ever hit a hole in one. He used a 4 Iron on the 108 yard, 16th at Deerfield CC on May 16th 2001. He died on Feb. 2nd, 2002.

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