This past June, I witnessed one of the most unbelievable golf events of my life.

Starting with a Friday afternoon round at Wild Rock, a member of my friend Nick’s bachelor party, also named Nick, started things off with a hole-in-one on the ninth hole. On the practice range, Nick talked about how this was the first time he’d swung a club in over two years. As the ball bounced off the fringe and rolled in to the cup, word started getting around the course. He was in the group ahead of me, so I didn’t actually witness it, but looked forward to a round of drinks at the clubhouse bar afterwards. He left before buying that round, though.

Two days later, I visited North Hills on a Sunday afternoon to hit some balls. I ran in to one my partners for this year’s pro/member tournament, Dave, who was still playing the front nine after acing the second hole.

Then, the following night, I got out with my friends Kyle and Paul for nine holes, and on the same uphill par three second hole, Kyle put one in with a seven-iron.

Kyle’s was the first hole-in-one I’d ever actually seen in the thousands of rounds of golf I’ve played in my life, but these four days in June were beginning to make it seem like getting a hole-in-one was becoming… Easy!?

It was the first ace of Kyle’s life, who is an eight-handicap and very good overall player. When we saw another club member on the course and told him about it, we were told the hole-in-one might not count unless the full 18-hole round was completed. It was almost 7:00 by the time we finished the front, so we grabbed a cart and I drove Kyle from spot to spot as he finished the back nine in about 40 minutes at dusk. I believe he finished with a solid 81 on the round.

I had just gotten my first golf lesson a few days prior, and played one of the worst nine holes of my life. When he frames the scorecard, people will think I am a horrible golfer… Oh well 🙂

Kyle’s dad had bottles of champagne waiting in the clubhouse, and I’m told it turned in to a great party.

They say one out of every 40,000 golfers will get a hole-in-one at some point in their lifetime, and I was there for three in four days! There have been none since then. I knew it was the rule of threes, and have reserved my hope for getting in on the action again for the time being.

Another friend of mine at the Club, Scott, has had three, all at North Hills.

I am still hoping for my first. My two closest calls have both been on the same hole, within a few weeks of each other. These were on the opening hole at Fairways of Woodside: A 295-yard straightaway par four. Both were tap-in eagles within a few inches – the second was within an inch or two behind the pin.

The other most incredible golf shot I have ever witnessed was on the fifteenth at Fairways of Woodside about five years ago. My good friend, Andy Kraus, had bombed his tee shot to the middle of the fairway on this double-dogleg par five, and elected to try hitting a high draw with a five-wood over the trees. It looked perfectly hit, but we had no idea where it was going since the tall tree line blocked the green and any view of the ball’s descent. We searched for it tirelessly, finally finding his ball in the cup for a double-eagle two. I am still not totally convinced that someone didn’t place it in the hole, but what are the odds of a double-eagle!?

Our Vice President of National Accounts at Direct Supply, Mark, shared this video with me at lunch this past week: At a charity golf event in New Mexico with a client of ours’, his friend and client aced this for one million dollars! Mark is in the video hugging his friend afterwards.

It’s not a lump sum payment of a million dollars, he told me, but is paid out as a 40-year annuity for something like $12,000 per year. I certainly would not mind an extra $12,000 a year, that’s for sure… Best day ever is right!