Golf Canada Hole-In-One Report – September 8, 2023

I was playing with my friend and Blake Wilson. The yardage was 135-140 and I hit a pitching wedge.

After a few rounds in the past 30 years, this is my first summer to have a club membership and learn how to golf. I had one golf lesson with a pro in the spring and then set out to practice and play. On Saturday, August 26, Martha and I had a follow up lesson playing the course with pro Mitch Bach and Josh (who signed up to complete our foursome). Hole #8 is about 100 yards over water, so I used my 9 iron. We all watched the ball lob up, bounce once and then disappear. It was all over in a few seconds, but I had excellent witnesses.

I was playing Kananaskis Mt.Kidd course and got the hole-in-one on hole #16. The hole is 160 yards, and I used an 8 iron from the elevated tee. I was playing the round with my wife, Lisa Robert, and also Gary Tomchuk and Elaan Zaleschuk. As the Kananaskis folks mentioned in their post, it was my first one after playing golf avidly for decades.

Hole #8 had a forward flag with a pond in front and bunker behind the flag. It was 65 yards to the pin, and I used my sand wedge. The ball landed two feet from the hole and rolled right in! It was witnessed by my husband Bryan Austin who has two aces of his own and playing partners Bruce Devenz and Paul Cooke. It was so exciting!

I hit an 8 iron over a ravine and the distance was 105 yards. We saw the ball hit the green, roll left into the hole. Playing partners were Darrell Ibach, Georgina Moxam and Harry Ferguson. Fun day.

I was playing with Harry Fleming, Richard Lister and Lucas Jensen. We are all members of Mactaquac. I have been playing with Harry and Richard for about seven years whereas Lucas is a new member this year, although I have played hockey with him for a few years, it is getting harder to keep up with those young guys.

It was hole #4, my yardage had it at 161, so I used my 8 iron. I hit it about three quarters up the green and it rolled uphill with a slight bend to the left and then disappeared. What a feeling!

The hole was playing 165 yards so I hit a 7 iron and turned to Brad, one of my playing partners, and said this looks good. It bounced once then rolled left into the hole like a putt.

Wednesday, August 30^th was the semifinals for Royal Mayfair’s Men’s League. The two teams with the lowest net scores of the two best rounds would move onto the finals.  “Drive Home” is the name of our team, and we were pitted against “Team X Stiff”. The foursome consisted of two players from each team. 

My round progressed as usual – some good holes followed by some bad holes which was the case for all the players in the group. By the 13^th hole my teammate was called away for a family issue. I was representing the team and flying solo. I was hoping for something good to help me finish the round with a reasonable score. We arrived at the 16th hole par 3, 147 yards. My routine was the same as any par 3. I measured the distance and then chose my club. In this case it was my 8 iron. I rehearsed my swing a couple of times and being an average golfer, I hoped for the best. The moment I struck the ball, I knew it going to be good. You just get that feeling when you hit it pure. In my world “good” means close to the hole. Then my playing partners, Ted Yoo and Barry McNabb yelled, “I think it’s going in the hole.” I looked up just in time to see the ball land close to the hole and slowly roll into the hole. Just at that moment, I turned the clock back in time, yelled and ran around the tee box like an excited little boy.

The excitement of the hole-in-one was magnified with my score of net -3, pushing us into the finals. Receiving $950 for the hole-in-one pot for the Men’s League put an exclamation mark to the day. This is my third one (all at Royal Mayfair but the other two were on a different par 3), and every one of them has a special story behind it which makes the achievement even more special.

I’m very fortunate to belong to the Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton. At the end of the season, the club hosts a dinner for all the hole-in-one golfers. We all get a chance to tell our stories with family and friends. The gathering is priceless, and we all go away hoping for that next “hole-in-one”.

It was hole #8 at Colonial Golf Club. We teed off just after 2pm so I would guess it was around 4pm when it happened. I booked alone and got paired with three great guys. Two of them (Jeff and Mike) are members at Colonial and provided some tips along the way for me since I had only played the course once before.

When we got to the #8 tee box, we all immediately complained about the pin placement. It was a front pin tucked behind a bunker, short of the bunker was water. We were not pleased that the greens keeper that morning decided to place the pin so close to that pesky bunker.

I ranged the pin at 158 yards, there was a little wind right to left but nothing a nine handicap like me should really worry about factoring in. Coming off a bogey on the previous hole, I was focused on just keeping the ball in play and aiming for the centre of the green. Normally, I would hit a 9 iron to that distance, but I opted for an 8 iron. The idea was to try and hit a three quarter swing with my 8 iron with a bit of a draw, keeping the ball away from the water as much as possible.

I teed off first and as soon as it left my club face, I knew it could be good. I hit it pure, and thanks to the tee I also hit it high. The ball flew up towards the right edge of the bunker and as it began to reach its zenith it started to draw. It turned in the air just enough to land dead on line with the pin. Pleased with my shot I picked up my tee and backed off the tee box, still watching the ball roll.

I thought the ball had stopped moving when Mike shouted, “Get in!” Then just like that, the ball vanished.

We all went crazy. There were clubs and hats flying in the air, I was high fiving and hugging these three strangers like we had just won the Stanley Cup together.

I couldn’t contain myself and ended up feeling obligated to apologize to the group of seniors golfing behind us. 

I went on to nearly get my first eagle on the next hole, just missing a chip in.

As you can imagine the round was all downhill from there. I ended up shooting an 85 overall. The three double bogeys I got on the back nine are well hidden thanks to that beautiful encircled one on my card.

It is a 168-yard par three. I had at least one club tail wind, so I used a 5 iron. It was a red flag, so the ball hit the green just over the bunker and curved into the hole. It kind of felt surreal.

It was a wonderful day for golf at the community golf course in Carstairs, Alberta. I had chosen to play from the back tees that day and was only three-over by the time we reached the 14^th tee. For me, 67 years young, that is pretty good. On #14, I hit a 9 iron from the back tee, about 145 yards. I saw I had pulled it slightly left. However, it hit the bank on the back side of a bunker protecting the left side of the green. The ball bounced right then was seen rolling towards the cup. I expected to see it on the other side of the pin. It never appeared.

My playing companion that day was Dale Fleming. He asked me where it went. I said, “I think it went in the hole.” The third member of my group that day, Charles McConnell, responded he thought it may have gone in as well. They hit their tee shots, we went to the green and sure enough it was in.

It was on a Tuesday morning which is ladies’ day. I was playing with Nicky, Glenda and Bonnie. The pin placement that day was on the upper right side of a very sloped green about 120 yards. It was a nice shot with my 5 hybrid landing just beyond the left bunker and it rolled up towards the hole and disappeared. One of the maintenance crew was watching and started yelling, as well as the group behind us, who heard our cheers!

Great day!

I played with three other ladies from Vernon Golf and Country Club (Tina, Karen and Brenda). The adventure happened on hole #17. The flag was set at the back of the green with a yardage of 145 to the back of the green. I used my 5 iron because I thought I needed a bit more to climb up the green. I was happy with the shot, but I thought I was short. Tina said that the ball was good and was heading toward the flag. Unfortunately, I chose to pick up my tee instead of watching the ball and I missed it going into the hole. Oh well, lesson learned; it was still an exciting moment!

I was playing with my father and was paired with Andrew and Evan who are from Acton. It was 205 yards and I used a 5 iron.

It happened on the 8th hole (17th of our round) of Spirit which was playing about 182 yards according to my Bushnell scope. I hit a 5 iron. I was golfing with my regular foursome.

I played with Kevin Devaney and used a pitching wedge 120 yards with a front pin.

I found Ledgeview Golf Course to be quite challenging and of course the next day we played at Royal Wood Golf Course.

I was just telling my golf partner Janice that it would be nice to finish this last hole with a hole-in-one. I had a couple of friends already waiting at the clubhouse and watching me tee off. I had been golfing with three other women that I had never met.

It was 110 yards, so I decided to use my 8 iron. When I teed off, I thought to myself it looked like a nice shot, as it got closer to the green, I said it’s going to land on the green. Which it did and I continued to watch it roll forward in a straight line heading to the flag. Then it disappeared and I knew from my friends screaming and seeing it disappeared it would be my first hole-in-one.

That was a wonderful game to finish off at the 55+ B.C. Games. I actually took home a medal which I was informed it was a gold one at that.

My hole-in-one was on #8 at Riverside Country Club. It was 125 yards and I hit my 52-degree wedge. I was playing with Kyle McClune and Kehlan Munroe.