Golf Canada Hole-In-One Report – July 28, 2023

I am 75 years old with an 18 handicap and have been playing golf on and off for 50 years. My friend, Barry (Hoppy) Hopkins and myself were golfing on the afternoon of July 21, 2023, at our home course near Three Hills. Using a 6 iron, I shot the ball over a creek about 160 yards to the green, thought it landed on the green, but lost sight of it in the sun. Upon reaching the green, I couldn’t find it. After searching for it for a couple of minutes my friend suggested I look in the cup. Sure enough, there it was!

I was playing with my sister. Kathy Palombi and two good friends, Barb Bumbacco and Anita Litalien. The yardage was 116 and I used my Cleveland Launcher UHX 8 iron and a yellow Srixon soft feel ball. It was so exciting for all of us to watch it disappear into the hole as it rolled across the green. Hopefully, I’ll experience that moment again with either myself or a golfing buddy.

I was out for an early morning round with my good friend and fellow Golf Canada member Greg Zevola. It was a 148 yard 9 iron that was on line the entire time it was in the air. Both of us said, “be good” while the ball was up and then silence waiting for it to spin. It spun and went in! We both took a few seconds staring in disbelief making sure it was gone. Then we erupted! I turned and jumped on him while cheering and celebrating! The groups behind us heard, the group ahead came back from the ninth tee to see what was happening and everyone at the clubhouse heard. My wallet’s a little lighter after it but it was the perfect experience celebrating the rest of the day with family and friends. A little fun fact, hole #8 is sponsored by my dad and uncle’s fountain tire shop in Lac La Biche. So, a little bit of family luck there!

The hole-in-one was 117 yards and I hit a pitching wedge. I was playing with Steve, Ron and Bill who are good buddies that I do a Myrtle Beach trip with every spring. Memorable for sure but four holes later I hit a 52 degree from 90 yards that also went in for my second eagle of the day!

It was men’s night at Wintergreen Golf and Country Club in Bragg Creek. Nestled in the foothills of Alberta, the par 3 hole #7 from the gold/blue combo plays 163 yards. With an altitude of 4,300 feet an 8 iron was the club of choice. I hit my shot, watched the trajectory, and as it hit the green, turned to my playing partners to boast ‘that line is good’. I entirely missed seeing the ball actually roll in!

Didn’t actually realize it went in until I got to the hole. I was looking all over the surrounding areas and decided to look in the hole and found my ball! Best experience of my life!

I was playing 18 holes with an ex-billet brother from junior hockey and our friend on a perfect morning at Century Pines. As we watched it fall in the hole, I’ve never been more excited! They all tackled me before it even registered what happened. A round and a morning I will never forget.

Thanks to my witness Nick, who had taken an extended lunch break to swing the sticks! I used a pitching wedge.

This was such a special day. We were playing in the two-day club championship. I was playing with members Barb Jones and Gloria Gagnon. The hole was about 135 yards over a gulley. I was using a 5 wood. Best celebration ever.

Finally, after playing golf for over 50 years, I did it. It happened at the Surrey Golf Course playing with three others from a group of eight that play every Wednesday and Friday. I was not playing up to my handicap level until I reached hole #12, a par 5, which is 500 yards. The next hole was playing 129 yards to a red flag. It has a large pond in front and a sand trap to the left of the front of the green. There was a wind coming in our faces, so I choked up on an 8 iron. The ball hit a mound just right of the trap bounced once hit the pole straight down. Last time I checked, they all count. Honored to join the club.

I was playing at Sirocco Golf Club on hole #7.  It has an elevated tee box and is 115 yards. I used my gap wedge, hit it high, banked it off the left side hill, it rolled across the green and in. I was playing with my wife, Ellen, and fellow members Louise and Barry. I now have a hole-in-one at each of the three courses where we have been members.

Great day!

I played with Olivier Frenette, Mark Mirza and Paul Poliquin. We arrived at the fourth hole, and I was the last to tee off. The hole location was in the back of the green on the left side, behind the bunker. It was playing at 148 yards. I moved over to the right side of the tee box and was deciding between a 9 iron or an 8. I went with the 8 iron. I hit the shot with a slight draw. We all saw it heading towards the hole. It carried the bunker and landed three feet in front of the hole.

My playing partners all said that that was going to be very close. No one could see the result because the hole was hidden by the bunker.

We all walked up to the green and we saw the ball mark, but no ball. We looked in the hole, and there it was, my Titleist 4 resting at the bottom of the cup.

I was lucky enough to get my first hole-in-one on Friday, July 21st at The Paintbrush in Caledon, Ontario. For those of you who know the course, it is quite a challenging track and I had never seriously considered the possibility of recording an ace on any of its challenging par threes. I play to a 15 handicap and play 30-40 rounds a year, so my chances for an ace in my lifetime didn’t seem great.

The big moment happened on #4, playing 152 yards and into the wind. I pulled a 7 iron and my ball landed about 15 feet short of the hole. You can’t see much of the putting surface, so when we got to the green and didn’t see my ball, one of my playing partners started to get excited and ran up to the hole. When he threw his hat on the ground, I knew something big must have happened. The rest, as they say, is history.

We celebrated the feat with some single malt scotch (we were on a links course, after all) and lots of laughs for the remaining 14 holes.

The hole-in-one occurred at the Flamborough Hills Golf Club in the late afternoon of July 19th, 2023. Flamborough Hills has 27 holes and on this day the 11th hole was the second of the Lakes nine. It is a 127-yard hole on the card but played a bit longer with the hole on the back shelf of a two-tiered green with a bit of a back stop. I played a pitching wedge which landed about three feet short and right of the pin. It bounced behind the pin and came back into the hole from behind. The moment was shared with Howard Hollingham, James Davidson and Nico Bopp. This happens to be my fourth hole-in-one. People have asked me how I do it and I always tell them that it’s hereditary. My mother had seven, my father had two and my uncle has four. I am on a mission to catch my mother’s total and the odds are improving!

It was great!

As I have only been playing golf for five years, I had never anticipated getting a hole-in-one. Surprisingly this was my second one this month! The first was on a local par 3 course so it wasn’t entered into my Golf Canada app. The one I got on July 23^rd was at Chilliwack Golf Club where I was playing with my husband, Wade and two nice fellows from Kamloops, Glen and Koji. It was the fourth hole which was a 118-yard par 3. I hit a solid 7 iron straight at the pin, the ball landed at the front of the green and rolled to the back pin location. We could all see that it had a chance to go in and luckily it did. It was hard to believe it had happened again so quickly after my first one but there it was sitting patiently at the bottom of the hole waiting for me to bring it back out into the sunlight.

I’ve been golfing for 22 years! It was on hole #3 at Mount Breton Golf Course in Chemainus B.C. My Garmin watch said 114 yards to the pin. I knew the hole played a little uphill, so I used my 7 iron and a nice easy swing.

I was last on the tee box and so the others were standing to the right so they couldn’t see the ball finish because of the bunker. But then it disappeared, and I thought it went off the back. We looked for my ball behind the green and it was not there then one of the gals looked in the cup and there it was!

My home course is Cottonwood Golf Course, and we were doing our ‘away’ game at Mount Breton. I was golfing with my teammate (Cottonwood member) Cheri Holder.

It was hole #6 at Cabot Cliffs. The hole was 130 yards. I used a 9 iron. I was playing with Elizabeth Czenczek and Judy McCrae. My first and hopefully not last hole-in-one and such a memorable course! The course celebrated me very well. With a flag, signed by the golf pro at the course and a hole-in-one hat.

It was 110 yards and I used a 9 iron.