There’s a golfing version of anything he can do she can do better playing out in America’s Hometown.
Plymouth, Massachusetts, resident Frank Costa has been golfing for 60 years and the 70-year-old finally experienced the pinnacle of the sport June 10 when he sank a hole-in-one on the 11th hole during and warm and sunny round of golf at the Squirrel Run Golf Course in Plymouth.
Costa was on top of his own golf mountain, but he wouldn’t be alone there for long. Less than 24 hours later his wife Barbara stepped into the tee box of the 11th hole and proceeded to sink the first hole-in-one of her golf career.
Same golf course, same hole and on the very next day. Golf sure is a funny game.
“It’s kind of unbelievable when you think about it. Less than 24 hours after the first hole-in-one I’ve ever had in my life, my wife has to top me,” Frank joked last week. “After 60 years of golfing it was great to get my first one.”
“It was quite a shock,” Barbara said about her first ace. “The tee shot hit the pin and it dropped straight down into the hole.”
The 11th hole at Squirrel Run plays about 78 yards for the Costas. There’s some trouble if you hit it short, but there’s a good-sized green to aim for from any of the tees. Frank hit an approach wedge that landed 10 yards from the hole and rolled into the cup.
“I was playing that day with Gary Schofield and Bruce Lillie and both of them have had a hole-in-one at Squirrel Run in the last year so I’m now in that same club,” Frank said. “There were a couple of workers down near the hole and they went crazy when the ball rolled into the cup.”
Barbara was playing that day with Cathy Hinxman, Kate Ahern and Marie Wright. She hit a nine-iron 70 yards from the ladies tee that traveled the perfect distance, struck the stick and dropped straight into the hole.
The Costas usually play in leagues around town two or three times each week at Squirrel Run as well as Southers Marsh Golf Club.
“I started golfing 60 years ago. I’d play every Sunday at the South Shore Country Club in Hingham when I was growing up and I remember as an 11-year-old kid following Arnold Palmer and Gary Player around the golf course when they came to town to play a round,” Frank said.
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Barbara, who recently turned 69, picked up the game 20 years ago and has had more chances to play recently after retiring.
“I like playing Squirrel Run. It’s a nice course for someone who plays the game like I do,” she said. “I don’t hit the ball very long, which is okay at that course, but the way they designed the holes makes them all challenging in different ways other than length.”
Like most golfers, Frank and Barbara are just happy to play on any golf course once again after the delayed opening to the season everyone experienced this spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was a long couple months while we waited for the golf courses to open again,” Barbara said.
With three children and five grandchildren, Frank and Barbara have enjoyed the chance to share their passion for the game with the next generation of golfers in the Costa family.
“I’ve played with a couple of my grandsons. Andrew is six-years-old and Joey is 11 and they are both really good golfers,” Frank said. “They can hit the ball really well.”
Email the reporter at dwolcott@wickedlocal.com and follow him on Twitter, @David Wolcott1.