Tag: aces

Florida man makes hole-in-one on same hole in consecutive rounds

Raymond Brunelle used an 8-iron and then a pitching wedge to accomplish this amazing feat.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Raymond Brunelle knows how special a hole-in-one is in golf. He hadn’t had one in almost a half century.

He was thrilled when he aced the par-3 16th on the Heritage Course at The Club at Ibis on Oct. 2 with an 8-iron from 160 yards even though he wasn’t certain until he found the ball in the hole.

“It was kind of hazy that day,” the 63-year-old Brunelle said. “We saw it bounce toward the hole and disappear, but we weren’t absolutely sure it was in the hole or hidden behind the pin. When we got to the green, we didn’t see and, sure enough, it was in the hole.”

Four days later, Brunelle, who lives in West Palm Beach, returned to the 16th hole at the Heritage, knowing the golf gods are good at extracting their revenge.

“I just didn’t want to embarrass myself,” he said. “I was hoping just to make a par.”

Instead, using a pitching wedge from 128 yards, it was déjà vu all over again as the ball disappeared into the hole. And this time, they could celebrate on the tee.

“There was no question it went in the hole,” Brunelle said. “I had two hole-in-ones as a junior, but to make two in a row on the same hole … What are the odds of making two hole-in-ones in the same week, let alone consecutive rounds, with different clubs, different tees and different conditions.”

But the same result.

Raymond Brunelle
The scorecard for Raymond Brunelle showing his hole-in-one on the par-3 16th hole at the Heritage Course at The Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Raymond Brunelle

The odds of the average golfer making a hole-in-one are 12,500-to-1 and it happens once every 3,500 rounds, according to the National Hole-in-One Registry. The odds of a player making two holes-in-one in the same round is 67-million-1.

Normally, making a pair of holes-in-one can be an expensive deal. The player traditionally is supposed to buy drinks for everyone in the clubhouse. At The Club at Ibis, members who make a hole-in-one are given a $50 credit to take care of their friends.

Brunelle has a new best friend – the 16th at Heritage. During his next round on the hole Wednesday, he hit it to 8 feet. No hat trick, but definitely not embarrassing.

“When I step on that tee, I feel like, “Yeah, I got this hole,’” he said.

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Diana Taurasi ripped the Las Vegas Aces’ hearts to go to the WNBA Finals and fans completely lost it

Diana Taurasi just keeps being incredible

Look. There are many credible arguments you can make for a handful of professional athletes that might qualify them for being the greatest ever in their leagues and in their sports. The same goes for the WNBA — there are plenty of GOAT candidates there.

But, uh, there aren’t many with more compelling resumes than Diana Taurasi. And the thing is, at 39-years-old, she is still adding to her resume.

The way she completely ended the Las Vegas Aces on Friday night in the WNBA Semifinals is absolutely one of the greatest plays we’ve seen in recent sports memory. She just obliterated them to put the Mercury in the Finals.

First, Taurasi swatted 6-8 Liz Cambage’s shot on one end — keep in mind she’s only 6 feet tall herself. Then, she splashed a 3 to give the Mercury a decisive lead.

It was absolute madness.

WNBA Twitter absolutely lost it after this.

A’ja Wilson was completely overcome by emotion after losing in heartbreaking fashion to the Mercury

Wow this is just so painful.

Professional athletes are hyper-competitive. They have to be so they’re able to play at the highest possible level every day.

There’s lots of work that goes into being a pro. It’s the training. It’s the workouts. It’s the treatment. It’s preparing yourself mentally. Athletes pour all of their time into those things to accomplish one goal and that goal is winning a championship.

When they can’t accomplish it? It hurts. But especially so when you’re so close to getting it done.

We saw that pain come out in A’ja Wilson on Friday after the Las Vegas Aces lost a heartbreaking game to the Phoenix Mercury.

And it wasn’t just any game — this was game 5 of the Semifinals. This was the Aces chance to get back into the WNBA Finals and potentially win a championship. It felt like it was their time.

It wasn’t. The Mercury won after a block and a game winner from Diana Taurasi. It was incredible. It was also very sudden and, I imagine, very painful for the Aces.

It wasn’t just the loss — it was the fashion they lost in. Afterward, Wilson was completely overcome by emotion at the end of the game and collapsed on the court in tears.

That is so heartbreaking. It gets even worse when you realize the journey the Aces have been on to get to this point.

The Aces have been right at the cusp for three years straight. They lost to the Mystics in the 2019 WNBA Semifinals, they lost to the Storm in the 2020 WNBA Finals and, now, the Mercury in the 2021 semis.

Getting to this point is so hard. And it feels like the Aces’ time is coming but it just hasn’t come yet.

When will it? We have no idea. But these are the moments that make great players. And judging by Wilson’s response here, she’ll do everything in her power to get her team over the hump.

They’ll be back.

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Campbell golf teammates make holes-in-one in same round

For the second time in a week, two golf teammates made a hole-in-one in the same round.

For the second time in a week, two golf teammates made a hole-in-one in the same round.

Campbell University’s Edwin Blomander and Henrik Lilja are the latest pair to pull off the trick on Sunday. Five days ago, two high school teammates in Arizona pulled it off. The high school kids did it on the same hole in consecutive groups.

Blomander is a junior and Lilja is a sophomore. They are both from Sweden.

In a tweet announcing the feat, Campbell asked about the odds of two aces in the same round.

The National Hole-In-One Registry reports that the odds are 67 million to 1.

#RollHumps, indeed.

Two Arizona high school teammates ace the same hole in season’s first match

High school golfer Cody Besetti: “Once I hit the ball and saw where it as going, I thought to myself, ‘Holy crap, this might have a chance.'”

Here’s something good to remember about 2020.

In Arizona, in the Phoenix Desert Vista High School’s first boys golf match of the season on Tuesday, two Thunder players finished their matches by acing the 156-yard, par-3 ninth hole at the Arizona Country Club, both using an 8 iron.

First, sophomore Ross Koscis finished up his round with his first-ever hole-in-one.

“I didn’t even realize it until I walked up to the green,” he said. “My coach was the first one to see it in the hole, because he drove up to the green. When he saw it, he screamed, ‘You made a hole-in-one!”

Koscis said he started jumping up and down after he heard coach Matt Russo say that.

In the next group, it was junior Cody Besetti’s turn.

“It was insane,” Besetti said. “When I got to the ninth hole, I asked my coach if Ross actually got an ace or if it was a typo. I couldn’t believe it. So I got up to the hole and my coach said, ‘Show me what you can do.’

Cody Besetti
Phoenix Desert Vista High School junior golfer Cody Besetti celebrates his hole-in-one on the 156-yard, par-3 ninth hole at the Arizona Country Club. He used an 8 iron. Photo by Matt Russo

“Once I hit the ball and saw where it as going, I thought to myself, ‘Holy crap, this might have a chance.’ Once it slowly rolled into the side of the hole, I started freaking out and my coach just stood there in disbelief that he just saw two holes-in-one in a row after never seeing one before. I don’t even know how I reacted since I was so caught up in the moment. I felt like I was on top of the world.”

Russo wasn’t able to capture the actual hole-in-one by each golfer on video, but he made a video them each holding the ball on the green to commemorate the moments.

In his memo to the school on Wednesday, Russo wrote, “If I had video of the actual shots, we would belong on Sportscenter.”

“It really was one of the most amazing things you can see in sports for it to happen twice in a row on the same hole,” Russo said.

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Patton Kizzire makes a hole-in-one at RSM Classic

The ace was a bright spot on an otherwise forgettable final round for Patton Kizzire, who shot a 75 on Sunday.

It took an entire week but the PGA Tour has another hole-in-one.

On Sunday, in the final round of the RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia, Patton Kizzire aced the par-3 sixth hole.

He used an 8-iron from 181 yards.

The ace was a bright spot on an otherwise forgettable final round. Kizzire shot 69-69-67 the first three days but just didn’t have his best stuff on Sunday.

Two holes before his ace, he triple-bogeyed the 4th hole to fall to 8-over on the day. He ended up shooting a 75 and after his round quipped that he needed the ace to break 80.

It’s the 10th hole-in-one on Tour this season.

The National Hole-in-One Registry says that the odds of a PGA Tour pro getting a hole-in-one is 3,000-to-1. (It also says the “average” golfer has a 12,000-to-1 shot at making an ace).

In all, there were 36 holes-in-one last season.

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