Tag: hole-in-one

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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Watch: Four-year-old Rocco Figaretti makes hole-in-one in West Virginia

Watch four-year-old Rocco Figaretti make a hole-in-one in Wheeling, West Virginia

If you’re feeling good about the state of your golf game right now, wait until you see this.

Four-year-old Rocco Figaretti is enamored with golf. He started practicing a little over a year ago at the age of three. According to his dad, Mario, he’s constantly hitting balls around the yard at home.

The practice is paying off for little Rocco, who made a hole-in-one on Friday at Oglebay Park’s par 3 course in Wheeling, West Virginia.

“He swings right-handed with a left-handed grip and it works for him, so I don’t think we’re going to switch it,” said Mario with a laugh . “It’s just been really fun watching him develop a love for the game because he really does spend a lot of time out here in the yard hitting golf balls.”

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Not only did Rocco make an ace, but he did it on the first hole in Crocs. And don’t even think about arguing it’s not an official hole-in-one because it happened on a par 3 course. Watching his reaction – and his father’s – as he races down the hill to the green is the joy we’re all searching for on the course, and it should be celebrated.

Congratulations to Rocco, we hope this is just the start.

C.T. Pan makes ace, wins a million Wyndham Reward points for charity

Pan’s ace at the par-3 16th hole with a 7-iron will be a boon for four local charities.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Drinks are on C.T. Pan, who made the second hole-in-one in as many days at Sedgefield Country Club. So are the Wyndham Rewards points, thanks to a special promotion this week at the Wyndham Championship.

Pan was having a mostly forgettable weekend at the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale until he stepped to the tee at the 174-yard par-3 16th hole and struck a 7-iron that was money.

“It was a perfect line, wind was left to right and it landed just a yard short and dropped in,” he said. “I was pumped. It’s been tough out there for me, so it’s good to finish with a hole-in-one, for sure.”

Wyndham Championship: Leaderboard | Tee times | Best photos

All aces are great, but some are better than others. Pan’s was the first hole-in-one of the week at the 16th hole, and it earned 1 million Wyndham Rewards points for four different local charities.

“Yeah, it’s awesome,” Pan said. “I want to thank Wyndham Rewards for supporting the charities.”

Pan shot a final-round 1-under 69 and finished in a tie for 69th place.

Si Woo Kim made an ace on Saturday at the third hole, but the Wyndham promotion specified that the hole-in-one had to occur at the 16th to win the prize.

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Golfer makes hole-in-one at Bandon Dunes’ Sheep Ranch using a putter

Watch this golfer make an ace at No. 16 at Bandon Dunes’ Sheep Ranch course.

This week Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on Oregon’s coastline is playing host to the best men’s amateur golfers in the world for the 120th U.S. Amateur.

While all eyes will be on Saturday’s semifinal matches at Bandon Dunes with Tyler Strafaci taking on Aman Gupta and Matthew Sharpstene squaring off against Charles Osborne, there’s more amazing golf being played on the property.

Over at Bandon’s newest feature, the Sheep Ranch course that opened on June 1, Allison Koehnke made an incredible ace on the 16th hole with her putter. There’s no other way to tease it, and frankly no need to. Check it out.

Related: Bandon Dunes’ Sheep Ranch is distinguished by clever routing, contours and natural splendor

Watch this: Si Woo Kim takes lead with ace on 3rd hole at Wyndham Championship

Here’s an interesting way to take the lead of a golf tournament – a hole-in-one. On Saturday morning, with inclement weather conditions getting players out on the course early, Kim jumped in front of the pack with an ace on No. 3. The hole was in a …

Here’s an interesting way to take the lead of a golf tournament — a hole-in-one.

On Saturday morning, with inclement weather conditions getting players out on the course early, Kim jumped in front of the pack with an ace on No. 3.

The hole was in a front right pin location, making it a bit more accessible.

Third-round tee times at the Wyndham Championship were moved up to 7 a.m. and golfers went off in threesomes off Nos. 1 and 10 on Saturday as the tournament continues to maneuver around the weather.

Kim did this just over a year ago at the Valero Open, dropping an ace on the 16th hole in San Antonio.

This marks the 33rd ace made on Tour this year. Here’s a look at all of them leading up to Kim’s.

Byeong Hun An makes a final-round hole-in-one at PGA Championship

Byeong Hun An aced the 189-yard 11th hole during the final round at TPC Harding Park on Sunday.

Byeong Hun An recorded the first hole-in-one at the 2020 PGA Championship on Sunday.

An got his first-ever ace on the 11th hole during the final round at TPC Harding Park. The hole was playing 189 yards and An’s ball bounced four times on the green before gently rolling into the cup.

With no fans on site, An – as well as the rest of us, for that matter – missed out on what would have been a huge roar from the crowd. But there was one exulted call from someone on the course; watch the video below for the reaction.

It’s the 32nd ace on the PGA Tour this season and the first since Bronson Burgoon had a hole-in-one at the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

An’s ace is the 28th at the PGA Championship since 1983. Lucas Bjerregaard had one during the 2019 PGA Championship.

Leaderboard | TV info | Tee times | Photos

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Friends (76, 84 years old) make first holes-in-one in same week at California muni

Friends from Stockton, California, made their first holes-in-one at Elkhorn Golf Club in the same week.

Viola Baker was playing golf in one of her regular groups late last month at Elkhorn Golf Club.

On the 13th hole, Baker hit her tee shot from 80 yards with a 7-wood over the water onto the grass. The ball rolled onto the green and into the cup. It was the first hole-in-one for the 84-year-old Stockton, California, native.

“It took me about 32 years of playing to get one,” she said. “It was a thrill.”

Not to be outdone, Joyce Belt, who plays with Baker in the Elkhorn Women’s 18 Hole Golf Association, made a hole-in-one two days later on July 28. Belt, 76, aced Elkhorn’s 16th hole from 134 yards with a driver.

“That was my first hole-in-one,” Belt said. “And it probably will be the only one.”

Coincidentally, Baker and Belt were in the same foursome when Belt made her hole-in-one. But Baker didn’t see it because she was finishing on the 15th green with Maryann Levitt. Margie Baldwin was on the tee with Belt and witnessed the ace.

“When it came off the clubhead, it looked pretty good,” Belt said. “We were watching it and watching it and we didn’t see the ball until we got on the green and could see it was in the hole. That’s when we got excited.”

Belt and her husband, Keith, moved to Stockton in 2000 from the Bay Area to be closer to their children and their families. Joyce Belt is a retired office manager and Keith Belt is a retired operating engineer.

Baker plays regularly with her husband, Jay, who carded his only ace about nine years ago on No. 8 at Brookside County Club in Stockton; the Elkhorn Women’s 18 Hole Golf Association, which plays tournaments on Tuesdays and casual rounds on Thursdays and Saturdays; and with a group of eight to 10 couples and some singles that calls itself the “church group” on Sundays. She made her hole-in-one while playing with the “church group.”

Viola Baker worked for Tillie Lewis, a successful entrepreneur and leader in the mid-20th century food packing industry in Stockton. Baker said she took dictation from Lewis during her time at Tillie Lewis’s cannery, though she worked much of her career as an office manager for San Joaquin County and continues to work part-time for WorkNet in the county’s economic development department.

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10-year-old Kansas junior golfer records first hole-in-one

Some people go their entire lives without ever getting to experience a hole-in-one. Grady Rodgers got his at age 10.

Some people go their entire golfing life without ever getting to experience a hole-in-one.

Most people, in fact.

Grady Rodgers only had a five-year wait. And got his when he was 10 years old.

Playing in the 9-10 age division in Monday’s Topeka Junior Golf Summer Series Event No. 4 at Topeka Country Club, Rodgers got the thrill of a lifetime two holes into his round.

Hitting a 5-hybrid on the 120-yard No. 11, Rodgers aced the uphill par-3 hole. Not that he knew it right away.

“I saw it hit the green and it rolled,” he said. “I thought it went past the hole.”

The reaction from the group ahead of him in the tournament indicated otherwise. The trio of Isaac Ansley, Cole Stafford and Austin Casebeer started screaming, setting off a celebration in Rodgers’ group, which included Myles Didde and Brecken Garrett.

“I went pretty crazy,” Rodgers said. “My mom was there to watch it.”

Rodgers’ ace quickly became a local sensation, posted to social media by his mother, Ashley, as well as Topeka Country Club and the TJGA and leading to television interviews. When they told his father, Justin, Grady said he got emotional.

“Even at work, he started crying and stuff,” Grady said.

Rodgers has saved the ball — though he continued to play with it during the remainder of his round. He also has the scorecard and said he hoped to give the ball to Topeka native and PGA professional Gary Woodland, perhaps for an autograph.

Rodgers has actually come close to a hole-in-one before, coming within inches of another ace on No. 16 at Berkshire Country Club. He called his ace around the 30th of his career — all the others coming during miniature golf rounds.

But this one is way more special.

“It was fun,” he said. “I want to make like 50 of these.”

The hole-in-one was the second recorded by a Topeka junior during the TJGA Summer Series this year. On June 15, Luke Rothfuss, who will be a junior at Washburn Rural this fall, aced the 188-yard No. 5 at Shawnee Country Club.

TJGA president Jared Goehring said he couldn’t recall any other holes-in-one in recent years in the summer series.

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Massachusetts couple each claims first ace within 24 hours on same hole

It was 24 hours later, but this Massachusetts couple got to celebrate their first-ever aces on the same hole in Plymouth.

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.”

Frank and Barbara Costa both sank their first-ever respective aces in a 24-hour period on the same course in Plymouth, Massachusetts. (Courtesy photo)

“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.

Watch: In PGA Tour’s return, Sung Kang makes hole-in-one at Charles Schwab Challenge

In the PGA Tour’s first event back, watch Sung Kang make a hole-in-one at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

The PGA Tour is officially back this week with Thursday’s opening round of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Despite being professional golfers, after a three-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic you’d expect the players to be a little rusty, right?

Nope.

Justin Rose shot out to an early lead — using new clubs — with a 7-under 66, and Harold Varner III followed suit to join Rose at T-1. At the time of this post, 24 players were at 4-under par or better. Oh yeah, and Sung Kang made an ace and acted like it was just another fairway hit.

Kang made a hole-in-one on the par-3 13th hole for his second career PGA Tour ace. His first came at the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

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