Golfer hits hole in one on first hole EVER played

[Mr3Putt]

Original Article Here

Okay, ready for your you-gotta-be-kidding-me story of the week, if not the year? Your setting: lovely St. Petersburg, Florida. Your heroine: 62-year-old Norweigan native Unni Haskell, who, after two months' worth of golf lessons, teed up her first-ever shot on a real live golf course.
On the first tee of the nine-hole par-3 Cypress Links in St. Pete, Ms. Haskell pulled out a driver -- this is a hundred-yard hole, but remember, Ms. Haskell had never played before -- and drilled a 75-yard corker that bumped, ran and ended up right in the hole .
That's right ... on the first swing of the first hole of the first course she ever played, Unni Haskell hit a hole-in-one .
"I didn't know it was that big of a deal,'' she told the St. Petersburg Times. "I thought all golfers do this.''
"She stood there and I could tell she was thinking about her grip and posture and everything,'' said PGA teaching pro Rick Sopka, who was with Haskell on the tee. "Then she makes her swing and hits it about 75 yards in the air. It kind of trundled up to the green and I'm like, 'Go in! Go in!' And then I go crazy, screaming and yelling. I give her a big hug. She didn't believe me. Then I said, 'Unni, here's the problem. There's nowhere to go from here but down.' ''
Now, our bitter and cynical culture is such that the immediate reaction is to call shenanigans, to put it politely, on this story. It's got echoes of the infamous Jacqueline Gagne 16-aces-in-six-months story , yes? And much like the two kids who hit back-to-back holes-in-one -- also in Florida, strangely enough -- it's too good of a story to believe. Plus, since the vast majority of us have never hit an ace -- and, obviously, could never match Unni Haskell's feat -- let's admit it, we're jealous as heck.
But it's honestly not that tough to believe. Apparently, Ms. Haskell has played tennis for quite some time. And a 100-yard hole isn't that tough to reach, particularly with a driver. Think about how many people spray golf balls around the course; doesn't it make logical sense that one of them would eventually drop the ball into the hole? It's the golf equivalent of the infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters eventually banging out the works of Shakespeare.
Still, I'm thinking Ms. Haskell missed an opportunity here. After she hit that shot, she should have dropped her clubs and walked away from the game, retiring as The Greatest Golfer In The History of the Universe. Nobody could ever top that.

[Dpricenator]

This is one of the outliying reasons I still want to play my local pitch and put. Someday I'm gonna ace one of those holes.

[TheNatural]

now this could actually happen...

[David in FL]

Bitch.


40ish years of golf, close to 100 rounds a year.......at least 25 years playing off of a mid-to-low single digit hcp, playing regularly with players who carry "+" hcps, and I've never seen an ace.

[glebert]

The fact that her name is Unni makes me a little suspicious. "Uni" means one, from the Latin "unus". It is a great story, though.

[Stacey_E]

Still, I'm thinking Ms. Haskell missed an opportunity here. After she hit that shot, she should have dropped her clubs and walked away from the game, retiring as The Greatest Golfer In The History of the Universe. Nobody could ever top that.

That is exactly what she should have done! I'm reminded of David Feherty's commentating on the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07..."Does anybody know any hard games?" But I do find this story believable.

Who does she thinks she is, Kim Jong Il?

Nice....

[Ryanrocksfender]

haha this is cool. that course is my home course! well the 18 hole there is. last time i played that hole i hit the ball fat =[

[iacas]

Bah, I quit.

[Voiceontapex]

.... then she died.....


im always afraid when things go really well...like to well for me, cause its stuff like that that you will hit a hole in one and then get hit by a bus an hour later haha

[Zeph]

I have read a similar story, coincidentally also involving a norwegian, but this happened in Norway.

[$2 Nassau]

I witnessed a woman get a hole in one a couple years ago. Later found out it was the first round she ever played. Her 8th hole ever and she holed one.

It was also with a driver. 115 yards from the forward tees. Ball was in the air for maybe 60 yards, no more than 15 feet off the ground. Rolled in pefectly.

We were on the hole before them. Our green was pretty close the their hole. While another guy was putting me and a friend just happened to glance over while this lady was teeing off. Couldn't beleive it.

We started clapping for her and she bought us a beer after the round. Her friends came up to us and said "it's her first round of golf ever!!" We were in shock.

I've never really even come close in 6 years of playing.

[Mr3Putt]

A friend of mine who is a certified non golfer was invited to fill in at his company's outing. It would be his first time ever on a course. The night before the event he made his first trip to a driving range.

The next day using borrowed clubs he aced a 165 yard hole with a 3 wood.

He won $10,000.

I hate him.

He retired from the game a champion.

The prize was paid by an insurance company, he had to jump through hoops to eventually claim the loot.

[pshizz]

Bitch.

Seriously? i have only been playing about 3 years, and i have witnessed 2. I have also got mine last october. Your's will come soon, just be patient.

[glebert]

I think I figured it out. All of these unlikely hole-in-ones were made with a wood on a par3 hole, rolled up onto the green and went in. By rolling the ball across the green these novices increased their chance of holing it dramatically. If they get it on line and with enough speed to get to the hole they have a chance. Those of us hitting a short iron to the same hole would have almost have to jar it on the fly, which has much lower probability because both the line and distance need to be perfect.

Of course they also have a greater likelihood of sending the ball all the way over the green into the water, but for the specific goal of getting a hole in one I think playing the roller may be the way to go.

[Slim 11]

I have been playing regularly for about six years. Have come close several times but haven't got one yet. 125 yd. downhill last sunday, ball rolled right past leaving me about a 1 foot tap in. You could see the line in the dew on the green. Dang ball had to have been almost half over the hole as it rolled by. SO CLOSE! ARRRG!
Someday soon, I hope.

[Dpricenator]

I think I figured it out. All of these unlikely hole-in-ones were made with a wood on a par3 hole, rolled up onto the green and went in. By rolling the ball across the green these novices increased their chance of holing it dramatically. If they get it on line and with enough speed to get to the hole they have a chance. Those of us hitting a short iron to the same hole would have almost have to jar it on the fly, which has much lower probability because both the line and distance need to be perfect.

So what you saying is that I am doing everything correctly.

[Bump-n-MI]

30 yrs ago in a jr. golf program my playing partner (and best friend at the time) aced a 136 yd par 3 with his 5 iron. That is the only one I have witnessed in 31 years of golf.

[87vert]

It was also with a driver. 115 yards from the forward tees. Ball was in the air for maybe 60 yards, no more than 15 feet off the ground. Rolled in pefectly.

My mother in law drives like that.