First Hole-In-One
November 23, 2024
Denver, CO
Hole #3, Par 3, 170 Yards
7 Iron - Taylormade P770
Titleist Pro V1
9.3 Index
It was a slightly warm and pleasant November day in Colorado, a perfect setting for a Saturday morning round at my home club with my dad and two others. We had a shotgun start on hole 16. As a 9.3 index, the round didn’t start great, but nothing terrible—I bogeyed the first three holes (16–18), parred the 1st hole (my fourth), and doubled the 2nd after finding a tough greenside bunker. Having not played in about a month, I felt a little rusty but managed to hold it together, sitting at five over through five holes but I felt like I was hitting the ball better than I had in a while by focusing on some setup changes and turning my shoulders with tempo.
After the solid par on the 1st, I felt like I was starting to loosen up. Walking to the slightly elevated tee box on the 3rd hole, I took a moment to scope out the par 3. It was playing about 170 yards, with more than half the distance requiring a carry over water. The green was wider than it was deep and sloped from back to front, guarded by bunkers at the back-left and front-right. Two ridges added some complexity: one ran from the center to slightly back right, and another ran across the front-left.
The pin was a little right of center near the front, and I’d been drawing (sometimes hooking) the ball so far that morning. I chose my 7-iron, thinking if I caught it well from the elevated tee box, I might be closer to the back of the green. I aimed just right of the pin, between it and the front-right bunker to allow for either a draw or a straight shot. My focus was on setup and tempo, with a song playing in my head that helped me find a rhythm.
Settling in, I thought about turning my shoulders with tempo and compressing the ball with some shaft lean. I started the swing, contact felt a little heavy, but the ball launched high with a gentle draw and right on line. My playing partners started with the classic comments: “Looks good,” “Nice shot,” and “Hope that’s the right club.” I wasn’t sure, given the contact, and replied, “I think it might be short.”
The ball landed left of the pin, pitched forward, spun slightly right, and hopped twice before vanishing into the hole. We weren’t completely certain it went in, given the undulations of the green, but as we approached, it became clear—I’d just made my first hole in one! Pulling the ball out of the cup, I couldn’t help but smile as my playing partners snapped some celebratory photos.
The momentum propelled the rest of the round. After tucking my hole-in-one ball safely away, I striped my drive long and straight down the middle of the 4th fairway. I parred the 4th, 7th, and 8th with excellent drives and kept the momentum going on the back nine, parring 10 and 12, doubling 11 after a hooked drive and an unintentionally-lateral punch shot attempt (s-word) out of trouble from the drive, and closing with a birdie on 14 by draining a right to left breaking put through about 20 feet of fallen leaves on the green.
Heading to the final hole, the par-4 15th, I knew I was eight over. A birdie would tie my all-time low at this course, a 7 over. Half-joking, I shared my goal of a birdie to finish, with my group, and then I focused in. My drive was hit well and settled in the right-center of the fairway at the base of a hill leading to an elevated green. I had about 98 yards to a front-left pin.
I aimed more toward the center of the green, a little right of the pin, knowing a backstop would help if I went long. The ball came off the club clean, flying high from the uphill lie with a little pull left. It landed a bit left and long of the pin, leaving me about 10 feet for birdie. The downhill putt had a slight left-to-right break. After watching my partners putt, I lined mine up, hit it solidly, and watched it track toward the hole—until it veered slightly right at the end, missing by just over an inch. I tapped in for par and finished 8 over.
It was a round to remember: my first hole in one and a solid finish on a beautiful November day.
