ACES: Ian Leech, Stephen Wright and Daryl Docherty scored a hole-in-one at the same hole on the same day.

 

Three aces all in a day’s work

IT’S not the first time it’s happened and it won’t be the last, but it is an extraordinary feat when three golfers playing in different groups on the same day score a hole-in-one on the same hole.

Ian Leech, Stephen Wright and Daryl Docherty defied the odds when they aced the 122m par-3 eighth hole at City Golf Club, Toowoomba during a recent Saturday competition.

Playing in the morning field, Ian, who plays off a 17 handicap, got the ball rolling when his well-struck six-iron found the cup, which was on the front of the green.

“The ball went past the pin up the hill, then rolled back down the hill and kept rolling and rolling slowly then went in,” he said.

Stephen Wright, also in the morning field, used his trusty eight-iron to score his ace.

The eight marker’s ball landed a metre past the hole and spun back into the cup.

Not to be outdone Daryl, who was in the afternoon field, made it ace number three for the day.

The eight-handicapper used a nine-iron to score his hole-in-one.

The short eighth hole doesn’t have a lot of protection although players have to hit over a creek to a two-tiered green, which has a bunker short right.

City Golf Club golf operations manager Andrew Webb said a tree on the right could come into play.

“The best shot for right-handers is to hit a fade on this hole,” he said.

In addition to bragging rights, the golfers received a bottle of Scotch and a $50 club voucher and will have their names added to the honourboard.

There were 220 players in the field.

FOOTNOTE: City Golf Club is home to the Queensland PGA Championship.

 

 

Top shot lands Ryley victory

WINNERS ARE GRINNERS: Champions Kiera King and Ryley Martin with the spoils of victory.

THE late Seve Ballesteros, a master at playing miracle shots from difficult positions, would have been proud of a pressure shot Ryley Martin (Buderim) played to help him win the Central Queensland 54-hole Junior Open Championship at Capricorn Resort in Central Queensland.

In a sudden-death playoff with Childers Golf Club’s Blake Dowling, Ryley was in trouble on the third extra hole and needed to conjure up a miracle shot.

Ryley hooked his tee shot into the trees and tried to play a low hook shot back onto the fairway towards the green.

Unfortunately, the ball failed to hook and stopped just short of the water hazard on the opposite side of the fairway.

His next shot was through a small gap in the trees.

It didn’t faze him and he executed it perfectly and watched as the ball finished within tap-in range of the hole.

As they say, fortune favours the brave.

Meanwhile, Blake, who was in the centre of the fairway off the tee, saw his approach shot finish up in light rough.

He was unable to get it close to the pin and missed the par putt.

Ryley, who lost a playoff against Connor Reeves at the Yeppoon Junior Open, stepped up to sink the short putt for victory.

In the girls’ championship, Kiera King (240) was victorious winning by eight shots from Gladstone Golf Club’s Morgan Lewis.

Morgan turned the tables on Kiera at the Yeppoon Open winning by three strokes from her nearest rival.

 

Playoff goes on and on

IT took a record 11 extra holes for Kiwi Steve Alker to put away South African Dawie van der Walt at the Cleveland Open on the Web.com Tour.

The first 10 playoff holes were parred before Alker, 42, rolled in a one-metre putt on the 11th extra hole to win the $US108,000 first prize.

The playoff was the longest in Web.com Tour history, topping a pair of nine-hole playoffs. It also matched the longest in the history of the PGA Tour – 11 holes at the 1949 Motor City Open when Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum were declared co-winners by mutual agreement due to darkness.

Alker said the lengthy playoff made him dizzy.

“At one point, Dawie and I looked at each other and I said ‘is anybody going to win’?”

Alker should have won it in regulation when he chalked up eight birdies in his first 16 holes, but bogeyed the 17th and 18th.

Van der Walt birdied the final two holes in regulation play to force the playoff.

 

 

Thief ‘addicted to golf’

WHAT do you call a man or woman who steals almost $10,000 worth of golf clubs and other golfing paraphernalia from a pro shop?

Give up?

A golf addict. Seriously.

Police in the US state of Washington arrested a suspect who stole $US9200 worth of clubs and other gear from Gold Mountain Golf Club.

Detectives nabbed him after he was trying to sell the equipment online.

According to the local police chief Steve Strachan, robberies of this nature were often the result of addictions.

However, this was the first one police had seen “that looks like golf addiction”.

What next? Someone picks up your golf ball and when confronted says, “Sorry mate, I’m a golf addict addicted to golf balls”.

 

 

Stuffed croc baffles Scots

IN some countries the discovery of a crocodile on or near a golf course is, well, par for the course.

Perhaps it’s why concerned golfers in Scotland called in animal welfare officers when they discovered a crocodile, albeit partially stuffed, next to a golf course.

The reptile was spotted in a creek at Carnwath Golf Course in South Lanarkshire.

No one knows how the 1.4m long protected West African dwarf crocodile got there or how it ended up stuffed, but the Scottish SPCA’s Heather Lawson is treating it as a prank.

“I first thought it was a prank when I received a call saying there had been sightings of a crocodile but when I investigated I found it was real,” she told Heather Saul from The Independent.

“The crocodile was dead and oddly had tape wrapped around its head.

“It seems someone has attempted to stuff the crocodile as it had no insides and there was straw stuck in its legs.

“We now know it was a West African dwarf crocodile and it’s a complete mystery how it got there.

“These are protected animals and anyone who owns one in this country would need to have a dangerous wild animal licence.”

 

Poms dressing down

THE Poms have finally twigged.

England Golf told www.golfclubmanagementnet.com that one of the reasons for a 13 per cent fall in membership across the country in the last decade have been the strict dress codes.

We could have told you that many years ago.

Anyway, now England Golf is urging clubs to relax the dress regulations in the drive for new members.

 

About David Newbery

Chief writer David Newbery has been living, breathing and writing and editing golf for more than 30 years. His extensive knowledge of the game comes from covering golf around the world. Hired by Inside Golf in 2009, David previously worked as the editor of The Golfer for 25 years and before that worked for numerous daily newspapers in Australia and overseas. The Brisbane-based journalist describes his golf game as “a work in progress”, but has had the privilege of playing golf with some of the game’s best players including nine-time major winner Gary Player. David enjoys travelling, reading, music, photography and spending time with family and friends – on and off the golf course.

Connect

View all Posts Visit Website

Related Posts