by Peter Weinberger | [email protected]
Just to set the document straight. I am not a golfer. Not the miniature sort. The one with 500-yard holes, sand, water, tall grass, and putts that by no means find this tiny gap. That’s the kind of golf I play.
Once a 12 months, my son Matt and I participate in a charity golf event on the Red Hill Country Club to raise cash for Children’s Foundation of America and Trinity Youth Services. It’s a fun occasion, with many alternative things to do and support. Monday’s event included a chance to win $10,000 from a helicopter dropping golf balls into the 18th hole, an In-N-Out Burger truck, nice prizes, and reception after. Heck, we have been even fed lunch and dinner. And in fact, there’s beer.
The excellent news is over $100,000 was raised for a very good cause. It additionally gave Matt and I time to play golf collectively.
I’m joyful to say my son can hit the ball a mile and is a very good putter. Given we have been only taking part in our best shot between the 2 of us (tournament rules), I knew my cringe-worthy drives off the tee would do little harm and hopefully not hit someone or one thing.
COURIER Publisher Peter Weinberger stands at the fourth gap during a charity golf tournament at Red Hill Country Club in Upland on Monday after taking pictures an unlikely hole-in-one.
I don’t have my own a set of clubs, aside from a putter. But that didn’t seem to matter. Matt and I shared. And I truly have golfed earlier than, owned my own set of clubs and at one time was even a member of a golf membership. But that was more than 20 years ago. So, after we started, I didn’t need to warm up. I was able to go as a result of there wasn’t an attractive swing to mess up.
Matt and I every shot a par four on the first gap. But that was it for me. The longer I performed, the extra my thoughts began to assume an excessive amount of, and my body started to recollect my age. But I was having a nice time on a perfectly cool, sunny summer day.
By the fourth gap, a short 135-yard par three, I was my usual self. My slice was in full effect, I misplaced a ball in a water hazard, and whacked a drive off the restroom wall. Yep. Good instances. But this par three had a small signal stating, “Get a hole-in-one and win a year’s worth of golf balls.” I paid it no thoughts.
When I was able to hit, I selected an eight-iron, which is means an extreme quantity of club for that distance. But a stiff again limits my swing, so for me this labored. The only thing I did in a unique way was modify my tee larger, figuring it gives me more room to hit the ball in the air.
When I finally swung, I barely felt the club hit the ball (a good thing), seemed up and it was flying right toward the outlet. There was some glare from the sun, however I did see the ball hit the green. Then it disappeared.
There was this silence for a quantity of seconds to process what just occurred. Then Matt said, “I suppose it went in the gap.” I confidently retorted, “No way. It went previous the green.” As we walked to the hole, Matt stored saying, “I think it’s in the hole. I suppose it’s in the hole.” I still did not believe him.
As I got closer, I nonetheless couldn’t discover the ball. It wasn’t anywhere in sight. I started strolling quicker. When I received to the opening and appeared down, with the flag nonetheless in the cup, I noticed my ball on the backside. I simply shot a hole-in-one!
All I might do was begin screaming. The other golfers most likely thought I simply broke my leg. But there I was holding up the ball like slightly kid throughout Christmas. And it actually felt like a holiday!
As we walked off the green to the subsequent gap, I seemed up and there was a Claremont COURIER signal stuck within the grass. We sponsored that hole. At that time, I swear I heard angels singing, or music … or something.
The odds of getting a hole-in-one for a non-professional golfer are 12,500 to a minimum of one. For me, that’s extra like 120,500 to one. No one had shot a hole-in-one during the tournament within the last six years. The prize was fairly beneficiant too. Golf balls aren’t cheap, and good ones value $50 a dozen. The fantastic print mentioned I’d won 12 dozen balls. That’s $600.
Even although I will not use 144 golf balls next year, we have already determined to reward our subscribers with a chance to win a COURIER Hole-in-One Champion golf ball(s). Now that’s one thing to have fun.