My first hole-in-one

My first hole-in-one:

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My first hole-in-one.

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What a day.

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What a moment.

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What a memory.

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Couldn’t stop smiling all day.

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Singing music loud.

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Dancing with my dog.

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Took myself to get bubble tea and tiramisu today.

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Because, as my friend said, celebrate.

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A hole-in-one doesn’t happen very often.

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For some, it never happens in a lifetime.

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Now I’m lucky enough to say it’s happened in mine.

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Golf has been an interesting journey for me.

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The most humbling sport you’ll ever play.

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Some days you think you’re about to make the tour.

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Other days it’s like you’ve never swung a club.

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I’ve been playing golf for what feels like my whole life.

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Started with golf summer camps as a kid.

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Boy were those fun.

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The good old days at Rolling Hills.

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Going to the range at Timber Creek.

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Mini putt tournaments.

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Watching Mr. Bean.

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Chopping the ball around the course.

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Those were the days.

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I would give everything to go back to those days.

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And tell that kid, enjoy it man.

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Enjoy the journey.

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All the ups and downs.

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All the places golf will take you.

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It’s taken me everywhere.

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Hawaii.

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Jamaica.

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Florida.

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But most importantly, Scotland.

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I went to the University of St. Andrews partly cuz of golf.

The place where golf was invented.

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Hundreds of years ago.

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If you ask any golfer in your life about St. Andrews, that is the mecca.

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The pinnacle.

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The icon of being a golfer.

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It’s such a special place to play.

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Such a special place to be.

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Iconic holes.

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Crazy design.

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Massive greens.

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And I was lucky enough to play it.

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Not just play it, but see it every day.

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It was literally across the road from my school.

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So I played a lot.

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And I got better.

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Way better.

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Went from a 90s golfer to an 80s golfer.

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Some of that was due to my growth spurt.

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But a lot of it was practice.

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Being out there.

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By myself.

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Walking in the wind.

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Just me and the golf course.

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Where I hit my longest drive ever that will probably never be topped.

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370 yards.

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Downhill and downwind, but still.

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A memory I’ll have forever.

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Since Covid, I’ve picked up golf again.

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Played 60 rounds in 2020.

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What else was I doing in the summer of the pandemic?

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Couldn’t see people.

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Couldn’t play many sports.

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So golfed.

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A lot.

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And I loved it.

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Best part was playing with my dad.

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And that’s always been the best part.

Getting to play the game with the man who raised me.

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A few moments I’ll never forget.

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Beating him on match play in 9 holes for the first time at Diamondback.

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But my favourite is at the Castle Course.

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Last hole.

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Massive putt to tie.

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Double breaker uphill and to the right.

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20-footer.

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Boom.

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Nailed it.

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We’ve had many great ones.

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Playing together in Kapalua.

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Driving hours from Orlando to play Streamsong.

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Memories I’ll cherish forever.

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And that brings us to this year.

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The first time in a while where I feel like I’ve improved.

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Not just a little, but massively.

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Massively meaning becoming a single-digit handicap golfer.

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Nuts to me.

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Kept plugging away for a decade not figuring it out.

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And this year it clicked.

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Fixed the driver.

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More consistent off the tee.

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And a better putter.

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Making more birdies.

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Averaging 1-2 a round now.

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Which is crazy to me.

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They used to be a few times a summer.

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Now I can’t tell you how many I’ve had this year.

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But I’ve also had blow-ups.

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Horrible games.

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Had one two days ago.

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And that’s what was bothering me.

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Had a chance 90 yards on the 18th hole after a great drive to hit an easy shot to the green.

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And I duffed it.

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Shanked it so bad it went OB.

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Thankfully I recovered with a bogey but still, absolutely disgusting.

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At least in my eyes.

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So I kept thinking about it the last few days.

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‘Why am I not hitting my irons well?

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Wtf happened?’

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So after work finished today, I decided to hit the range.

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Needed to work on my irons.

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It was cold, but why not go hit a few balls.

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I went to the course, hit the range for half an hour and something clicked.

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Something felt a bit better.

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Still had a few duffs and shots that went all over, but hit a few great shots.

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Also figured out this hip turn on my driver that might give me an extra 10-20 yards.

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Which would be insane considering my average drive now is probably 275-280.

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So decided to walk into the clubhouse and check if they had tee times.

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One of the courses at Station Creek, my home course, was wide open.

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So booked a 4:02 tee time.

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Put my headphones in and thought f it, why not just enjoy the walk in the sun with just you and your thoughts.

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Or your thoughts and the game.

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Get to the tee box on the first hole and duff my tee shot into the trees.

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Great start.

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Rest of the first hole is uneventful.

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And then we get to the 2nd.

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What will be the most famous hole in my life.

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Get to the tee box and gun the flag.

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167 yards.

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Winds a bit behind me so I pull out a 7-iron.

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Thought, ok, now it’s time to try what I worked on at the range.

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Pulled it out, hit a practice swing then lined up to the ball.

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Back.

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And forward.

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Looked up and immediately lost it in the sun.

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As the sun was right in my line.

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Looked down towards the green and saw a bounce just in front.

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But it was turning left.

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So thought cool, I’ll be close to it.

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Didn’t think anything of it so I walked closer to the hole.

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My first thought is I probably rolled off the left or I’m on the left side of the green.

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But as I step closer, I can’t see anything.

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So I thought before I go looking in the water for my ball, let me check the cup.

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And there it was.

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My first ever hole-in-one!!!

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I couldn’t believe it.

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To be honest, I still can’t believe it.

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2 days before I played that hole with a friend and my brother.

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I shot a 7 on that hole, a quadruple bogey.

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Literally the worst score I’ve shot on any hole in the last decade.

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And I couldn’t get it out of my head.

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But today, the golf gods were on my side.

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Sadly no one else was there to see it or celebrate, but it didn’t matter.

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Because I did it.

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I’ve officially gotten a hole-in-one.

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This might be one of the happiest sports days of my life.

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Probably is.

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Was smiling the entire rest of the round.

Played decent golf the rest of the round too.

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Told the folks at the clubhouse and they’re gonna order me a plaque.

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Insane.

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20+ years of golfing.

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Probably played over a thousand par 3 holes in my life.

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And I’ve only been close twice.

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But today, somehow someway.

The golf gods were on my side.

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I had to write this.

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I had to share this.

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Because it’s so rare to have something good happen.

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Especially after 20 years of working at it.

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Is it all luck?

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Of course.

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But today I got lucky.

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On October 27th 2026, I got a hole-in-one.

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Station North.

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Hole number 2.

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167 yards out.

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7 iron.

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A day I’ll remember forever.

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