Holy Dandelions! Skip Ackerman gets an Ace

Skip Ackerman, nearing the golden age of 67, hit a towering shot into #7 late this Tuesday afternoon, watched as it hit about eighteen inches in front of the cup and then trickle into the hole. “Holy dandelions!” he exclaimed. “My first hole-in-one!” Playing partners Phil Eyler, John Walker and Charlie Lyon stood around and cheered him in his new found status as a Lakeview Ace. Skip used a King Cobra gap wedge and hit a Pinnacle Gold FX Long ball over the hundred yards from tee to cup. (Photo to follow later.) Very nice shot, Skip.

Mike Bird gets Ace at Number Nine

Using his Ping Eye2 five iron from a hundred and forty yards up on the dam, Mike Bird's tee shot from #9 tee box at Lakeview Golf Course looked very good from the start. But it disappeared into the morning sun's glare and left Mike and his playing partners, Wayne Souerdike and Kevin Byron, wondering where the ball went. Halfway down to the hole, the golfers could see the ball mark, about a foot short and a foot left of the pin, but no ball either near or far. Kevin Byron was the first one to the hole and pulled the pin and the ball out of the hole, revealing that it indeed was a hole-in-one. That makes it two aces for Mike, the other one also a 'blind' shot into the afternoon sun of an October day back in 1999. That one fell into the hole across the way at #3. Mike's golf ball was a Maxfli Noodle Long and Soft.

Note: I registered the Ace here.

Jack Butcher gets his very first ACE!

Jack Butcher has been looking for his very first hole-in-one for a long time, fifty some years. Today, playing his 18th hole out at Lakeview Golf Course, his Ping Zing 8 iron hit a Top Flite XL3000 golf ball with just enough get-up-and-go to land on the green, roll about 20 feet and drop over the lip and into the hole. Bingo. The looking is over and done with. Jack was joined on his back nine following Senior League play by Rex and Kenny Hudson and Jack Lents. Jack was left speechless by his accomplishment while Rex said that he wished he had been looking. Jack Lents had an 'Oh, golly durn' as he and Rex started the hole two strokes up on Kenny and the new guy in the Lakeview Hole-in-One Club. The ace is the first one of the year at Lakeview.

Hole-in-Ones Just Shy of a Dozen at Lakeview in 2007

Here at Lakeview Golf Course during 2007 we had eleven hole-in-ones, two of them by Dave Strange. It was an amazing run of aces that started with Terry Padgett's ace on #9 on April 17th and concluded with Dave Strange's second of the year on September 18th. Of course, the year isn't quite over so we won't close the doors on the records yet. Do you remember that that run of aces included a span of six consecutive weeks with a hole-in-one? A seventh consecutive week was missed by twelve hours when D.J. Moffet put it in the hole from the tee box at #7 on Monday morning, July 2nd. That run was started on May 19th by Dave Wininger's unusual ace at par 4 #2, which was followed the following week by Bob Walton's equally unusual ace at the same hole. Aces by Becky Hand, Derek Gilbertson, Scott McAtee, and finally Judy Walker on June 22nd completed the run. At that point there were eight aces on the books for the year. Dave Strange, D.J. Harder, and Dave with his second of the year, make that second in a ten week period, brought the total to eleven. And did you wonder what the odds of all this happening might be? About.com gives us a little insight on such odds for a single golfer. One estimate: 12000 to 1 for an average golfer. I would say that Lakeview Golf Course golfers have beaten the odds this year, not once, not twice, but over and over and over again. You can catch the write-ups on the aces by visiting our Hole-in-One Club over at our website.