Our ever-changing group of players retell their most memorable golf stories. Have one yourself? E-mail it to golf@ibmadison.com for consideration. Our league is easy to join, share in the laughter and lessons learned this week!
Jason Lane
Controller, Friede & Associates, LLC
I was living in the Phoenix metro area about five years ago, and had just started golfing with the Arizona Lawmen’s Golf Association. Don’t ask me how I ended up in their group; it just sort of happened.
The very first time I was invited to golf with them was for one of their monthly outings. A friend of mine and two Highway Patrol Motorcycle cops were paired together. Both of these guys were the gruff-n-tuff, weathered men you’d expect to meet if you were told your going to play golf with big city cops. Don’t get me wrong, they were both polite enough, but they looked tough and acted tough. We talked casually with them during the first few holes, but weren’t becoming fast friends. We were getting along, and that seemed sufficient to them.
We get to the 175 yard, par 3, 7th hole. I’m up last. I use a 6-iron, take my shot, it bounces twice, and drops in the hole. My first hole-in-one!
All of the sudden I’m slapping high-fives and getting hugs from these guys. We’re jumping up and down on the tee-box like a bunch kids in a “Moon Bouncer.” Shouts of celebration and more hugs. It’s amazing what a shot like that will do to a group of men. Their tough facade quickly fell away. They became more talkative, and were more than happy to let everyone on the course know of my accomplishment.
It’s important to point out that the Skin I won on that hole and the “closest to the pin” prize were not enough to cover the tab I had at the bar that afternoon.
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Nancy Peckham
President & Founder, Valicom Corp
It was a cloudy day at Glenway golf course. A friend and I were on the 7th hole, which is lined on the right side with tall thick trees. The tee off from the women’s tee is uphill about 160 yards; at the crest of the hill, the fairway takes a sharp dog leg to the right for about 170 yards to the green. This hole is always challenging for me to keep from slicing my drive to the right and into the woods. Once in the woods, it is always difficult for me to get back on the fairway.
On this day, my friend teed off and her drive went up the hill on the fairway. Near the top, it took a right turn and bounced into the woods on the near side. Then I teed off and my ball took the same line and seemed to land in about the same spot. This is not unusual as my friend and I normally play a lot of cart golf (where our balls seem to land close together).
When we went to find our balls, neither of us could seem to find them. We looked in and around the near side of the woods, but they were nowhere to be found. Just as we were about to drop another ball, I saw a glimmer of white on the top of a tree stump. I went over to see what it was. It was a hole on the top of the tree stump — and my ball sitting in the hole!
Once I picked it up out of the hole, I saw her ball sitting in the hole right underneath mine! What a coincidence! I guess this was really a hole in one (twice in a row)!
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Doug Fearing
President, Fearing’s Audio Video Security
In February 2001, my wife Lois and I were on a golfing vacation with our best friends, Ken and Marilyn Jahn from Portage. We were golfing the TPC Scottsdale Champions course and we came to hole 16, a 141-yard par 3.
The ladies teed off first and my wife, who’s not a very good golfer, put her shot about 6 feet from the hole (a big victory). Marylyn (a good golfer) teed off and put her shot about 1foot from the hole. The ladies stepped off the tee box.
I hit, putting my shot inches from the hole. Ken (currently the Mayor of Portage) steps up and tees off (the ladies are busy in conversation not paying any attention) and pulls his tee shot left but it hits the side of a grassy knoll and bounces straight right, hits the pin hard and drops in the cup for a hole in one.
Ken and I are in hysteria and the wives are clueless. We ended the hole with a par, two birdies, and a hole-in-one — and the worst tee shot had the best score. I think the old saying goes: “I’d rather be lucky than good.”
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Rich Lepping
President, Border Patrol WI Inc.
The best story I have about golf, is when I went to St. Andrews.
We were going to Scotland to play in a Rotary Curling tournament, and thought while we were there, we’d play Golf at the “birth place” of Golf.
When I arrived, I was told it was spring and so I couldn’t hit my ball from the fairway, due to cold and freshly laid seed. “What’s one to do?” I asked. The gentleman replied “you will need to hit off a pad.” They proceeded to give me an 8 by 8 foot square piece of artificial turf. The three other playing partners I was with, said “don’t bother for us; we never hit the fairway anyhow.”
Lucky for me, I took the pad and shot an 87. Started the round with wind and rain, and finished in the snow! Only in Scotland at St. Andrews!
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