"I don't believe it, it's in." BCD July 4th, 2015

[Mark Bourgeois]

An ace,by an American, on the 4th of July, in a country that licks the queen's boots? That's no mere hole in one, that's a blow struck for little-r republicans everywhere. Huzzah huzzah!

[Tom_Doak]

Was the match already over? How many shots did you have to give Tom? From what I've seen that 10 hcp is a little suspect 

There were no shots given or received.  I was 4 up at the turn; Ran's wins on 15, 16 and 17 [when I didn't get it to the fairway in two tries after witnessing history] brought it back to even.  He then went for the 18th in two, and missed over the side of the green and down the cliff, costing him the match.  [That's a pretty harsh feature of that hole.]


The next morning at Cabot Links it was more straightforward.  I don't even know which hole I won on, we had stopped keeping track well before then.  I think Ran and Ben had celebrated a little too much the night before.

[Don Hyslop]

With all due respect to your own golfing abilities Ran, I see this  achievement as a reward from the Golfing Gods for having established a web site devoted to the architecture of this great game. A well deserved reward.

[Paul Jones]

That is awesome !!!  I have a drink in your honor tonight - ok, maybe 2. 

[Steve Wilson]

If this weren't your site and if my posting privileges weren't at your mercy I'd chastise you roundly for such shameless self-promotion, but keeping those two subordinate clauses in mind, Congratulations on your epic achievement and there are no words to describe your modest and restrained account of the same.


And as has been pointed out, no matter what comes after you were the first and they can't take that away from you.  I know because I scored my high school's first touchdown (the first three actually but that's another stor(ies).  I remember it well.  It was a sultry August evening and though we were being soundly thrashed, the off tackle was called...

[Andrew Buck]

great story ... brought a smile to my face on the 57th straight day of rain in Illinois.

[RJ_Daley]

What Don Hyslop said.... 

[Peter Pallotta]

An ace,by an American, on the 4th of July, in a country that licks the queen's boots? That's no mere hole in one, that's a blow struck for little-r republicans everywhere. Huzzah huzzah!

First of all, we officially stopped licking the Queen's boots (capital "Q", please) in 1982, with the Constitution Act that ammended the British North America Act and established the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Second, this is Golf Club Atlas: you needn't use the small "r" republican, as there is nary a soul around who would object to the capital "R". Finally, from the Golfers' Greeting Cards Special Edition: "Like love itself, a prohibitively expensive sea-side links course knows no borders". (As you know, this joins the most popular card in the collection: "Minimalism means never having to say you're sorry".)
 
Peter
 

[Eric Smith]

Magical! A tremendous accomplishment and an epic tale to go with it. Congratulations!

[Dan Kelly]

A sea breeze suddenly gusted to at least  2 mph and might well have been swirling for all I know.

Funniest line of them all. Didn't know you had it in you, sir!


Congrats.

[Joel_Stewart]

[/Why are we discussing this???   Because its a miracle.  The first ace on 16. I've recorded this in its proper form.

1. Born to a virgin - Miracles of Jesus
2. Changing water into wine - Miracles of Jesus

3. Healing of the royal official's son - Miracles of Jesus

4. Healing of the Capernaum demoniac - Miracles of Jesus

5. Healing of Peter's mother-in-law - Miracles of Jesus
6. Healing the sick during the evening - Miracles of Jesus
7. Catching a large number of fish - Miracles of Jesus
8. Healing a leper - Miracles of Jesus

9. Rans hole in 1 at Cabot Cliffs - Miracles of Ran

[Doug Wright]

Congrats Ran, I love golf karma! PS It's a good thing this didn't happen on that other holiday April 1 as we wouldn't believe you...

[Mike Hendren]

There is nothing more boring than hearing a man recount how he played a golf hole. 
 
Bogey

[Tom_Doak]

It's a good thing this didn't happen on that other holiday April 1

As the Scots caddies are fond of saying, "that would be too great of a coincidence."

[Patrick_Mucci]

Here are the most common responses to the biggest sporting event of the year:

1. Goodness gracious, given that it happened on America's Independence Day, I am ashamed of John Wayne for not having the foresight to include you in this 12 out of 10 rendition from 1970 of God Bless America:
http://biggeekdad.com/2014/09/john-wayne-1970/#.VCHJXVfNNJ8.email

2. Is it true that your putt for eagle at the drivable 17th hole came up short and that therefore your hopes of finishing eagle-eagle-double eagle went unrealized? Sadly yes, that's true BUT there is always this autumn.

3. Why do people like your middle brother (1 handicap) and Pat Mucci even try and compete against you? Good question!

Because it's incredibly rewarding, emotionally and financially.

4. How do you think Ben feels 1) having made a birdie and 2) still losing the hole? Once I finished doing somersaults, I showed nothing but compassion for his feeble efforts.

5. When you go to Dismal this August, IF you don't get a hole-in-one, does that mean that Coore & Crenshaw build better par 3s than the other two architects? I don't think it will come to that!

6. Who will play you in the movie? I am thinking The Rock but Woody Allen is the only person who has expressed interest so far.

7. Is it true that Donald Trump attended one of your classes on self-promotion? That's confidential!

Best,

[Eric Smith]

Here are the most common responses to the biggest sporting event of the year:



6. Who will play you in the movie? I am thinking The Rock but Woody Allen is the only person who has expressed interest so far.

Haven't we already been over this!

[Ted Sturges]

...good grief...

[Dave McCollum]

Well Ran, first off, congratulations!

You join an exclusive club.  I too am a member--at my father’s new golf course, now mine.  I didn’t know the lies of my clubs, matter of fact, I didn’t know what a lie was, and they weren’t my clubs.  I had no clubs so I borrowed some to give some academic golf nut a free tour of the new course because no golfer was available.  I didn’t play and it was perhaps the second time I attempted to hit a ball on grass.  When we didn’t see the ball on the blind green surface, although the ball seemed to be heading in that general direction, we didn’t look in the hole.  Instead, we played the percentages and spent the next few minutes searching the underbrush behind the green.  We gave up and only discovered the ball when Professor Golf holed out.  I was laughing so much, I think I got a 13 on the next hole.   

Having achieved that pinnacle, I quit the game for the next 25 years.  Even after taking it up, it’s been close but no cigar.

[Colin Macqueen]

Good morning Gentlemen, (PP Please note the capital G!)
Never in the fields of golfing conflict have so many been entertained so heartily by so few!!
This hole-in-one must be the most lauded ace in golfing history ..... and so it should be. To do the deed and have a gaggle of one thousand golfers living vicariously through this feat must be a real treat!
What a lark and what an uplifting thread and with that I'm off tae the gowf!
Cheers Colin

[Patrick_Mucci]

Eric,
 
That's pretty neat.
 
Ran,
 
Great hole to get a hole in one on, much better than just another member getting another hole in one on his home course.
 
Outstanding.
 
When will the plaque be installed or did you install it that night ?

[Frank Giordano]

Congratulations on the feat and the narrative, Ran.  Every hole-in-one is a minor miracle, but few have such articulate commentators to report them.

My one-and-only ace occurred in so unaccountably incredible circumstances that when I wanted to report on it, I demurred because it was too true to be believed.  So, I took the writer's route and fictionalized the story, publishing all the germane facts in a short story that became the first in my series, Tales from the Caddy Yard.  It's a Kindle story in the Amazon series, called "Impossible? Improbable? or Inevitable?"

[Doug Siebert]

A sea breeze suddenly gusted to at least  2 mph and might well have been swirling for all I know.

Funniest line of them all. Didn't know you had it in you, sir!


Congrats.

What I want to know is whether he allowed for that breeze? For one of my holes in one there was what I've always referred to as the "merest zephyr" so I aimed six feet left on a 185 yard shot. Some people don't believe me but honest to god I did. Luckily every once in a while I actually hit it where I'm aiming!

Congrats on the ace, Ran. Having the "first hole in one ever" on that hole (and I guess that course?) is an achievement few of us will ever match!

[Ben Cowan-Dewar]

Congratulations ... the telling of this event might be even better than the shot!


Ian

I can attest to that.

[John Chilver-Stainer]

There's nothing like a hole in one to release the euphoria within the human spirit.
What a teriffic euphoric exultation delivered with the tongue well in cheek,
I was chuckling all the way through.

Even luckier, Ran got to share the euphoria with esteemed golf buddies - what better.

My euphoric event happened alone. The first person I saw, I walked up to and said.
"Excuse my interruption but I've got to tell someone - I just made an ace at the 5th"
His unimpressed reply,

"I made one there yesterday"

It still didn't dampen the euphoria for a good 24 hours.

[Steve Lang]

   Ran,


Certainly congrats on the ace, its special anywhere accomplished and especially to a golfer's psyche. Did I miss it or was this your first also?


Your narrative certainly dispels the old quote "its now how, its how many!" 


When I showed your accomplishment at Cabot to Ms Sheila, she questioned when are we going there?  While a picture is worth 10k words, being there is  much better..  oh, and when you head to Dismal in August, see if you can match her ace at #3 White, they give a nice plaque to memorialize.