Birthday Party Outing in Gaylord Golf Mecca Produces Hard-To-Believe Holes-In-One
GAYLORD – It was a birthday party golf outing for eight friends that beat the odds.
Hole-in-one odds to be precise.
On a recent Monday afternoon, eight friends went golfing at Michaywe’ Pines Golf Course located in the heart of the Gaylord Golf Mecca and obviously a great place to spend a birthday.
They were celebrating the birthday of Vickie Putnam. We are not revealing ages of ladies here, even though this story is about numbers.
See, the eight women divided into two foursomes and in the first foursome on the third tee, Lynda Ford made a hole-in-one on the par 3 hole that plays at about 100 yards from the front tee position.
A celebration inside the birthday celebration ensued.
Then, just a few minutes later, Rita Dickie, teed up from the same spot, same yardage, same hole and she made a hole-in-one as well.
More celebrating ensued, and amazement was even more a part of the reaction.
Judy Mason, the director of golf at the Pines, shared this story. She has been in the shop often as hole-in-ones were reported, and she has heard many ace stories in her career as a golf professional. This one was a first for her though, and it is unique among the unique.
Some research indicates the odds of the average amateur golfer making a hole-in-one is about 12,500 to one, and researchers have even figured the odds of two players making an ace on the same hole in the same golf event as 32,000 to one. Of course, they are thinking of a regular golf outing with perhaps as many as 100 golfers.
Closer to what happened with our Mecca friends are the odds of two golfers in the same group of four making a hole-in-one at any point during the round, which are 1.3 million to one.
Really close to what happened at the Pines are the odds figured for two players in the same foursome making hole-in-ones on the same hole. That is figured at 26 million to one.
This was an outing of eight friends, in back-to-back groups, seconds apart, on the same hole.
Lynda Ford and Rita Dickie beat some serious odds whatever they may be, which made Vickie Putnam’s birthday one to remember.
Happy Birthday Vickie from the Gaylord Golf Mecca where the odds are you are going to have a hard time topping that birthday golf outing.
-Greg Johnson
