Quick 9: Hole-in-What?!
I tend to write too much. Overstuffing each sentence with dashes, parenthesis, and asides. I know I do this, but I can't stop. There's just too much to tell. As far as indulgences go, it's pretty tame, but I need to quit.
As a way to do that I’m going to be putting these rabbit hole tidbits into a series that will be as deliberately to-the-point as I can make them. Some you’ve heard before, maybe even from me in an earlier post. Hopefully even the previously known will still be interesting, like a hole on a familiar golf course.
Won’t you join me for a quick 9?
*NOTE: underlined text provides a link to references or sites with more information
CHAMPIONSHIP ACES
1. First Championship Hole-In-One
We’re going to kick this off with the equivalent of a foam-donut-in-the-cup-hole-in-one. *So far the first known hole-in-one made during an intercollegiate championship came from Arthur Contay of Fordham University during the 2nd round of the 1938 men’s championship. Why the qualifiers? Well first, the NCAA didn’t take over running the championship from the USGA until 1939. Second, while we can’t say that this is definitively the first hole-in-one made during championship play, we can say that we’ve looked through thousands of newspaper clippings from all of the championships 1897-1937, and this was the first mention we’ve come across.
2. Wrong Hole
That said, there have been prior hits in our “hole in one” search for older championships, they just weren’t...official? For example, during the 1923 Intercollegiate golf championship, Yale’s Joseph MacMahon scored a rather unconventional hole-in-one when his drive from the 1st tee landed in the hole on the 8th green some 200 yards away.
3. We’re Talking About Practice?
Another championship hole-in-one actually happened during a practice round in 1932. Dartmouth’s Chester Birch carded an ace on the 245-yard par 3 15th hole, which, due to the proximity to the clubhouse, was witnessed by a rather large crowd of people. That may have been an expensive practice round.
4. Most Recent
Through the 2024 championship, the honor of making the most recent hole-in-one goes to Ohio State’s Tyler Sabo. In his team’s dramatic Quarterfinal victory over favorited Vanderbilt, Sabo did his part by taking his opponent into extra holes thanks in part to his momentum-flipping hole-in-one on the par 3 8th hole. You can watch the video here:
https://x.com/i/status/1795516870407143436
There was one more hole-in-one during the 2024 men’s NCAA championship at La Costa. Earlier, in round 3, Texas Tech’s Calum Scott aced the 245 yard par 3 12th hole.
ACES WILD
5. Hole in the Beach
Everyone has a favorite factoid and this may be mine. Outside of the actual intercollegiate championship, the oldest known hole-in-one made during an intercollegiate tournament (not match) was made by Stanford’s Warner Edmonds in the 1930 Pacific Coast Intercollegiate. Why is this one of my favorites? Edmonds scored his ace on the par 3 17th hole - made famous by historic US Open shots by Jack Nicklaus (1972) and Tom Watson (1982)1 - and **is very likely the first hole-in-one made on that hole** as claimed by the newspaper clipping below. This was all but confirmed in a conversation I had with Pebble Beach historian Neal Hotelling who literally wrote the book(s) on the topic.
6. Fine Way to Start a Match
College golf prior to the 1960s-70s primarily consisted of head-to-head matches between 2-3 schools rather than multi-team tournaments as we see today. Both Alabama and LSU had golf programs still in their infancy in 1931, but that didn’t stop them from creating a fierce rivalry. One of their earliest matches occurred in April, 1931, where Bama’s Fred Blackman scored a hole-in—one on the 1st hole in route to a crimson victory. This may have also been the first competition hole-in-one in program history.
7. 2023-24 Albatross Aces
Getting a hole-in-one during official collegiate play is already incredible, but doing so on a par 4 is practically unheard of. That makes the fact that we saw two during the 2023-24 season that much more interesting, even more so given that both were connected to Marquette. Early in the season, UC Davis freshman Leo Metzger recorded an albatross ace in the 2nd round of the Marquette Intercollegiate. The following March, Marquette junior Max Lyons matched the feat during the 1st round of the Johnnie-O. Isn’t it fitting that Marquette is known as the Golden Eagles?
One detail easy to skip over in the story of Metzger’s par 4 hole-in-one is that the UC Davis Director of Operations, Todd Hammond, accomplished that incredibly rare feat 40 seasons before. During the Pepsi Nor Cal Invitational in March 1984, Hammond scored an ace on the par 4 5th hole. So far this is the first one we’ve heard of made during an actual collegiate competition.
8. Double Eagles
What’s better than getting a hole-in-one? Getting a hole-in-one the same day as your roommate! Georgia Southern seniors Hayden Anderson (left) and Will Evans (right) combined for a truly unforgettable team round when they each scored a hole-in-one during the 2nd round of the 2014 Schenkel Invitational. If that’s happened before we’d sure like to know about it.
9. Wild Wild Western
The Western Intercollegiate is one of the top tier college golf tournaments on the calendar. Imagine, if you will, getting a hole-in-one at Pasatiempo during a tournament. Not only did Cal redshirt freshman William Aldred get to experience that high during the 2nd round of the 2017 edition of the tournament, he came back in the final round to get another ace on a different par 3. Aldred went nuts celebrating with teammate Colin Morikawa after the second hole-in-one, and I’ll bet there was even more in the team van after the round.
Thanks for reading!
Yes, I known I did it again...but come on, do you blame me? If there is ever a time for an aside, it has to be when you can bring up these two historic moments in US Open history.
Joseph MacMahon legacy is the funniest thing I’ve read in a while!! This is amazing!