Off the Fringe
I bet there are a lot of people out there who won't believe the legendary Ben Hogan and I have something in common. Scoring an ace is the
golfer’s ultimate goalNo, it's not that he and I enjoy the game of golf -- and I don't profess to be on his level -- but it's something that I'm sure all golfers, not only myself, want to do in their lifetime, make a hole-in-one.
"Yeah, he (Ben Hogan) never had one," colleague Paul Arnett told me.
"As great as he was, he never made a hole-in-one."
I couldn't believe it.
I mean, the man who is larger than life has won the U.S. Open, the British Open, the PGAChampionship, the Masters and every amateur title imaginable. But to have done all of that and never aced one hole? Unbelievable.
Hey, Tiger Woods made one.
Even Jack Nicklaus.
Andrew Magee (Andrew Magee?) went so far as to score a hole-in-one on a par-4 when he dropped his tee shot into the hole at the 17th green of the Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale in Arizona during the 2001 Phoenix Open.
But it's not only the pros who can find the bottom of the cup with one fell swoop.
Amateurs have done it, too.
The late Harold Hoyt Stilson Sr. was the oldest known golfer to record a hole-in-one when he aced the 108-yard, No. 16 at the Deerfield Country Club in Brockport, N.Y., last year. He was 101.
Imagine that.
Hey, 80-year-old grandmothers can lay claim to scoring an ace.
So can a 5-year-old boy.
Heck, I've even read that there was one woman in her 70s who had two aces in one round on a nine-hole layout -- on the same hole.
But me?
Not even close.
I have my share of eagles (three and counting) as well as birdies (too numerous to remember).
Aces?
Dream on.
I've seen Bill Kwon, a former colleague of mine, make a hole-in-one at the Navy-Marine Golf Course. And I've been told, more than once, about how my buddy, Wes Watanabe, got his on a temporary par-3 green, also at the Navy-Marine course.
I checked the Guinness Book of World Records and found out that there were, at last count, 20 cases of two aces in a row, the longest hole-in-one on a straight fairway was made by Robert Mitera on the 446-yard, No. 10 at the Miracle Hills Golf Club (Neb.), and Matthew Draper was the youngest to ace a hole at the age of 5 years, 212 days.
I don't expect to see my name in the record books any time soon, but when I get my first ace, I can say I am one better than Ben Hogan.
SPEAKINGOFACES, Haru-hisa Aoyagi picked a right time to make his.
Playing in the Hawaii Pearl Open Pro-Am last Thursday, Aoyagi used his driver to score a hole-in-one on the 184-yard, par-3, No. 3 at the Pearl Country Club.
His prize?
A sporty 2002 Acura RSX(S-type) sports car from Pfleuger Acura.
Lucky guy.
Star-Bulletin assistant sports editor Randy Cadiente is a once-a-week hacker who carries a 15-handicap. He can be reached at 529-4785 or: rcadiente@starbulletin.com