Sunset Ranch’s par 3, eighth hole was the scene of the rarest of accomplishments on the golf course last week.
On June 14, two golfers playing in the same group nailed hole-in-ones on Sunset Ranch’s 125 yard par 3.
According to Sunset Ranch manager Bruce Vermee, who checked with the National Golf Hole in One Registry, the odds of accomplishing the feat is 17 million to one.
It all began when long-time Sunset Ranch members Walter and Jenine Trudeau were about to tee off the morning of June 14. A gentleman named Rod Milic from Regina, Saskatchewan, was placed in their group.
When they reached the eighth hole, Milic hit first and knocked it in the hole for an ace.
“He was dancing, hooting and hollering” said Jenine Trudeau, “then he high-fived Walter and I, then it was Walter’s turn to tee off.”
After Walter hit, it was Jenine’s turn—and she followed Milic’s shot, right into the hole for her ace.
“I think Rod was more excited for me than he was for himself,” she said with a chuckle.
More high fives and hollering ensued, and after the round the players headed in for the time honored tradition of a round of drinks in the Sunset Ranch Golf & Country Club Clubhouse.
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It’s been another good week for Kelowna golfer Samantha Richdale.
Richdale tied for 28th place at the latest stop on golf’s Symetra Tour in Decatur, Illinois.
The 29-year-old from Kelowna, coming off a second-place effort last week at a CN Tour event in Quebec, finished at 2-under 214 (71-71-72), eight shots back of the winner, Canadian Sue Kim.
Thanks her effort on Canadian soil this season, Richdale was named the CN Tour’s Jocelyne Bourassa Player of the Year award, winning the award after finishing first and second at the tour’s
Richdale is now 14th overall on the Symetra money list with $10, 404. The top 10 at the end of the season will earn LPGA Tour playing status.
Richdale will play this weekend in the Four Winds Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
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Sunset Ranch held its 23rd Annual Sunset Ranch Ladies Classic last month and for the sixth time Lynda Palahniuk was the overall low gross winner with a two day total of 154.
Palahniuk carded rounds of 79 and 75 to win the overall low gross total.
The event featured a full field of 123 ladies. Other local winners were Sunset member Brenda Bokitch who won low net in the first fight with net scores of 76 and 70.
Nan Crook of the Okanagan Golf Club was low gross winner in the second flight after rounds of 89 and 88.
Sunset’s Olivia Higgs won low gross in the third flight, shooting 87-99 while Alvina Labar of Sunset shot 97-100 to win low gross in the fourth flight.
Colleen Edstrom claimed low net in the fourth flight with net scores of 72-79 while the Harvest Golf Club’s Kathy Krasnov won low gross in the fifth flight with 102-108.
The tournament was also a fundraiser and this year, with the help of sponsors and participants, the ladies tournament raised $12,500 for the B.C Cancer Foundation supporting women’s cancers in Southern Interior. The tournament has now raised $31,800 in four years.
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A Kelowna duo won the third annual Interior Pro-Superintendent Challenge last Thursday at the Spallumcheen Golf and Country Club.
Pro Jon Kadin and Fritz Verkerk of Gallagher’s Canyon carded an 11-under 60 in the best-ball, net format. Kadin pocketed $400, while Verkerk took home a Ping Answer driver.
Superintendent Jim Simms and pro Al Pisch of Spallumcheen shot 65 to finish sixth, one stroke ahead of defending champions Myles Johnson (pro) and Ralph Johnson of Spall. The Johnson boys (no relation) won last year’s title at the Okanagan Club in Kelowna.
Neil Schmidt (pro) and Jason Carleton of Tower Ranch in Kelowna finished second at 61, followed by pro Shane Pugliese and Chad DeGroot, also of Tower Ranch, at 62, in the 18-team tourney.
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Another Molson Tour Monday came and went with 93 players dodging major weather patterns and completing 18 holes at the Okanagan Golf Club’s Bear Course.
Players are amassing their best six scores of 11 league rounds prior to match-play playoffs in the third season of the Molson Tour at the OGC.
The top five players midway through the season:
1. Tim Jex
2. Dan Joinson
3. Enzo DeLaurentiis
4. Dennis Young
5. Lance Menzies
Other prize winners on Monday saw closest to the pin winners Jeff Budda, Gary Yates, Russ Acton and Dean Witala while Randy Ledyard claimed another long drive prize. Al Knutson sunk the longest putt and Brian Lanz nailed the closes to the keg prize.
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A new practice facility is open at Predator Ridge, designed by golf course designer Doug Carrick.
The new practice area features a 14,000 square foot putting green, practice tees that will allow you to always hit off grass and new target greens. The new facility is an addition to Predator’s golf academy and the club says it lives up to the same world-class standards as the golf courses, academy and other resort amenities.
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Quotable: “My favorite (golf) shots are the practice swing and the conceded putt. The rest can never be mastered.”
-Lord Robertson
