Aces were wild for one foursome Wednesday at the Spallumcheen Golf & Country Club.
John LePrieur, 59, and Glenn Hermanson, 82, who just met prior to the 11 a.m. shotgun start, both recorded hole-in-ones, just over an hour apart.
Joined by Gord Holm and Steve Thompson, the fireworks began on the par-3 15th when LePrieur stepped up and used a No. 3 hybrid club from 176 yards.
“The pin was at the back of the bunker so I couldn’t see where it landed,” said LePrieur. “One of my buddies hit the green. When we got up there, we started looking in the grass and another foursome told us to check the hole. Sure enough, they were right.”
It was the first career ace for LaPrieur, a retired heavy duty mechanic who just took up the game last year after playing fastball and baseball back in the day.
“I played 250 rounds on the baby course, the executive, last year, and I’ve got 124 rounds in on the championship course,” said LePrieur. “I just love the game. I wish I had taken it up as a kid.”
He normally shoots in the high 80s, but finished with a career-best 79 thanks to his ace. The group started on No. 13 so a nervous LePrieur had 16 holes to go after the hole-in-one.
“Steve hit one on 12 about two or three inches away so we almost had three,” added LePrieur. “And Gord chipped in for birdie on another hole. What a day.”
Hermanson aced the par-3 17th hole, also known as Chappy Island, in memory of former Spall employee George Chapman. Hermanson used a 28-degree hybrid from 121 yards.
“It sort of bounced on the green and rolled towards the hole,” said Hermanson, a retired civil engineer. “It was my first hole-in-one. I’m running out of time because I turned 82 in June. I finished with a 90. I almost shot my age today (Friday) with an 83.”
Hermanson grew up in Northern Ontario, playing a six-hole course with sand greens on the Sioux Lookout track. He played regular courses when he was dean of the Red River College in Winnipeg later in life.
“I moved to Vernon in ‘92 and joined Spall in ‘94. I played with (Spall pro) Myles Johnson when he was 12 and he was playing 45 holes a day.”
