A hole-in-one is a rare and coveted event, and a great many golfers go their entire lives without making one.
Those people would probably hate Paul Teillet.
The 61-year-old recently made aces on consecutive days at Ledgeview Golf and Country Club – a feat of phenomenal improbability, considering various estimates on the odds of making a hole-in-one on a given swing range from 5,000-1 at the low end of the scale to 45,000-1 at the high end.
“They usually come every once in a while, but they’ve been coming in a little bit of a cluster this year for me,” Teillet marveled. “It’s bizarre, actually.”
Teillet, a three handicap who won the Ledgeview club championship in 2009, retired this year and plays about five rounds a week.
His ridiculous run of aces began on Tuesday, Aug. 19.
Standing at the tee box at Ledgeview’s 180-yard par three 11th hole, Teillet took note of the back right hole location – the toughest possible placement, as it’s above a ridge in the middle of the green.
“I had a choice between my six-iron and my four-iron,” said Teillet, who doesn’t carry a five-iron in his bag. “I was going to go with my six and try and hit it hard and roll it on. But at the last minute, I walked back to my bag and took my four-iron.
“It hit right into the bank in the middle of the green and trickled onto the top level. I thought it was behind the hole, but it had gone in.”
Golf tradition dictates that a player who makes a hole-in-one buys a round of drinks, and Teillet was fortunate with his first ace – two of his playing partners were teetotalers.
He wasn’t so lucky with the next one, which came on men’s night at Ledgeview and ended up costing him about $130.
He found the cup on the 203-yard eighth hole, and wasn’t immediately aware it had gone in due to the contrast between the bright sunlight that day and long shadows over the green.
“We’re walking up to the green . . . and we’re missing a ball,” he said. “At that point, I thought, ‘Hmmm, it might have gone in the hole.’ And sure enough, it was in.
“Because we were all talking about the hole-in-one the day before, you’re happy but you’re almost embarrassed, you know what I mean? There’s a fair amount of luck to any hole-in-one.”
Teillet now has eight holes-in-one to his name, four of which have come during the last 11 months.
In an odd twist, Barclay Neilson was among his playing partners for each of the last three.
“I’ve probably only played 10 games with the guy this year, so it’s been pretty bizarre,” Teillet said with a chuckle.
