Three Aces in 13-day Span

Three Chapter members carded a hole-in-one over the span of 13 days during July. Congratulations to Amy Brightman, Tammy Curtis and Agueda Sanchez for this fabulous feat. According to United States Golf Register, which bills itself as the official hole-in-one registry, the estimated odds of acing a hole with any given swing are one in 33,000. (See “Fun Facts” below for more trivia about holes-in-one.) Tammy Curtis, this year’s “Fun Tournaments Director,” started the run of aces with a hole-in-one at Echo Falls on July 7 while playing a practice round in preparation for our Chapter Championship event. Tammy, a member since 2001, was on the par 3, 93-yard, 10th hole with playing partner Tricia Deering. Tammy reports Tricia was up, but decided to change clubs, “so I decided to keep up pace of play and got up to hit.” She used a Ping G-10 9-iron and a Callaway Warbird (“dirty”) ball. “I hit it well and it took a great arc right toward the green.” The ball hit the green about six feet in front of the hole and rolled in. Tammy described it as “absolutely amazing.” Asked what her tab was for buying the traditional round of drinks for the house, Tami said the bar was closed by the time her group finished, “so I didn't have a chance to empty my bank account. I still owe at least Tricia a drink though!” The following Monday, Amy Brightman, a coordinator for our Nile league, experienced her “very, very first” hole in one on The Nile’s 13th hole. Quoting her dad, who has hit two in his life, she agrees “it’s the most thrilling thing that can happen to a golfer.” Amy combined a Callaway 4 Hybrid with a Lady Precept iQ 180 for her winning shot on the par 3, 151 yard hole, adding there’s a great story about this club. It was only the second shot she’d hit with it. The club was one of the prizes Helen Lally won the previous Saturday for being our Chapter Champion. Last year, Helen had been fitted for custom-made clubs so she sold it to Amy for a “very reasonable and generous price.” (Any bets on whether it will be a “keeper” for Amy?) Asked about hosting a post-round round of celebratory drinks, Amy said with “tax, tip and a nice rewarding dinner for myself, the tab came to just over $100,” adding it was worth every penny! Amy, who joined EWGA in 2006, calls her Nile league players “the best group of women to golf with, noting they were so supportive and elated for her. “As I told Janet Young after the tournament, I never realized how much EWGA and the support of my co-golfers would come to mean to me,” she remarked. “I thought I was just signing up to get out on the course more regularly. That has happened for sure, but I have also gained so much more than: I've met many great women whom I truly call friends, have traveled with them for weekend golf outings in Eastern Washington, and have have played in (and even won) my first tournament ever. Much more than I asked for and I am thrilled about that,” she exclaimed. The following Saturday, July 19, Agueda Sanchez, shot her first hole-in-one during the EWGA Weekend Fun Play event at White Horse. That thrill occurred on hole 17, described as the “shortest golf hole on the course, but extremely challenging, with the large and mellow green set atop a large knoll and entrenched with deep, menacing bunkers.” The par 3 107-yarder was no problem for Agueda, who chose a 7 iron and Callaway HX-Tour for her memorable shot. Agueda, a member for only a year, escaped buying a round of drinks in the clubhouse afterwards (there isn’t one at this new course yet), but treated her co-players to beers on the ferry during the return trip from Kingston. Please let us know about your holes-in-one by sending a recap to communications@ewgaseattle.org. Fun Facts about Holes-in-One According to Scigolf.com, citing “statistical analysis in America,” the odds against a male professional or top amateur hitting a hole-in-one are 3,708 to 1; for a female professional or top amateur, the odds are 4,648 to 1; for an average golfer, the odds are 42,952 to 1. According to Golf-Hole-in-One.com: each course in the U.S. reports 10-to-15 holes-in-one each during the estimated 500 million rounds that are played annually. An ace is scored once every 3,500 golf rounds. Only one to two percent of golfers score a hole-in-one during any given year.