I started playing at age 10 and had never had an ace. On February 8th, 2022 I approached hole 11 on the Orchard course at Lincoln Hills outside Sacramento, CA. This is a local course and a hole I am very familiar with. The flag was blue and the pin was back right at 147 yds. While the left side of this green is visible, open and lower, the right sight is a bit elevated, guarded by a small, steep bunker with the surface just out of view. It was about 4pm and the sun was low and directly behind the hole causing some glare as many golfers can relate too.
I had played this hole enough to know that a back pin with no wind meant it would be a stock 8 iron for me which I usually hit 150ish yards. I put a solid strike on the ball that started about 10 feet left of the pin but with a slight fade. With the glare, I lost the ball on descent but really liked the trajectory.
I will never forget the crash sound of the pin being rattled and the jolt of my reaction to hearing the noise it made. I couldn't see the right side of the green so had no idea where the ball ended up.
The previous time I had hit a pin years ago, the ball ended up 25 feet from the cup, so my mind never thought about a one, but wondering where the ball might have ricocheted too. As I parked the cart left of the green and started walking and not seeing a ball, the thought of an ace crossed my mind and I made a u turn to grab my phone, just in case.
Even though you may be walking and thinking "Is it in there?" There's nothing like that moment when you actually see the ball in the cup and it hits you what just happened.
A few years prior, I stumbled upon some limited edition Titleist Pro V1 golf balls with the number 71 commemorating the 71st consecutive year that Titleist would be the #1 golf ball of the US Open. Since '71 was my birthyear and I have played with Pro V1s for 20 years, I felt I had to have this and purchased two sleeves. Those 2 sleeves have sat for 2+ years however I decided late in 2021 that I didn't need to save 6 balls and would add one sleeve into rotation of game balls along with some custom Pro V1s numbered 71 I purchased a few months prior as a minor celebration of turning 50 in 2021.
Fast forward to today and I am thrilled that the commemorative 71 Titleist Pro V1 ball is the one I was playing with that day and will be the ball that tells the story of my very first Hole-in-One.