I love Rotary, and I got a hole-in-one at their golf tournament last week!!!

 

I’ve been part of Rotary for a long time. I don’t have the specific year that I joined. But I remember Newell Krogmann encouraging me to get involved with a local service club. I was still relatively new to Blaine and wanting to learn more about the community. Joining a service club made sense. I remember when I was growing up learning more about Kiwannis. One of the singing groups in which I was in sang for them every year. They provided chaperones for our local Prom because one year a student was in a terrible car accident. They stepped up to help. 

I didn’t know anything about Rotary when I came. They met every week at the Clubhouse of the Tournament Player’s Championship golf course. I still remember my first meeting. About twenty-five people attended—a mix of men and women. They provided a free breakfast and a speaker who talked about something in the community. I don’t remember who the speaker was, but I remember that the topic was interesting. 

So I started attending every Wednesday. Eventually I joined. The dues weren’t bad—about $800 a year. I got a free breakfast from my dues. I thought to myself, “I have to eat breakfast somewhere. Why not do it with other people who want to serve the community?” 

Our local Rotary club does quite a lot of service project. Since I’ve joined I can remember passing out dictionaries in the local elementary schools; helping HOPE 4 Youth and Stepping Stone; picking up trash on the side of the road; supporting a partnership in Guatemala; and providing mentors in a youth program called Strive. 

Two years ago I was asked if I would serve as the President of our local club. The timing wasn’t great for me as our congregation was moving into our new building. But I’ve always believed that we don’t always get to choose when we serve. So I said, “yes.” The tasks didn’t take an extra amount of time. I wrote an email once a week, helped lead the meetings on Wednesday, and led a Board meeting once a month. I was really pleased that during the year I arranged for our Club to do some strategic planning. This worked out very well. Our club reorganized our committees and set some objectives. 

Every year our local Rotary club puts on a fundraising golf tournament. It’s a best ball tournament at the Refuge golf club. It’s the only fundraiser that our club does. It makes over $40,000. In the past year that money has been given to a large number of groups in the community. Groups who have received money are Achieve Services, Alexandra Houses, bikes for Kids, Blaine Police Explorers, the Miracle League, HOPE 4 Youth, Stepping Stone, the Jim Smith Foundation, Lee Carlson Center, MNAdopt, Reel Hope Project, the Anoka Hennepin Educational Foundation, the Spring Lake Park Education Foundation and HOPE for the community. I’m sure I’m missing some organization who have received funding in that list. 

I think this is a very impressive array of groups who have bene helped by the golf tournament. 

Last Thursday I was golfing at the tournament. It’s a best-ball tournament with four people on each team. I’ve recruited the same team for a number of years—John Carney, John Altrichter, and my wife, Amy. We golfed fairly well—we ended up at twelve under. 

Our last hole of the day was #14. It is 167 yards. I pulled out my four iron and hit my shot. It was a good shot. I knew that it had landed on the green and was near the hole. Because it was late in the day the shadows didn’t let me see where the ball finally rested. Someone was near the hole and started shouting that the ball was in the hole. That couldn’t be as that would be a hole-in-one. And I’m not a good enough golfer to hit a hole-in-one.

So I started walking towards the hole before everyone on the team had completed their shot. I needed to see for myself what I was hearing. I got to the green and didn’t see the ball. The person who was shouting told me I had a hole-in-one. Really? I walked to the hole and there was my yellow ball in the hole. It was a hole-in-one. 

I couldn’t help taking a picture, which is on the top of this blog post. 

Wow. This had never happened to me before. I am not convinced it will ever happen again. The four of us celebrated on the hole and went to the clubhouse.  

It was a blast telling everyone that I had a hole-in-one and then taking some pictures. Everybody had basically the same response. Their face had the look of “are you kidding me?” I discovered that getting a hole-in-one is like telling people that you’ve had a baby. Everyone is happy for you and is ready to slap you on the back. 

I did some research and discovered that According to the National Hole-in-One Registry, the odds of the average golfer making a hole-in-one are 12,500 to 1. The odds of a PGA tour player making an ace are 3,000 to 1; a low handicapper is 5,000 to 1. I don’t golf enough to have a handicap, but I’m happy to break fifty for nine holes. I did have another birdie at the tournament.

 

More interesting statistics. The average years of playing golf for a player before making an ace is 24. Tiger Woods has had twenty aces in his lifetime.

I don’t know what I’ll do with my golf ball that landed in the hole, but I’ll figure something out. 

I am not a good golfer, so I don’t anticipate every getting another hole-in-one. Though the shot I hit was a good shot, I was completely lucky that it went in the hole. However I'll never forget that shot and that it happened at the Rotary golf tournament.