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Kory Kassak recently hit a hole-in-one on a 295-yard par 4 at Rifle Creek Golf Course.
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With every swing from the tees, the slight possibility of that elusive hole-in-one lingers, if only for a matter of seconds. This player’s bright red tee can be spotted in the air just below the skyline as he tees off on the third hole at the Glenwood Springs Golf Club recently. This course has three par-3 holes, with the third hole being one of the most known for its hole-in-one possibilities.
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Rifle’s Kory Kassak used a driver to score a hole-in-one on the 295-yard, par-4 seventh hole at Rifle Creek Golf Course.
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Rifle resident Earl Cherry finally hit his hole-in-one at the Rifle Creek Golf Course after 42 years of practice.
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Jeff Franke made a hole-in-one during the recent Glenwood Open at the Glenwood Springs Golf Club. It was his first.
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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — The odds of smacking a tiny white ball into a 4 1/4-inch cup from more than a football-field’s distance away are not in a golfer’s favor.
And they’re especially slim if you’re just an everyday Joe or Jane hacking his or her way through a round of golf every now and then.
But holes-in-one do happen on occasion, particularly here in the Roaring Fork Valley, where rarely does a week go by with a blurb in the newspaper about someone defying the enormous odds and sinking a single shot into that 4 1/4-inch hole.
Even rarer than the ace is the double eagle on a par 4.
Take 2008 Rifle High School graduate Kory Kassak, who had never as much as birdied a hole before he drained a hole-in-one — from 295 yards away — on the par-4 seventh hole at Rifle Creek Golf Course.
Luck or skill? Kassak has a pretty honest assessment of his skills.
“I’m not a very good golfer,” Kassak said. “I usually get bogeys and double-bogeys and stuff.”
And then you have those who spend a good chunk of their lives whacking that little white, dimpled ball around the links and never experience the thrill of a hole-in-one.
“To go an entire lifetime, even as a regular golfer, without a hole-in-one is not uncommon,” said Doug Kelch, a starter/ranger at Aspen Glen Golf Course. One of his jobs is to prepare framed awards for club members who have hit a hole-in-one as means of commemorating the rare feat.
It took Earl Cherry, a Rifle Creek frequenter, 42 years to notch his first hole-in-one.
“I play every chance I get,” he said. “I play maybe 30, 40 times a year, I guess. … I had three double eagles but never had a hole-in-one. It was quite exciting.”
The 64-year-old broke his lifelong dry spell in June, acing Rifle Creek’s 15th hole from 134 yards out.
It’s clear that rhyme or reason doesn’t always figure into who strikes a hole-in-one. It’s unfairly common for those who spend every free moment gripping a club to never find the cup in just one swing.
Skill can regularly land your shots in the vicinity of the hole, but luck usually needs to be a willing companion — at the very least minimally. Even a golf pro would admit as much.
“A hole-in-one takes a little bit of luck and some skill,” Battlement Mesa Golf Club head pro Jason Franke conceded.
One thing is certain: Sinking a hole-in-one is an odds-defying act.
And they’re especially slim if you’re just an everyday Joe or Jane hacking his or her way through a round of golf every now and then.
But holes-in-one do happen on occasion, particularly here in the Roaring Fork Valley, where rarely does a week go by with a blurb in the newspaper about someone defying the enormous odds and sinking a single shot into that 4 1/4-inch hole.
Even rarer than the ace is the double eagle on a par 4.
Take 2008 Rifle High School graduate Kory Kassak, who had never as much as birdied a hole before he drained a hole-in-one — from 295 yards away — on the par-4 seventh hole at Rifle Creek Golf Course.
Luck or skill? Kassak has a pretty honest assessment of his skills.
“I’m not a very good golfer,” Kassak said. “I usually get bogeys and double-bogeys and stuff.”
And then you have those who spend a good chunk of their lives whacking that little white, dimpled ball around the links and never experience the thrill of a hole-in-one.
“To go an entire lifetime, even as a regular golfer, without a hole-in-one is not uncommon,” said Doug Kelch, a starter/ranger at Aspen Glen Golf Course. One of his jobs is to prepare framed awards for club members who have hit a hole-in-one as means of commemorating the rare feat.
It took Earl Cherry, a Rifle Creek frequenter, 42 years to notch his first hole-in-one.
“I play every chance I get,” he said. “I play maybe 30, 40 times a year, I guess. … I had three double eagles but never had a hole-in-one. It was quite exciting.”
The 64-year-old broke his lifelong dry spell in June, acing Rifle Creek’s 15th hole from 134 yards out.
It’s clear that rhyme or reason doesn’t always figure into who strikes a hole-in-one. It’s unfairly common for those who spend every free moment gripping a club to never find the cup in just one swing.
Skill can regularly land your shots in the vicinity of the hole, but luck usually needs to be a willing companion — at the very least minimally. Even a golf pro would admit as much.
“A hole-in-one takes a little bit of luck and some skill,” Battlement Mesa Golf Club head pro Jason Franke conceded.
One thing is certain: Sinking a hole-in-one is an odds-defying act.
A few who have done it
2008 Local Holes-in-one
Please note: This is not a comprehensive list. The list was culled from course and individual hole-in-one reports. Some courses do not record holes-in-one, and some only record those hit by members. Glenwood Springs Golf Club April 23 — David Suminski, third hole, 160 yards using a 7-iron. Witnessed by Russ Cabe and Tim Malloy. April 28 — Ray Owen, eighth hole, 154 yards using a 6-iron. Witnessed by Bob Dressel, Don Veit and Bob Faulkner. April 28 — Craig Nichols, fourth hole, 140 yards using a 9-iron. Witnessed by Jim Otto, John Seidel and Bob McKenzie. May 11 — Jim Frey, third hole, 145 yards using an 8-iron. Witnessed by Kirk Blaszyk, Kenny Cline and Phil Kauppila. May 17 — Ed Ware, third hole, 160 yards using a 7-iron. Witnessed by Bob David, Ken Moser and Chris McComas. July 13 — Jeff Franke, eighth hole, 160 yards using a 7-iron. Witnessed by Jeff Otto, Jim Griffin and Steve Lazarus. Rifle Creek Golf Course April 21 — Jack Smith, 15th hole, 115 yards using a pitching wedge. Witnessed by Wes Downey and Bob Hutton. June 11 — Kory Kassak, seventh hole, 295 yards using a driver. Witnessed by Kyle Concanen, Kevin Schell and Wade Lacount. Note: This shot was on a par-4 hole. June 14 — Pat Hayes, 11th hole, 168 yards using a 6-iron. Witnessed by Al Weissner, Steve Jensen and Troy Mann. June 15 — Earl Cherry, 15th hole, 134 yards using a pitching wedge. Witnessed by David Small, Tad Holloway and Mark Sills. July 5 — Audrey Hughes, 15th hole, 107 yards using a pitching wedge. Witnessed by Doug and Mary Ann Hughes. Ranch at Roaring Fork Golf Course April 4 — Tim Harris, seventh hole, 84 yards using a 9-iron. April 14 — Bonnie Webb, eighth hole, 54 yards using a 9-iron. April 30 — Jack Sebesta, seventh hole, 84 yards using a 6-iron. May 20 — Bobby Parr, eighth hole, 54 yards using a sand wedge. May 30 — Wally DeBeque, eighth hole, 54 yards using a sand wedge. May 31 — Michael Glen, eighth hole, 54 yards using a short iron. Note: Glen is only 8 years old. June 26 — Gary Gros, eighth hole, 54 yards using a 60-degree sand wedge. Aspen Glen Golf Course May 15 — Tom Carnish, eighth hole, 122 yards using a pitching wedge. Witnessed by Frank McGuirk and Jay Abrahamovich. June 13 — Dick Hampelman, 11th hole, 192 yards using a 6-iron. Unknown date — Allen Henry, 14th hole. Witnessed by Jerry McDaniel and John Winter. Unknown date — John Winter, unknown hole. River Valley Ranch Golf Club June 28 — Don Nelson, eighth hole, 146 yards using a 9-iron. Note: Nelson is from Fresno, Calif. Lakota Canyon Golf Club July 10 — Ken Dunham, ninth hole, 215 yards using a 5-iron. Witnessed by Dan Currie and Neil Lebowitz. Note: This course has not been tracking hole-in-ones this season. The shot listed above was self-reported. Ironbridge Golf Club None yet reported/recorded for the season. Battlement Mesa Golf Club This course has not been tracking hole-in-ones this season. |
Gauging those odds
The act of quantifying hole-in-one odds falls hostage to many a variable. Ability, distance from the tee to the cup, weather conditions and course layout all complicate the process.Of course, that doesn’t stop number crunchers from throwing figures out there.
Hole-in-one contest insurer USHoleInOne.com puts the odds of getting a hole-in-one on a par-3 at 12,500 to 1 for an amateur and 7,500 to 1 for a pro.
Those are longer than a par 5 at Augusta.
“I think it’s one of those things that’s not in the cards every time,” said Tom Vail, the golf operations manager at the short-hole-rich, par-3 Ranch at Roaring Fork course near Carbondale, which sees quite a few aces. “It kind of takes a little luck. You have to be at the right place at the right time.”
Hole-in-one Quotables
• “The hole got in the way.”
— Jeff Franke, after hitting a hole-in-one on No. 8 at Glenwood Springs Golf Club in the Glenwood Open on July 13. • “They were wonderful. They were both on par-3s — one with my husband’s club. He wouldn’t give it to me again after that.” — Jean Eachus of Brighton on the two holes-in-one she’s hit in her lifetime. • “I think the person who invented it must have been a bartender, definitely somebody with making money in mind.” — Jack Smith on the tradition of buying a round of drinks for the clubhouse after hitting a hole-in-one. • “I had just bought new clubs on Tuesday and I had a hole-in-one Saturday.” — Pat Hayes, on his a hole-in-one at Rifle Creek Golf Course on June 14. • “My step-dad was like, ‘You get a hole-in-one and you haven’t even played all that much. I’m like a 10 handicap.’” — Kory Kassak, on his hole-in-one on the par-4 seventh hole at Rifle Creek back on June 11. |
The experience
For most, hitting a hole-in-one is an experience like no other, a Bucket List-level achievement.And those lucky enough to sink one don’t soon forget every detail of the achievement.
Rifle’s Jack Smith was playing with longtime friends Wes Downey and Bob Hutton when he aced the 15th hole at Rifle Creek back in April. It was his first. He’d been seeking that elusive hole-in-one since he began golfing in the 1960s.
“Actually, I thought Bobby was kidding me,” the longtime former teacher and coach said about the feat. “I hit the shot and he said it looked like a pretty good shot. I didn’t watch it. Bobby said, ‘That thing went in!’ I didn’t believe him. Sure enough, it went into the hole.”
Craig Nichols remembers seeing the flag wiggle and the ball drop into the cup when he hit an April ace on the fourth hole at Glenwood Springs Golf Club. The tee shot off the unique No. 4 is uphill, making it impossible to see anything put the flag from the tee box.
It was quite a surprise when he arrived on the green.
“I got up there and it was in,” said Nichols, a men’s club member who snapped a lifelong hole-in-one drought with the shot.
Like Nichols, Kassak had no idea his 295-yard blast landed anywhere near the cup until he made his way to the par-4 seventh green at Rifle. As a golfer with limited ability, the cup was one of the last places he thought to look. It actually took another impressive shot for them to turn their attention to the 41⁄4-inch cup.
“I walked up there and looked for the ball with one of my buddies and I thought, ‘Man, I hit it to the right like I always do.’ I was looking right in the rough, off the green, and the other guy who hit before me — he chipped the ball [in] off the fairway — could see half the ball sticking out the cup. He said, ‘Man, there are two balls in the hole. What kind of ball did you use?’ He pulled the flag and there it was.”
Regardless of whether or not you eye the ball into the cup or discover you hit a hole-in-one after a long stroll to the green, realizing you just hit one is, by all accounts, an incredible feeling.
“Every golfer wants to get a hole-in-one,” said Gary Gros, who aced the 54-yard eighth hole at Ranch at Roaring Fork in June. “It’s the ultimate prize, you know.”
Hottest Holes
Frequently aced local holes
• No. 3 and 8 at Glenwood: At Glenwood Springs Golf Club, the third- and eighth-hole cups get a workout. All but one of the six reported holes-in-one at The Hill have taken place on those holes. The fourth hole is the shortest hole yardage-wise, but the back of the green isn’t visible from the tee box. Clubs of choice: 6- or 7-iron. • No. 8 at Ranch at Roaring Fork: At par-3 Ranch at Roaring Fork, every hole is fair game for an ace, but the eighth hole at the Carbondale course sees the most hole-in-one action. That’s because it measures just 54 yards. The short hole has seen five reported holes-in-one in 2008, including one by 8-year-old Michael Glen. Clubs of choice: sand wedge, high iron. • No. 15 at Rifle Creek: Jack Smith, Earl Cherry and Audrey Hughes have all aced the 15th hole at Rifle Creek Golf Course in 2008. Depending on which tee you hit from, the shot measures just over 100 yards. Clubs of choice: Pitching wedge. |
Backwards custom?
It’s a custom that’s anything but fair. You hit a hole-in-one and you have to buy the folks bellied up at the clubhouse bar a drink.Huh?
Most argue it should be the other way around.
It can be an expensive feat.
“I was kind of hoping I wouldn’t have a $265 bar bill after it was all over,” Cherry said of his hole-in-one. “That’s a messed-up rule, but it was quite exciting.”
Jeff Franke, who is Jason’s dad, finally hit his first hole-in-one after a quarter century of golf, and he did it at last weekend’s Glenwood Open tournament. The bad news was he saw his wallet go on a crash diet.
“I’m going to call a banker in the morning,” he joked after finishing up the day’s round. “[A tournament is] not when you want to hit one. You want to hit one when it’s raining and no one’s there.”
But, after years on the links and no ace, Franke conceded the expense was worthwhile.
“It’s expensive, but nice,” Franke said. “Everybody seems to be thirsty.”
By most accounts, the tradition is a way of paying forward good fortune.
Count Audrey Hughes, a 25-year-old Rifle High School graduate and ladies league member, among those who consider the tradition flawed logic. She hit a hole-in-one while golfing with her parents at Rifle Creek on July 5, but didn’t exactly rush to the clubhouse to buy a round.
“I didn’t tell anyone,” she said. “They all would have made me buy drinks.”
Kassak lucked out. He isn’t old enough to drink. Instead, he was treated to a beverage — a non-alcoholic one, of course.
“About a week later I went in to get a Coke and a guy bought me a Coke,” he recalled. “He said, ‘Come here, man. Aren’t you that kid who hit a hole-in-one? I’ll buy you a drink.’”
Words travels fast when you sink a shot with just one swing.
Have an ace?
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hole-in-one stories. E-mail us at sports@postindependent.com with the exciting details. |
Commemorating the occasion
Aspen Glen’s Doug Kelch absolutely loves his job. He gets to commemorate what is a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment for most.Kelch and Aspen Glen make sure they take care of their hole-in-one hitting members, working up a fancy plaque that that features a picture of the hole and the lucky ball.
“It turns into a prized possession for most people,” Kelch said. “Most people are very excited. They hang it on the wall in a place of prominence and talk about it when their friends visit. It’s one of those unique things in sports. It has this aura.”
Not every course goes to the same lengths Aspen Glen does in recognizing its members’ accomplishment. It is, after all, a private course.
Battlement Mesa, for instance, hands out a gift certificate to hole-in-one hitters.
Glenwood Springs Golf Club displays a running plaque in its clubhouse that lists holes-in-one by its men’s club members.
No matter the prize, it’s the memory of sinking a tee shot that golfers treasure most.
“You always kind of hope for it,” said Greg Gortsema, the head pro at Glenwood Springs Golf Club and owner of six holes-in-one. “Some people play a lot of years and never hit one.”
Gortsema referenced the sheer glee of Stan Dodson, a longtime course patron who started the plaque, after he hit a hole-in-one back in 1996.
“Stan had been playing golf forever,” Gortsema said. “I think that was his first ever and he had been playing most of his life. He was ecstatic.”
Tad Holloway, the head pro at Rifle Creek, never tires of talking to someone after they’ve hit a hole-in-one.
“It’s very gratifying,” he said. “It’s nice to see. It’s such a great feeling that a lot of people never have.”
And many never will. But everyone who tees it up will dream of the day when that little white ball will disappear into that 4 1/4-inch cup.
