YOUR AD HERE »

One day, one hole, three aces at Battlement Mesa

Staff Report

If golf course holes had egos, No. 8 at Battlement Mesa Golf Club would be feeling pretty low right now.

Last month three Battlement Mesa Men’s Club golfers – Garry Evenson, Fred Inman and Jim Hokanson – aced the eighth hole.

A “one” on the scorecard is great, but no huge deal, right? The difference here is that all three holes-in-one came on the same day, July 17, and all came on the eighth hole.



“This is a short par-3, but there’s a lake in the right front corner and the green has a lot of movement to it,” Battlement Mesa pro Johnny Goodman said. “Even though it’s a short hole, it’s not an easy hole.”

Goodman said the hole has been the victim of six aces the entire year, including the three strikes on one day.



Evenson, who described the day as “kind of `Ripley’s Believe It or Not,’ hit the first of the three strikes during an afternoon round, holing the 104-yard shot with a 6-iron for the second ace of his playing career.

“I didn’t see mine go in,” Evenson said. “I saw it go toward the pin and (Glenn Culbertson) said, `I think it went in.'”

After a short search on the green for the ball, sure enough, it was sitting in the bottom of the cup.

But one round of golf wasn’t enough for Evenson.

Playing that evening in couple’s play, Evenson got to witness the day’s second bulls-eye.

Inman – playing with his wife, Adelia, Louise Winter and Evenson – used a pitching wedge on the hole, and his shot looked very similar to Evenson’s earlier ace.

“I said, `You hit it exactly where I did. I think that went in,'” Evenson recalled.

Hokanson – playing with his wife, Mary, and Mike and Anne Youngs – also used a pitching wedge for the trifecta. And just to bring everything full circle, Evenson witnessed Hokanson’s only other career ace on the same hole.

“It was just kind of amazing that I made it, then saw (Inman’s), and then the guy who made the other one I witnessed about a year ago,” Evenson said.

“I thought, `My God, what are the odds of having three holes-in-one on the same day on the same hole,'” Hokanson said.

The players admitted that the pin was in a little “saddle” and Hokanson described No. 8 is “the most holable hole-in-one hole on the course.”

But, forgiving pin placement or not, it’s unlikely there will be any other hat tricks at Battlement Mesa this summer.

– Susan Elliot contributed to this report


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.