Playing partners Jim Morris and John Scoville defied odds of approximately 17 million-to-1 with holes-in-one last week on the same unusual par-3 hole at River Landing Golf Club at Sandy Ridge.
Considering both golfers are in their 80s, and the No. 3 hole they aced is typically played as a much longer par-5, the odds of a similar achievement are probably much greater.
Jim Morris (left) and John Scoville pose with their hole-in-one balls near the flag at No. 3 at River Landing.
“That’s got to be off the charts,” Carolinas Golf Association executive director Jack Nance told Triad Golf of the odds when told of the feat. “That is unbelievable.”
The 17 million-to-1 odds come courtesy of the PGA of America. The odds for one golfer making a hole-in-one on a shot are about 15,000 to 1.
Oh, and neither player saw their ball go into the hole because the cup was cut behind a crown in the back section of the green. Both looked first behind the putting surface before playing partner Troy Brim found the balls together in the cup.
Leading off on the tee on the overcast, cool day, Morris hit a 7-hybrid from tees he measured at 120 yards. Scoville used a 5-wood from 105.
“It went straight at it. I thought, ‘That’s going to be close or it’s going to go off the back side’”
As soon as we didn’t seem them on the back of the green, we figured they had to be in the hole,” said the 81-year-old Morris, a Crawfordsville, Indiana, native who moved to the Sandy Ridge retirement community after living at Carolina Trace Country Club in Sanford.
“I hit a low ball that hit on the front of the green,” said the 88-year-old Scoville, a Barnwell, South Carolina native, who moved to Sandy Ridge from a home at Forest Oaks Country Club. “I was surprised. I didn’t think I was anywhere near the hole.”
Scoville hit a Callaway ball, with what turned out to be a lucky Shamrock logo. Morris hit a Srixon ball.
Playing in a Stableford event, Morris and Scoville each wrote down a “6” — the number of points they were awarded for an eagle — on their scorecards.
Both Morris and Scoville have been at Sandy Ridge for about five years. Bob Campbell, the fourth member of the group, took the above photos.
The ace was the first for Scoville, and the fourth for Morris, who had two at Carolina Trace and the other at Ford’s Colony Country Club in Williamsburg, Virginia.
They are part of a group that plays in different pairings on Tuesdays and Thursdays at River Landing. Of the 20 or so players in the regular groups, Morris and Scoville said about eight stuck around to claim the drinks traditionally paid for by golfers who make a hole-in-one. Morris and Scoville said that so far they haven’t received any financial rewards from the manufacturers of their equipme
Morris said he received $500 in merchandise from a hole-in-one club at Carolina Trace. Over the years, several golf companies have provided gifts to players who score an ace using their equipment.
The hole, normally 504 yards from the back tees, was playing as a par-3 due to wet conditions close to the Deep River, which often spills over into the fairway. A week later, Morris said the hole was once again playing as a par-5 despite some wet areas.
