Golf Canada Hole-In-One Report – June, 2025

Congratulations to Étienne Dumas, who pulled off something so rare and remarkable tonight (July 10, 2025), it’s almost beyond belief.

Playing a quick evening round with Tristan Vandette, Etienne kicked things off with a hole-in-one on #3 — his second ace of the year.

Word of the feat spread fast, and by the time he reached #9, a group of friends on the verandah, still buzzing from the earlier celebration, joked about staging a fake cheer just in case he hit another great shot. The plan? Light-hearted trolling.

Instead, Etienne turned the tables on us all — his tee shot on #9 took one bounce and dropped straight into the cup. Another ace. Two holes-in-one. In a single 9-hole round.

Statistically? That’s a 1-in-156 million occurrence.

He wrapped up the round with a sizzling 32, then headed into the clubhouse, where the cheers were anything but fake.

– Written by Club de golf Kanawaki and shared by Jacques Nols, former president of Golf Canada.

What does an avid golfer wish for on his 60th birthday? On Friday, June 13th, my childhood friend Mike Steiner and our wives had a pre-birthday dinner on the patio at the Thornhill Country Club. After the musician led a happy birthday song, I blew out the candle and wished for a hole-in-one on my birthday and father’s day June 15th. Along with Mike who witnessed my first hole-in-one in 2021, I hit a 6 iron, 181 yards to a back tee on Thornhill hole #5. Normally, you can’t see it drop due to the elevated green, but the pin was on the highest point on the green and the tee deck was far enough back that we saw it drop. It took 38 years to get my first and only four more years to get my second. The best Father’s Day birthday gift anyone could ask for.

It certainly was a very special day – memories for a lifetime as we like to say. It was hole #13 at Lowville Golf Club on a 135 yard, par 3. I used an eight iron.

My group that day was: Mike Ricotonne, Don Welham, John Hall and myself, Gerry Kelly.

The guys all signed the scorecard and then later the actual golf ball. I think I will get them framed as a very fond and special memory of a terrific day. 

I rarely drink on a golf course but the lads ordered a small shooter to commemorate this special achievement, so we all had one in celebration.

My hole-in-one was made on Monday, June 16th on the GTA Am Tour at their event at Ladies Golf Club of Toronto (fourth hole).

I play in the B Fight. Link to the results of the day: https://gtaamtour.com/events/ladies-golf-club-of-toronto-1/results.

As for that day, I started off really well with par, par, then birdie on a par 5. Being in my 60’s that made me feel like my game from decades ago. Then on hole #4, I decided on a three-quarter swing 8 iron for the 139 yard par 3. I hit down on it nicely and it appeared to be tracking nicely towards the green.

One of my competitors said it was on line for the green perfectly. Not having the best eye sight I did not see my ball land or finish. As we approached the green we saw two of the three balls and tried to figure out which players’ ball was missing from the group. As I wandered back towards the bunker one of my playing competitors said, “check the hole.” That was so funny to hear as I have heard that many times in the past and it was never there. This time, it was. I let out a happy yell and the group following us playing the previous hole yelled out for us to confirm one of us made and hole-it-one, which we informed them I did.

They let out a cheer of congratulations. One of the things I love about playing on the GTA Am Tour, everyone is so friendly. The other two in my group were also happy for me with high-fives and congratulations.

We use live scoring on the Tour and in the fairway of the next hole, one of the committee members congratulated me on my accomplishment and took the photo of me holding up one finger. He also reminded me I should take that hole-in-one ball out of play and keep it for a keep sake. Which I did when I finished that hole.

Once our scorecards were signed, we went back to the prize area where many of the B Flight were waiting for the awards to be handed out and they all congratulated me on my first hole-in-one. It was an amazing day as I also got the win with my first hole-in-one.

I was golfing with my regular ladies: Jayne, Susie and Karen. We were all complaining on how slow the men were in front of us. I was teeing up and was using my 5 hybrid, the hole was 119 yards and I saw it go over the water and roll, then saw it drop in the hole. I didn’t say anything until Jayne said, “Monica I think you got a hole-in-one. As we were leaving the tee box Susie says, “I’m going to look.” She confirmed that it was in the hole. It was my first and I have only been golfing for 8 years so I was very excited.

I was playing with three buddies of mine, John Markic, Ken Baker and Phil Kotyk. The hole was playing 169 yards and I hit my 5 hybrid. It had a baby fade on it and it was turning right towards the pin. The ball bounced twice and rolled about five to eight feet and then the ball just disappeared. I couldn’t believe it, it was my first ever hole-in-one.

My friend Michael and I met for one of our usual rounds and we were paired with two others, Joe and Tony. The foursome clicked from the beginning!

Hole #13 at Mystic Ridge had a front pin placement at 120 yards guarded by a bunker. The plan was to carry an 8 iron to the front of the green and let it roll to the back. Instead, it hit the flag stick and dropped in. The sound of the flagstick and rattle of the hole out is unforgettable. We called my wife over the phone and all celebrated together on the green!

My main swing feel is Moe Norman’s favourite line, “I shake hands with the flagstick, I shake hands with the flagstick.” Moe always wanted to move at the target. I’ve also been playing golf for only one year, starting in late May 2024. If I could give one takeaway that will help anyone’s game, I’d say the same thing as Moe, study mental game. The second thing I’d say is study mental game.