Each week we write to Golf Canada members who record a hole-in-one, congratulating them and asking if they’d tell us how it happened. These are their stories (edited for length and clarity).
Have you recently accomplished the feat of a hole-in-one? Tell us about it! Share your story, picture / video and course information with us at holeinone@golfcanada.ca.
Joe Kispal, Heritage Palms Golf & Country Club, Hole #3
I have been playing golf for over 40 years and this is my first hole-in-one.
We are Canadian snowbirds who winter at Heritage Palms Golf and Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida. Heritage Palms has two 18 hole golf courses, Royal and Sabal. I was playing the Royal course with my wife April when I aced hole #3 using an 8 iron measuring 134 yards from the white tees.
We are both members of Golf Canada and our home course is Crowbush Cove. We are truly blessed belonging to beautiful courses on both sides of the border. P.E.I. for the summer months and Fort Myers for the winter months. Retirement plan is working.
Kevin McKee, Ledgeview Golf & Country Club, Hole #14
It was foggy that day and the range finders didn’t work. I was playing with three other members and we all guessed at around 158 yards, it was a blue flag and straight away, I hit my smooth 6 iron and saw one bounce and knew it was close. When we got up to the green, I didn’t see the ball and knew something special might have happened. I walked towards the cup and saw the divot approximately 24 inches before the cup and knew it had to be in. I was playing with Pat Hatchwell, Larry Marsolais and Scott Hurdle.
Chantal Lauzon, University Golf Club, Hole #3
First hole-in-one ever! It happened at University Golf Club in Vancouver, B.C. Winter course, hole #3 shot from the front tees which measured 75 yards to the hole.
Ghislain Auger, Falcon Dunes Golf Course, Hole #17
My playing partners/friends were Keven Phinney from Morinville, A.B., Bob McKay from Clifford, O.N. and Donny McKay from Oliver, B.C. I also won money for participating in the “hole-in-one pot of gold.”
Dan Holland, Gorge Vale Golf Club, Hole #10
I’ve been golfing a long time and have never had one before. On January 4th, 2025 I was golfing with Debb Holland, Vic Lum and Kurt Mar while I aced hole #10 at Gorge Vale in Esquimalt, B.C. Our four ball was the first out and we had just finished the turn shortly before 10 a.m. The pin was back left and measured out at 113 yards. It was overcast and damp from rain the evening before but no wind. I hit with my 9 iron and the ball took one hop about a foot before the hole then in.
Alex Vandenham, Loreto Bay Golf Course, Hole #14
Yes, very exciting. It was with the Wednesday Men’s League playing with Brian Gore, George Wade and Daryl Truman on hole #14 on Club de Golf Loreto here in Baja Sur.
The hole #14 is one of the most beautiful holes on the course. It’s a par 3 and I was playing the white tees, downhill 110 yards to the middle with a red flag, front of the green. That shot is normally an 8 iron for me unless conditions suggest a shorter or longer club. This time I saw no reason to change so it was my 8 iron again. The ball landed just on the front edge of the green, bounced once and then rolled to the hole and dropped. I can still picture it, somebody yelled, “it’s going in” before it dropped. To top the day off, I finally broke 90 that round! One of those rare good walks unspoiled.
Most of the men playing that morning ended up in Señora Delicias which has a lunch special for the golfers so I bought everyone a cerveza or soda water. Fun day!
I want to also give a shoutout to my home club in Canada, Kaslo Golf Club in the Kootenay region of B.C.
For the gear enthusiasts:
– Driver: Taylormade R580 10.5 degree
– 3 Wood: Nicklaus airMax 35-S 15 degree
– 5 Wood: Infinity Plus M500 21 degree
– Irons: Infinity Plus M500
– Lob wedge: Infinity BWS 60 degree
– Putter: Acushnet Bullseye original
– Playing a Maxfli Elite Tour feel 90
(Yes, I’m a senior golfer)
Ron Frank, Seymour Golf & Country Club, Hole #8
Playing with fellow club members Alan Oishi and William Hung, we were the first group out at 9:00 am on a chilly Saturday morning.
We arrive at the challenging par 3, hole #8 at 10:30 am and we’re looking at a middle pin, the green is a little uphill and we’re facing a cool breeze. I often grumble that this tough hole is no one’s favourite.
With the temperature at only around 50 degrees Celsius, the ball is flying reluctantly, which calls for an extra club.
I choose six iron and I hit what seems like my best strike ever and deliver a towering three foot draw right at the pin. My playing partners provided enthusiastic approval of the ball flight as it seems to stay up forever before landing eight inches in front of the hole before it disappears. My first ever hole-in-one and now my favourite hole!
Thanks to both Alan and Will for great support and celebration, and photography by Will.
Jerry Laboret, rayhawk Golf Club (Talon), Hole #17
The yardage for my hole-in-one was about eighty yards onto an island green, I used an eight iron. I golfed with my wife, Jenny who parred the hole and two very good friends from our home course, Harry & Lucy English, which both birdied the hole, it was a very good hole. It was even more special when I made the hole-in-one on an island green.
Adam Johns, Crandon Park Golf Course, Hole #8
I got a hole-in-one on January 16th. 130 yards out from an uphill mound style green. 9-iron, one hop and in. Playing with my buddy Nick to celebrate my 30th birthday and got my first hole-in-one on my actual birthday, bought everyone in the clubhouse drinks of course.
Dom Lafontaine, Rancho Manana Golf Club, Hole #14
It was at Rancho Mañana Golf Club in Arizona. I was playing with my brother, and we were having a great time on the course. On hole #14, the pin was a white flag at 148 yards, tucked on the left with a greenside bunker. I knew I didn’t have much room to work with.
I took my Callaway AI Smoke A-Wedge and swung. The shot felt great and honestly, I couldn’t see the ball land because the bunker lip was higher than the green. For a second, I thought I rolled off the green! While looking at my brother, questioning where it was, we started filming on the way to the green. Walking up to the green, we did not have a view of the ball, so I got closer and closer until I saw my Pro V1x right in the hole. Still can’t believe it happened, what an electric feeling it was.
John Lund, Uplands Golf Club, Hole #9
Wednesday, January 21 was a fun day for me and my golf mates at Uplands Golf Club after I got my totally unexpected hole-in-one.
Uplands Golf Club’s ninth hole is a 172 yard uphill shot. Probably the most difficult par 3 on the course with the least hole-in-one’s. I chose a four wood on this day and it worked. I didn’t see it go in but it was certainly headed in the right direction. My pals Ernie Behm and Dwayne Leskewitch both commented the same. Upon arriving on the green Ernie looked in the hole and said, “yep, it’s in here!”
As I’m now 79 years of age I notice that gravity seems to be getting stronger thus making distances longer every added year. However, I am determined to keep playing three days a week. I feel like I’ve chosen the right golf course here at Uplands as it is perfect for those of us who love to walk in the outdoors with friends. The course itself is fairly flat, except for hole #9 and hole #18. It is a friendly community-oriented club filled with lots of social activities. I love it here!
My favourite social gathering was celebrating my hole-in-one of course. It was a ton of fun to buy drinks for my fellow members. Thank you Uplands for our hole-in-one insurance policy.
Keep swinging golfers! if you haven’t had a hole-in-one yet, your turn is coming.
George Fukushima, El Tigre Golf Course, Hole #6
I was golfing with two gentlemen that I only met that day, Kurt a member at the club and Monico from California. Hole #6 is an island green that was playing 112 yards and I used a pitching wedge. The ball landed nine inches to the left of the hole and one hopped in.