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.
Tony Hanna, Andersons Creek Golf Club, Hole #8
I was introduced to golf by my cousin Peter when I lived in Ontario. I enjoyed the game but was only able to get out once a month. I never really dedicated the time to the game that it deserves. That was 35 years ago. When I met my wife, I introduced her to the game, and she became an avid fan. We golfed a lot in Ontario, but my game never really improved.
My wife, originally from P.E.I., and I moved here in 2018. Every year, we purchased the Green Card, which allows holders to golf 18 different courses at a significantly reduced price. However, we fell in love with one specific course, Countryview Golf Club, a true hidden gem. The course is always in great condition, the staff are fantastic, and the members and owners are good-hearted people. That is where I met a great chap named Bernie Hope, who works at Countryview.
At the end of the 2024 golf season, I discovered that my boss also enjoys golf. We promised each other that we would get out for a round in 2025.
At the start of 2025, my wife and I decided to become full members at Countryview. As a new member, I also joined the Thursday night men’s league, where I met another great lad named Chris MacDougall.
Throughout 2025, my boss and I managed to get out a few times after work, mostly on Friday nights at Countryview. I also found out that he knows both Bernie and Chris. They have been playing hockey together for years. The Island really is a small place.
Leading up to September 29, 2025, my boss suggested we play either Andersons Creek or Green Gables. I booked a foursome at Andersons Creek. The group included me, my boss, Bernie Hope and Chris MacDougall.
On that sunny day, I was driving to the course when I received a call from my boss telling me that a situation had come up and he could not make it. He cancelled.
Now, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I believe the three remaining golfers would have rather played our home course. Still, we endured the sunny but windy conditions.
On the first hole, I scored an eight, or as we like to call it, the dreaded snowman. After that, I settled down and played my usual bogey-or-double-bogey golf, with the rare birdie and occasional par.
We arrived at hole 8, a par 3 with a two-tiered green. On this day, from the white tees, it was 130 yards to the pin. The pin was on the upper tier, about 10 feet from the front edge. The wind was at our backs, roughly a one-club wind. I normally hit my approach wedge about 118 yards. I felt it was the right club given the wind, but I had been coming up short all day.
I decided to grab my pitching wedge.
Bernie hit first and landed on the green, pin-high but on the left fringe. Chris followed, landing short on the lower tier of the green.
It was now my turn. As Bernie often does, he tried to get into my head. We discussed the wind, and he asked what I was hitting. I replied that I was hitting my pitching wedge but contemplating my approach.
As I walked up to the tee box to tee up my Tour Yellow Srixon Soft Feel No. 1, Bernie said loudly that I was pitching wedge all day. We all chuckled.
I gripped my pitching wedge, took aim, adjusted my stance and swung. The ball took flight. I lost it in the air for a moment, then spotted a little yellow torpedo heading straight for the pin. The three of us watched as someone said, “Looks good, Big Dog,” which is what Bernie calls me and others as well.
The ball landed just left of the pin and began rolling forward. From where I stood, I could not see the bottom of the flagstick. A few seconds passed as we watched what appeared to be the ball coming to rest just short of the hole, an easy tap-in, or so we thought.
Chris said he wanted to hit another shot but would not count it toward his score. As I bent down to pick up my tee, I glanced toward the hole.
I said to Bernie that I did not see my ball. He replied that it might have gone in. Chris asked if it went in. We all stared at the green. Bernie and Chris both thought it had dropped, but I still had my doubts. Bernie gave me a fist bump, and Chris followed with a high five. I remained unconvinced.
As we were leaving the tee box, two delightful senior ladies drove up to the 8th tee. Chris announced that I had just made a hole-in-one. I told them it probably rolled past the hole. They smiled and wanted to hear more.
Still, I could not confirm anything yet.
Bernie raced ahead in his cart while Chris and I pushed ours toward the green. Chris headed straight for his ball, while I walked along the cart path.
Bernie reached the green first. I saw him walk past the hole and glance down, then heard him snicker. From my position, I still could not see my ball. I assumed it was sitting right on the edge. I grabbed my putter, a Ping Doc 15, just in case.
As I stepped onto the green, I still could not find my ball.
I looked at Bernie and saw him standing over his own ball with his phone raised, taking photos. I turned to Chris and saw him doing the same.
That was the moment I truly realized it.
I had just made the elusive hole-in-one.
P.S. I am giving my boss a two-stroke penalty. The first is for not being part of this once-in-a-lifetime memory, and the second is for not using his name, on purpose, anywhere in this story.
Gary Davis, Pike Creek Golf Centre, Hole #10
There is no better way to spend a day with three of your best friends, Lance, John and Rick and getting a hole-in -ne at Pike Lake in Clifford, Ontario. Hole #10 is slightly up hill and the pin was behind the trap at 131 yards. I used a 9 iron and was so pleased the shot spun back and into the hole. 47 years later, I got my first hole-in-one. I wish everyone the best to get a hole-in-one.
Caroline Belhumeur, The Lakes Barcelo Golf Course, Hole #12
I was playing with Marie-Andrée Ouimet, Lori Batson and Gale Legault. The hole was 65 yards. I used a 60 degree wedge.
Kim Newcombe, Cornwall Golf & Country Club, Hole #18
My husband Mark Finstad is an accomplished golfer who re-introduced me to golf when we relocated to Cornwall in 2022. I am absolutely obsessed with the game! I manage to play 80-90 rounds a year while being on call as an International Flight Nurse. I jokingly tell my boss that I am “playing golf until the phone rings!”
In 2025 my golf goals were to break 90 and to lower my handicap into the teens. I managed to accomplish both. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get a hole-in-one to boot!
On October 26 we were trying to squeeze our last few rounds of the season in before the long winter hiatus. On hole #18, Mark’s tee shot landed on the green so close to the pin that I commented to him that it looked like a tap-in birdie. I was on the Ladies tee, which is green at Cornwall, 113 yards. I used my 7 wood off the tee. I felt that I hit it well and saw it clear the sand trap in front. I saw it hit the green and bounce. I thought it had rolled behind the pin. Mark thought differently, but he is a foot taller than me! He said, “Kim, that went in!” I said, “no I’m sure it’s behind the pin or maybe rolled off the green.”
We walked up the fairway and I didn’t see my ball on or behind the green. Mark encouraged me to go and check the hole. What an incredible feeling and a perfect ending to my last hole on my last round of 2025!
Betty Feijo, Landings Golf Course, Hole #9
My very first hole-in-one and definitely exciting. I was in shock as I thought it rolled off the back of the green but nope, it dropped in the hole. I would say it was about 105 yards and I used my 7 iron. It hit the green and rolled in the hole. I was playing with Maija, Irene, Kathy, Karen, Linda, Teresa and Mona (two tee groups). The most amazing ladies and so supportive. This hole-in-one meant a lot as I lost my dad on July 2nd and life has been a hurdle. Without these ladies these last few months could have been worse however their encouragement and love made it even amazing.
