Seamus,

Actually, there are a couple of stories to go with them. The first one was in '85. It was my second year golfing and I had joined a golf club. I was in the Pro Shop one day and one of the assistant Pros asked if I wanted to buy Hole In One Insurance. I had no idea wha that was so he explained that for a nominal amount, I think it was five or ten dollars, if I had a hole in one at the club that season that the Pro Shop would pay for 100 Drinks in the clubhouse on hte day that it happened. I signed up, laughed and said "you know this means that the first time I play at another club I'll make an ace". Sure enough, a week or two later I was at my work tournament at another course and aced the second hole, the very first par three that I had seen on another course since buying the insurance. It ended up being an expensive day.

I'm kind of embarrassed about the second one. It was my first round of the year, and for some reason I was very late for my tee time. I got to the course, ran to the clubhouse without taking time to put on my spikes, grab my glasses that I need for distance and I left a sleeve of new balls in the trunk. My group was actaully finishing the third hole when I caught them. I lost my ball on the 16th hole, reached in my bag to find out that the only other ball I had was an old orange Spalding Kroflite with a cut in it that I had obviously found the year before. The eighteenth was a medium length par three. I hit my shot, thought that I had caught it a shade fat and I kind of looked away. My buddies said that's looking good while it was in the air. I said no, it's short, but started to look back at the shot and couldn't find it. They start saying "that looks great", then "it's in". I honestly didn't see it go in the hole. I have a ball rack that has the Titleist that I used for the first one, A Spalding Top Flite Plus that I had used the first time I broke 80, a crappy old scarred Orange Kroflite and a card that has three holes that have no score and a one.