Golfers hit hole-in-one, back-to-back on course in Hastings
Hastings hole-in-one
A group of longtime golfers hit back-to-back hole-in-ones at a Hastings golf course last week - a nearly impossible feat.
HASTINGS, Minn. (FOX 9) - John Curlee hits the links at Emerald Greens in Hastings, several times a week. But his second hole-in-one in nearly 40 years of golfing, was a first for him and the entire course.
"It was just a tremendous feeling of joy and excitement and celebration," said Curlee.
Curlee and his friend, Al Stangl were playing in a foursome in Emerald Green's Thursday night Mens League, when Stangle hit a hole-in-one on the 14th hole.
Minutes later, after their two fellow golfers took their turns, Curlee hit a hole-in-one as well, on the same hole, as his golfing partners stood there in disbelief.
"We just jumped up and down. I mean, I looked at John and he started jumping around high five and it was amazing," said Stangl.
Both men posed together for a picture after their improbable shots and got to circle the number one for that hole on their scorecard.
The National Hole-In-One Association says the odds of two amateur golfers in the same foursome hitting a hole-in-one on the same hole is 26 million-to-one.
"I think that the odds should be higher than that, actually, because that's something that rarely happens. I mean, I'm sure it's happened before, but it can't be very often," said Stangl.
Since it's tradition, anyone who gets a hole-in-one buys everyone in the clubhouse a drink, Curlee and Stangl split the tab.
Just like they'll share their unlikely feat, that neither believes will soon be repeated.
"To get a hole-in-one is amazing, but to be in a group and have two holes-in-one and you're part of that, it's just indescribable. It's crazy," said Curlee.