IF you’re going to score a hole-in-one, you might as well do it in style.
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Gerard Lynch scored the first ace on the eighth hole in 20 years at Warrnambool Golf Club on Saturday.
The sweetly-struck driver gave him every golfer’s dream — an albatross on a par four.
Lynch said he was stunned to score his first Warrnambool hole-in-one on the difficult 230-metre hole, which has a well-bunkered green.
The ball bounced and rolled into the hole in the middle of the green, sparking celebrations among his group.
Lynch, who has played at Warrnambool for about 30 years, said he was lucky to see the ball drop.
His playing partner Chris White called the hole-in-one early.
“It was a call-up hole. Four players were waiting for us to hit it down,” Lynch said.
“The boys on the green had their hands up yelling and screaming. It was a great feeling.”
Lynch became the first person since Doug Moloney in 1994 to score an ace on the eighth.
He said the feat had brought much fanfare.
“The amount of text messages I have had and phone calls have been enormous,” he said.
“I even had one on Saturday night from Gippsland.”
Lynch said he was unsure when his feat would be matched again.
“It could be next week — you just don’t know with golf,” he said.
“It’s a great game and a great leveller.”
Lynch, playing off a handicap of 12, said he was content with his result after playing the final 10 holes with the excitement of the ace still bubbling.
“I wasn’t too bad. I had a reasonable score — 39 points was pretty good, it’s three under my handicap,” he said.
“The next tee shot was a par three so it wasn’t too bad and the next hole, the 10th, is always a difficult hole.”
Lynch, who scored his only other hole-in-one at Port Fairy in 2009, was one of three people to score an ace at Warrnambool on Saturday.
Port Fairy’s Max Holmes had one on the par-three ninth and Warrnambool’s Di Goodall on the par-three 13th.
“To also have three holes-in-one on the same day is very unusual,” Lynch said. “It must have been a good weekend for golf because there were two down at the beach as well.”
Hampden football league games record holder Damian Dobson celebrated his 40th birthday on Saturday with his first hole-in-one.
Dobson, who has played golf seriously for three years, hit the ace on the par-three fourth hole at Port Fairy.
The former Koroit onballer said making the 165-metre shot was an ideal birthday present.
“I hit the ball all right and it bounced and rolled down towards the hole,” Dobson said.
“One lad in the group said it would go in and I thought it would go close but didn’t think it would go in.
“I gave my partner a bear hug and a high five. We all stood around in a state of shock.”
Dobson, playing off a handicap off 10, admitted the adrenalin from the hole-in-one affected his game for seven holes.
“I was a bit flustered after that,” he said. “I came home all right and ended up playing to my handicap.”
Dobson said he played golf for “the fun and the challenge”.
“I am trying to get my handicap as low as possible but it’s a bit of a battle at times,” he said.