Lightning Strikes Twice As Two Golfers Aced Using The Same Ball

Minnesota is affectionately known as the North Star state, giving its citizens a sense of direction. It’s fair to say it lived up to its name, the golfing gods working overtime with this amazing story of two golfers connected by chance, at Minneapolis Golf Club yesterday.

Thirteen-year-old Preston Miller stood up on the 4^th hole of his Thursday round, caressing a 7 iron 121 yards through the air, onto the green, and in for an ace. A moment that will stay with the young golfer for the rest of his life, and usually one where a playing partner might step in and recommend that he gets the ball framed and mounted, a show and tell for his future children.

The young Preston carried on, buoyed by his confidence of joining the hole-in-one club. He reached the greenside bunker on the 5^th hole, and then holed out again!

This might be the craziest golf story I’ve ever heard. @NoLayingUp @TronCarterNLU @BigRandyNLU @DJPie @the_fried_egg @AndyTFE pic.twitter.com/DwRQjf2xwM

— John Rouleau (@John_Rouleau) June 3, 2022

Had there been a crowd, it would have gone wild. An ace and then a hole-out! The story steps up even further still. Full of adrenaline, Preston advanced to the 7^th hole and sent his ball into the wilderness. After some searching, he concluded that it was gone. Regardless, the local SLP team-stamped golf ball had provided him with a memory for life, and he would not mind too much when he is celebrating the news in the clubhouse afterward. After all, what he had achieved has odds of 12,000/1, the day belongs to him.

Minneapolis club member Ricardo Fernandez also achieved a hole-in-one the same day, on the 16^th hole. What a day for the club! Two aces in one day, definitely worthy of a few drinks afterward. During proceedings, the two golfers shared their tales of how their unique shots went down.

Fernandez explained that he had found a ball on the 7^th hole in the trees, and after losing his original ball on the 15^th hole later in his round, would step up to the 181-yard par 3 16^th hole, and at random, pluck an SLP stamped ball out of his bag before his next swipe. The resulting ace was a familiar feeling for that particular golf ball…

It turns out that in a moment that makes us question all things holy, unbeknownst to one another, the two lucky members had achieved different aces, on different holes, in the same day, WITH THE SAME GOLF BALL. And it is moments like this that deserve to be celebrated and shared. You can’t help but smile when thinking of the journey that golf ball has had, and the story that those two golfers can now share.

How to proceed? Who keeps the ball? Cut it in half and then plaque each one has been suggested, and I love the idea of showing a half-dome trophy to future generations. A memento on each tee box would be another good suggestion, perhaps using the half ball as part of a tee marker on both the 4^th and the 16^th holes at Minneapolis Golf Club.

The only correct answer is that the club’s trophy room keeps the ball and each golfer gets the flag from their hole yesterday.

— John Rouleau (@John_Rouleau) June 3, 2022

Either way, with all the talk of millions of dollars floating around in the upper realms of the game, these moments are priceless.

Cover Image Via Twitter