Nebraska golfer records hole-in-one on same hole that his dad aced 20 years ago

OMAHA, Neb. — As Omahan Travis Van Deursen walked up to the No. 4 tee box on the Gray Hawk nine at Indian Creek Golf Course, he told his buddies the tale of how his father, Don, had aced the hole 20 years ago.

The wind was coming in and across, so Travis pulled out his 6-iron. The ball was on line toward the flag the whole time. He thinks it bounced once and then disappeared.

He was almost sure he’d find it in the cup.

“I think it was pretty cool how I said the story right before that,” Travis said. “That’s so rare to get a hole-in-one in general and to do it on the same hole — I said my son is going to have to keep on working to keep that tradition alive.”

His son, Brock, who is 2½ years old, already has his own Little Tykes golf club set.

When he called his dad to share the news, Don had to check the trophy that his sister Jamie Casselman had made for him to confirm it was the same hole. Casselman and her husband, Steve, were his witnesses.

“Once we clarified that, he thought that was pretty neat,” Travis said. “When you look at the odds, 1-in-12,500, I couldn’t imagine a father and son ace (on the same hole). It’s the only hole-in-one for him and the only hole-in-one I’ve ever had.”

Travis, 41, said he would play golf with his dad, 74, growing up. They’d go to Omaha par-3 courses such as Milt’s Golf Center and the Westwood and Eagle Run courses. As he grew older, he started playing with his friends.

His witnesses were Clint Meyers, Kyle Crouch and Justin Carraher, friends of 25 years. They don’t play together often, so he said that made it extra fun that they were there.

“I think Clint, he was more excited about it than I was,” Travis said. “I’m not a super-expressive person. I think my group seemed more excited than I was. We were all in shock and I bought some drinks for the group, which is tradition.”