Two More SaddleBrooke Men's Golf Association Memebers Join the Hole-In-One Club

At age 83, Fred Pilster holed out on Catalina No. 3 for his 8th ace using an 8 iron! A few days later, after hitting his first shot in the water on Saddlebrooke No. 2 he holed out again for par! Hole-in-ones seem to be hereditary in Fred’s family with his dad having several and asking to have his ashes spread on a hole where he had four.

Jim Floerke recorded his first-ever hole-in-one on SaddleBrooke No. 6 during an SMGA partner event on Sunday, August 9. I know this firsthand because I was his partner, and had the honor of being the one to verify it! SaddleBrooke No. 6 is a challenging par 3, with an elevated green that slopes away from the tee box. From the tee, you can see the flagstick, but very little of the putting surface.

All four players in our group hit what we thought were great shots, and were confident that everyone had found the green. As we approached the hole, however, we could see only three balls.

I immediately said, “Yours must have gone in!” Sure enough, as we walked up to the hole, his ball was sitting in the cup! Jim had just made his first hole-in-one!

That got me thinking about just how special this accomplishment really is. Here are some commonly cited odds of making an ace:

• Average Amateur Golfer: 12,500 to 1
• Low-Handicap Golfer: 5,000 to 1
• Professional Golfer: 2,750 to 1

To put those numbers into perspective, if you play a typical 18-hole course with four par 3s, an average amateur would face approximately 3,125 par-3 opportunities for every one hole-in-one, based on those odds. For someone who plays twice a week, that's roughly 30 years of golf before those opportunities add up to 3,125 par 3s. Of course, those are just statistics—and every golfer knows that sometimes all it takes is one perfect shot! Jim and Fred certainly found there’s.

Congratulations, Jim on his first outstanding hole-in-one & for Fred adding another one to his total!