81-year-old Pennsylvania man makes 3 aces in 3 straight days
Dom DeBonis already got his hole-in-one, back in 1969. But, at 81 years old, the Pennsylvania man had gone longer waiting for his second than he had for his first. That all changed last week in an incredible span where he made four aces in a 33-day span, including three in consecutive days in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
On Sept. 3, DeBonis made an ace at the par-3 fifth on one of the many courses where he lives in The Villages, Fla., sinking a pitching wedge from 101 yards.
A few weeks later, DeBonis went to Myrtle Beach on a golf trip with 11 buddies. He made his first ace of the trip at Farmstead Golf Club in Calabash, N.C., when he used a 9-iron from 112 yards at the par-3 17th. Awesome.
The next day, DeBonis did it again. On the 129-yard, par-3 sixth at the Thistle Golf Club in Sunset Beach, N.C., he jarred a 7-iron for another one on the card.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” said Mr. DeBonis, who is from Sharpsburg, Pa., according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The guys were going bananas. They said we got to buy lottery tickets, so we went and bought a bunch of lottery tickets.”
The odds of an ace in one round are about 12,000 to 1. Then the odds get exponentially higher for each successive ace.
Of course, on the third day of the trip, DeBonis fininshed the trifecta at Blackmoor Golf Club. This time, it was an 8-iron from 118 yards. No one in the group saw the ball go in the hole. Then again, after the last couple of days, they couldn’t be faulted for figuring it was good.
“One of the guys said, ‘I think it’s in.’ So we walked up to the hole and there it was,” DeBonis said. “I just couldn’t believe it. It was the most memorable week.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
