Lightning isn’t supposed to strike twice, but that is exactly what occurred on a perfectly sunny day at Waynesborough Country Club on August 27th. Senior Brendan Hallinan and junior Brendan Bacskai were the lightning rods as they both made holes-in-one during a recent round.

The day began as a normal 9-hole golf tryout to make the squad. Then magic struck first for Hallinan on the 156 yard 4th hole. Using an eight-iron, Hallinan struck a perfect shot that landed right behind the cup, bounced backward, hit the flagstick, and dropped in the hole.

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going to be close,” Hallinan said. “I saw it was on a perfect line, so I reached down to pick up my tee, and when I looked up I saw my ball hit behind the hole and go in. I couldn’t believe it!”

The second ace of Hallinan’s life helped him to an even par 35 on the challenging front nine at Waynesborough.

To make the round official, Hallinan made the turn and trekked to the 10th tee to play the back nine. There, he was joined by Bacskai and me. After a pair of long par 4s, we came to the short 330 yard 12th hole. This par 4 has a slight dogleg right and an elevated tee box, a perfect view for what was about to happen next.

Bacskai pulled his driver and lined up for what would be the shot of his life.

He ripped a perfect fade that followed the curve of the hole exactly. As the ball neared the green, it disappeared behind a small mound and reappeared trickling onto the front of the green where the hole was located. The ball rolled directly at the hole, bumped the flagstick, and fell right into the cup for a hole-in-one on a par 4!

Our group went absolutely berserk as there were continuous high-fives, hugs, and roars for a couple of minutes. We had just witnessed two holes-in-one in the same group on the same day.

Bacskai said, “I was pretty shocked. You never expect to hit a hole-in-one on a par 4. It was an awesome experience and hopefully I can hit another one in the future.” After we had calmed down, Hallinan quipped, “Well I guess I’m losing now,” as we left the 12th green.

The two Brendans were locked in a tight match, and just as quickly Hallinan came to the 12th tee with a two shot advantage, he left with a two shot deficit.

The remaining six holes were filled with more great shots almost including more history. In fact on the 144 yard 14th hole, Hallinan hit another near perfect tee shot to a little over a foot almost carding his second hole-in-one of the day.

As the two Brendans matched each other shot for shot, both Friars came to the par 5 18th hole tied. On the final hole, Bacskai was able to make a five foot birdie putt to win the friendly match by one shot carding an even par 71 in the process.

As we were signing the card, one of the Waynesborough employees told us about his hole-in-one on the par 4 12th a few years earlier. He also said he had never seen so many aces in one day at the club, as a Waynesborough member carded a 1 on the same hole as Hallinan earlier in the day.

So how rare is this unbelievable feat? Making a hole-in-one as an amateur golfer has around 12,500 to 1 odds according to a Golf Digest article. Although, scoring an albatross by either making a hole-in-one on a par 4 or holing out on a par 5 in two carry significantly higher odds. The chances to match Bacskai’s feat are a whopping 6 million to 1! These two feats alone can be once in a lifetime achievements for any golfer, but these two accomplishments to occur in the same group in the same round seem almost astronomical.

Golf is such a crazy sport, and you truly never know when you’ll hit the greatest shot of your life.