Holes-in-one are a family affair at Penn
It was lucky number seven at Penn Golf Club as a father and son both hit a hole-in-one on the same hole within 24 hours of each other.
Stephen Hinde, 59, was the first to accomplish the unlikely feat, seeing his ball go straight from tee to hole on the par three seventh but then had his thunder stolen 24 hours later when his son Tom repeated the act at the same hole.
“It was unbelievable, at the time I couldn’t believe it,’ said Stephen. “We all thought it was going to be close, it landed near and then it dropped.
“There was complete disbelief. The three of us just stood there, in complete silence.
“Especially because normally, it’s a hole which I don’t play well on at all, it’s a tricky 130 yards, and I usually get very little success.”
Stephen found himself behind the bar, pouring whisky to his fellow members, a Penn tradition reserved for those luckily enough to find themselves in the Hole-in-One club.
However, no sooner had the bourbon dried up, than Stephen was receiving a phone call from his son the very next day.
“My moment of glory lasted just under 24 hours before my son Tom stole my thunder,” said Stephen. “Tom didn’t wait long to let me know, the ball had barely hit the cup before he was on the phone.
“Literally 30 seconds after it had happened, he was soaking up the glory!”
The coincidence doesn’t stop there. Stephen owns the Woodman Inn in Claverley and sponsors a hole on the Penn course – the seventh hole to be exact!
“It’s our hole, the pub sponsors it,” said Stephen. “The funny thing is, we were thinking about choosing another hole next year. We weren’t getting much luck out of the seventh, we weren’t having much joy out of it at all and then this happens.
“I don’t think we will change it now though, I think we will stick with it after all. I think we’ll sponsor it for a long time to come.”
Penn GC secretary Mick Woodhouse was left staggered by events, and counting the cost behind the bar.
“It’s probably cost the club a few quid,” joked Woodhouse. “Unlike most clubs where the person who gets a hole in one buys the drinks, the tradition at Penn is to give everyone who comes into the bar while the golfer is there, a tot of whiskey.
“Holes in one are very rare, so to get two in successive days is unbelievable.
“And the fact that it’s a father and son, and at the hole they sponsor, makes it all the more freakish.”
