Matthew David Vorwald

Lifetime golf highlight today: had a hole in one on the 376 yard par 4 hole 16 at Coyote Ridge Golf Club this afternoon. Hit an uphill, blind, ~356 yard driver over the trees on a straight line for what I had decided was the direction of the green. Had maybe about 10 mph of tail wind, so I immediately commented to Stephen Gault, "I hope they aren't still on the green." But when we went looking for my ball, it wasn't anywhere to be found. While everyone else hit their 2nd and 3rd shots, I searched about 40 yards in every direction, coming up empty. As Stephen was putting out, I hear, "hey, what ball were you playing??" I told him Titleist ProV1x Left Dash. He responds, picking up the ball and showing it to me, "number 3?!" Everything got a little blurry for the next few moments as the improbability of what just happened landed. We immediately wondered whether the group ahead had put it in the cup after getting hit into, but when we drove up to ask, it was obvious they had no idea what we were even approaching them about. They denied they had any hand in it -- which seems truthful, because they were teeing off on 17 when my dad was hitting his shot from 16 forward tees. Had to check to make sure, though. The moment made an otherwise ugly round unforgettable: I was +10 at the turn and fought hooks for the entire first half before going even par on the back for an 82. Gemini says the probability of a par 4 hole in one is 1 in 6,000,000 -- adding that with the yardage and layout, the adjusted likelihood is even more outlandish. The clubhouse said I'm the first to ace 16 -- I'm guessing there may never be another. Pretty wild experience, and really grateful to have had my dad there to share in it.