82-year-old golfer's 67-million-to one longshot: Two holes-in-one in same round

USA Today

2 days ago

Marty Lerner is of the same generation as Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. But, he says, "I'm no Nicklaus, I'm no Palmer."
Perhaps not. But the 82-year-old from Delray Beach, Florida, accomplished something on July 6 that neither of the two iconic Hall of Famers did while on the PGA Tour.
He carded two holes-in-one in the same round.
Lerner, retired from the financial world and living in Delray Beach, followed the first ace of his life on the 112-yard second hole at Park Ridge Golf Course near Wellington with another on the 110-yard ninth hole.
What took him more than 82 years to accomplish one time, happened again about two hours later.
While the odds of making a single hole-in-one are estimated at 12,500-to-1, that number jumps to 67-million-to-1 for repeating the feat in the same round.
"As soon as they came in, I said you got to stop and buy some lottery tickets on the way home," said Al Grimaldi, a Park Ridge supervisor on duty that day.
Even more astonishing: Tad Moore of Lake Worth made two holes-in-one at Park Ridge on Oct. 19, 2019. Moore aced the 120-yard ninth hole with a pitching wedge and the 125-yard 16th with a 7-iron.
Lerner, from Bronx, New York, is a two-time-a-week player just trying to "keep the numbers in double digits, not triple digits." So when he stepped to the tee box on No. 2 with an 8-iron in hand, he was not about to go all Brooks Koepka on the tee markers if he did not hole out.
"I always say before I hit the ball, 'Does anyone have eyes on this ball?' " Lerner said. "I'm going for cataract surgery in a couple of weeks so that tells you where I am in my life.
"So I certainly did not see it drop."
Elevated green meant Marty Lerner's group did not see hole in one
With the green elevated, neither did his playing partners that included Rich Mendelson, Steve Hodosh and Geoff Solomon, a senior account executive at WPTV-Channel 5.
When the group arrived at the green, some thought it was possibly in a bunker.
"We looked around for if for about five minutes and we couldn't find his ball," said Mendelson, 73, of Highland Beach. "He was ready to drop another ball."
Someone suggested they check out the hole where they found the ball nestled in the cup.
"It was kind of anticlimactic after looking for the ball," Mendelson said.
Said Lerner: "I said to myself, I should take a picture of this, this is once in a lifetime."
That means Lerner lived a very short second lifetime.
Seven holes later, thinking he had been a little short with many of his shots during the day, Lerner pulled out a 7-iron.
And this time the result was a bit clearer … except to Lerner.
Mendelson, a piano teacher Lerner hired years ago who then became one of his golfing partners, was sure he saw it roll into the hole. But he could not be sure.
"I started to walk to the ball and people who had gotten ahead of me were looking at me kind of strange," Lerner said. "I said, 'Does anyone know where the ball is?'
"Someone says, 'I think you should look in the cup.' "
Solomon, who arrived as a single golfer and was placed in their group, took out his cell phone and asked Lerner if he'd like to be on the news. He then videoed Lerner as walked onto the green and approached the cup.
"Oh, my, God. Oh, my, God. What are the odds?" Lerner said as he raised both arms, fists clenched carrying two clubs in one hand.
"Absolutely surreal," Mendelson said.
Marty Lerner's two aces gave him a 44 for the front nine holes
The ace on No. 9 capped a 44 for the front nine for Lerner, one of his best nine-hole scores in recent years.
As for the back nine, "my brain was no longer on the game."
Lerner shot a 56 on the back nine, for a 100.
But that did not matter. Because where was Lerner the next morning?
On the range.
"I'm a little obsessive," Lerner said.
He then added: "They say it's a suckers game. Most people say, 'I'm done with it, I'm finished, I hate the game. I'm not getting any better, let me use my time more productively.' And you're about to give your clubs away, you're on the 18th hole and you say, 'I can't wait to hit this ball because I'll be done with it.' And you hit the ball right down the center, 230 yards, and you say, 'Aha. Now I've got it.'
"You've just been sucked back in."
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [e-mail].