“We were just trying to hurry up and get done and go drink some refreshments,” said Giangulio, who carded a 34.
The hole-in-one package that ran in last Sunday’s edition of the Dayton Daily News generated plenty of feedback, mostly from readers who wanted to share their stories — or had some incredible tales about their friends.
I’m reminded again how those who have holed-out from the tee box consider their accomplishment one of the highlights of their lives, just below their wedding and the arrival of their first child but ahead of most second marriages (just kidding).
We actually heard about Giangulio from other readers. The Troy resident was reluctant to talk about it, saying, “I don’t like drawing attention to myself.”
Sorry, that feat is too mind-blowing to ignore. The odds of having two holes-in-one in the same round are 67,000,000-to-1, according to Golf Digest.
Giangulio, 65, has eight total aces, including the twin lightning bolts in 1988. And while he’s saved all of the golf balls, they’re just sitting in an egg carton in a dresser drawer.
“When I hit the second one on No. 7, as it was in the air, (a playing partner) said, ‘If that SOB goes in, I’m throwing my clubs in the river,’ ” Giangulio said. “No sooner had he said that than the ball went in the hole.
“But he didn’t throw his clubs in the river.”
Wife leads: Think making two aces is impressive? Not around Pete Luongo’s home.
The retired Dayton businessman is trying to catch up with wife Debbie, who has three.
“It’s really sad,” he said. “In the basement, she’s got her three plaques up — above my two.”
Asked if he’s given up hope of drawing even, he said: “Hell no. I’m only 66. I’ve got at least a couple more years.”
Beginner’s luck? If you’re just picking up the game, don’t think you have to toil for years to get your first hole-in-one. Just ask Lee Johnson.
The 29-year-old Kettering resident has only played seriously for two months, but he just aced the 145-yard fifth hole at Browns Run in Middletown with a 5-iron.
He’s due: Lou Stahl of St. Henry has had four holes-in-one and they seem to come in five year increments. He had one each in 1995 and 2000 and two in 2005.
“If the golf gods are with me, this should be my year again,” Stahl said.
Five with witnesses: Ed Combs of Vandalia has seven holes-in-one, including the first recorded at Heatherwoode Golf Club, which opened in the early 1990s. He’s only counting five, though, since he was playing alone on the other two.
The five still put him two ahead of son Nathan Combs, an assistant pro at Piqua Country Club.
Tally grows: Mary Jo Martin of Fairborn caught the DDN’s hole-in-one cover story on Bill and Janet Moland, a Centerville couple with a combined six aces (one of which they parlayed into a new car), and was chatting with friend Bob Zubeck while making the turn at Greene Country Club about how she and husband John had combined for seven holes-in-one.
Moments later, Mary Jo pured an 8-iron to ace the 132-yard 11th hole.
Couple scoreboard: Martins 8, Molands 6.
Bockhorn has two: Bucky Bockhorn has made some sweet swings on a golf course over the years, but he’ll tell you they tend to come around as often as lunar eclipses.
While he’s never posted consistently good scores, he’s had two holes-in-one, an eagle on perhaps the toughest part-4 in the Dayton area (No. 11 at Walnut Grove) and a double-eagle.
“I’ve done everything on a golf course but play well,” he joked.
Bockhorn, who generally just hit a 4-wood and 7-iron when he played regularly, had his first ace about 30 years ago at an outing at Shelby Oaks in Sidney while paired with two other ex-UD players: my father, Chris Harris, who was Bockhorn’s longtime radio partner, and Pete Boyle.
“I get on the tee, and Chris goes, ‘Here’s Bucky Bockhorn, playing out of Kramers’ (Tavern). He takes out his 7-iron. He hits the ball. It’s a little fade, it hits the back of the green, it’s rolling, rolling ... damn, it went in!’ ”
Bockhorn said he immediately worried about forking out for the traditional hole-in-one drinks because he had just $25 in his pocket, but the outing sponsor ended up covering the tab.
The second ace came two years ago at Locust Hills on a 145-yard shot with an 11-wood, a club the once-ox-strong Bockhorn is a little sheepish about having in his bag.
“The ball went in the hole, and I didn’t get excited. I had one before,” he said. “The people who saw it go in the hole were all excited. I go in the pro shop, and the guy said, ‘Bucky, you had a hole-in-one? What did you hit?’ I said, ‘I hit a ...’ ”
At his point, Bockhorn covers his mouth and mumbles something incoherent.
“I was too embarrassed to tell him it was an 11-wood,” Bockhorn said.
He added: “It just goes to show you, you don’t have to be a very good player to get a hole-in-one.”
Battered ball: Gary McCans, the ticket manager for the Flyers since UD Arena opened in 1969, had an ace about 35 years ago at Holly Hills in Waynesville.
He played his slice, aiming about 40 yards left of the pin. A strong wind pulled the ball back and sent it scurrying into the cup.
When he went to the pro shop, he was asked whether he wanted the ball mounted. But once McCans displayed the ball, the pro was taken aback.
“It was all beat up. It had a ‘smile’ in it,” McCans said. “He goes, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to buy another ball?’ I said, ‘No, this is the ball that went in, that’s the one I want.’ I’ve got it in my office, and it’s a piece of crap”
Contact this writer at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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