On Friday September 30, 2011, I had the good fortune and blessing of playing in “The” Ben McGraw First Tee Classic at Glade Springs’ Cobb Course in Daniels, West Virginia. It was a captain’s choice, four-player handicapped scramble with the proceeds primarily benefiting The First Tee. The weather was somewhat windy, cold and dreary and our team wasn't playing all that well either, but spirits were high surrounding this wonderful event. Eventually, we came to the 13th hole, which was a 147 yard Par 3. We had one ball on the green and it was my turn to take a swing. I pulled out my 7 iron and placed a Titleist Pro V1 on the tee. After hitting the ball, I felt I'd caught it pretty good. Normally, I don't follow the ball flight too closely but this time I noticed it appeared to be headed straight for the pin so I decided I'd watch it a little longer than usual. The ball hit the ground and disappeared. There was already a "closest to the pin" marker just left of the flag stick so I began to wonder if the ball popped behind the marker and out of view. One of my buddies said he thought it went in as I walked to the side of the tee box to get a different angle. "I'll believe it when I see it", I said. Well, we drove our carts up to the green and I didn't see my ball, as my heart began to pound out of my chest. I walked over to the hole and, sure enough, there it was in the bottom of the cup! "Thank you, Lord", I thought. The ball hit about half a foot in front of the hole and popped in.

All these years of golf shots and talk of when that first hole-in-one might happen and.....finally! Ya just never know do ya? What a wonderful experience.