Saturday 25th July 2026. Eaglescliffe Golf Club. The Harry Brown Trophy.
The alarm had gone off long before sunrise. By 6:30am, we were the first group on the tee, greeted by glorious sunshine and a swirling breeze that would keep us guessing all day.
My weapon of choice? A Titleist AVX #4.
The opening holes were steady enough. A solid par to settle the nerves, followed by a couple of bogeys. Then came the 4th.
A 160-yard par 3 with a slightly elevated green. The breeze was now into us, making club selection anything but straightforward. After a moment's thought, I pulled the 6-iron from the bag, placed my white Titleist AVX #4 on a red tee, picked my line and committed.
The strike was everything you'd hope for.
That unmistakable feeling. Pure.
The ball launched just right of the flag before beginning a gentle draw back towards the pin.
"That's all over it," one of my playing partners said.
For a few seconds, time almost stood still as we all watched the Titleist AVX #4 cutting through the morning sky. It landed softly on the dancefloor, took one bounce... then another... tracking straight towards the flag before disappearing from view as the front edge of the raised green hid the base of the pin.
We made the walk to the green, but strangely, nobody was talking about the shot we'd just witnessed. Instead, the conversation had somehow turned to the previous night's takeaway.
As the hole came into view, there was only one golf ball on the green.
Was it mine?
Or was it one of my playing partners'?
The closer we got, the more obvious it became...
It wasn't mine.
So where had it gone?
Long?
In the bunker?
Over the back?
Surely not...
I peered into the cup.
There it was.
My Titleist AVX #4, sitting proudly at the bottom of the hole.
My first ever hole-in-one!
The silence instantly gave way to cheers, whoops, laughter and high-fives. That magical number "1" was written onto the scorecard, creating a memory that will stay with me forever.
The Titleist AVX #4 that had just made history was immediately retired and safely tucked away in my golf bag. It has since earned a permanent place on my mantelpiece, replaced for the remainder of the round by a ball from another manufacturer... no names mentioned!
The adrenaline carried me through the rest of the day, although the scorecard certainly didn't. Looking back, I couldn't tell you much about the remaining 32 holes.
But I can tell you every detail about the 4th at Eaglescliffe Golf Club on that Saturday morning.
One swing.
One bounce (then another).
One cup.
One unforgettable moment.
My first hole-in-one.