Foon sank a 9-iron tee shot on the 121-metre sixth hole at the Poverty Bay course.
“I didn't see it go in; the sun was in my eyes,” he said.
One of his playing four, Hughie Waugh, did. But with a couple of balls in sight on the green, Foon needed to see his ball in the hole to believe it.
That night, he was at a 65th birthday dinner for mate and fellow golfer Dave Jenkins, who owns Country Foods.
Jenkins told him about the wayward golf balls he and his drivers would pick up from outside LeaderBrand — across the road from the sixth green — on Monday mornings.
The next morning, Foon stood on the sixth tee and promptly shanked a wedge out of bounds, somewhere towards LeaderBrand.
The golfing gods giveth . . . the golfing gods taketh.
Foon, whose first ace was about five years ago with a 4-iron on the 11th at the Bay, loves golf.
He has worked hard on his game and even has a golf simulator at home, which he says he is in the process of upgrading.
Foon has got his handicap down to 9 (his lowest index is 8.2) and has a personal best round of 76 at Poverty Bay.
“It's a great game,” he says. “It's relaxing and social.
“I have a little black book I get people to sign when I play with them for the first time. There's about 700 names in it.”
Foon is the brother of former Gisborne mayor and now Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon.
Richard has yet to entice his brother on to the course.
“He's too busy.”