Golf: Newbie savours first ace

Feilding's Andy Baker can still visualise the flight of the golf ball when he closes his eyes.

During the Hawkestone Golf Club's Keroama Trophy tournament on Saturday the 36-year-old, who has only been playing for a year, made his first ace on the 16th hole, a Par 3.

Taking out his 8 iron, Baker estimates the distance from tee to green was 125m, although he wasn't sure because "they move the tee blocks every now and then".

What he was sure of was that he hit it in the sweet spot as the ball departed, surprisingly not being affected by the wind running right to left.

"I knew I hit it well and I thought it was going off the back of the green - we all thought it was a little too much club," Baker said yesterday. "I saw it the whole way. It bounced, rolled and went straight in the hole. Unbelievable."

His playing mates took his picture collecting the ball from its new home, and Baker's good luck continued well into the evening at Hawkestone.

Newly minted rules allow lucky golfers to request any two club members split the cost of buying him or her a celebratory drink, which meant there were a few sitting on the table. It was quiz night at Hawkestone, which Baker's group subsequently won, and his name was also drawn for one of the raffles.

Baker took up golf a year ago after his ankles were beginning to show the wear and tear from his football playing days.

While he once scored a hat trick in a major match and also has a cricket century to his name, Saturday's hole-in-one was even more special.

"There's something about watching the ball in the air and having no control over it."

This is believed to be the first recorded hole-in-one in the wider Wanganui region since Jill Martin at the Waimarino Golf Club in May.

Golf insurance company US Hole In One calculates the odds of an average player scoring an ace at 12,500 to 1.