68-year-old hits first ace in 20-year career

When a shivering Susan Edmonds was more focused on rugging up for the cold weather on the last day of 4 Course Classic, she had know idea what kind of a special Friday she was going to have on the Castlecliff course.

The 68-year-old member of the Marton club was having her final round of the big annual tournament put on by the Wanganui District Seniors when she struck the first hole-in-one of her 20-year career on the 138m 15th hole.

A former member of the Castlecliff club herself, Edmonds was almost embarrassed to admit she used the driver for the Par-3 hole.

"It was a cold, horrible day, I was into the wind, so I got my my driver out.

"The swing felt good and went straight for the pin, as only the top of the flag was visible from the tee. I thought it would have been pretty close. So someone said 'go and have a look in the hole'. And there it was."

Word got around the course "very quickly", Edmonds said.

"You only have to say it once. Lots of hugs and congratulations. I got a prize at the ceremony afterwards - they did it well."

Having been with the Marton club for three years, Edmonds took up golf "just because I thought it was a good sport and social, and my husband plays."

It is the eighth recorded hole in one in the wider Wanganui region this year, of which five of them have been at the Castlecliff course.

Three of them have been on the fourth hole, while the other was on the 13th.

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