Hole in one is kudos for groundskeeper

A good groundskeeper must know every blade of grass on his course but the Marton Golf Club members must think their new staff member Shay Melis is a savant of the green.

The young man scored a hole in one playing in the annual Broadway ColourPlus 27 Hole Foursomes on Saturday.

Approaching with playing partner Neville Abbott, Melis took out his 9-iron for the 17th hole - a Par 3 of around 160m from the tee.

"It pitched half a metre behind the hole and spun back in. It was quite a cool one," Melis said.

Not being able to see the hole, Melis initially thought from the reaction of the others that the ball had gone straight in, rather than taking the perfect route back from where it landed.

It was the best way to keep the green tidy - walk a line to the hole to collect the ball and then walk the same way back out.

Having only joined Marton on March 14, the new groundskeeper was the talk of the members when he got back to the clubhouse.

"They were giving me a bit of stick. Guys saying they've been playing 30-40 years and they haven't had one."

To win them over, Melis accepted a $100 voucher for his ace, and then put $200 on the bar for his shout.

Melis started playing golf when he was 16 while still working on the farm.

He then decided on greenkeeping as a profession and did his three-year apprenticeship at the Levin Golf Club.

It is the fourth recorded ace in the wider Whanganui region in 2016 - the second at the Marton Golf Club, while the other two were at Wanganui Golf Club.