I am still in shock over my hole-in-one yesterday while qualifying for a club event. A perfectly struck Pro-V1 golf ball, 194 yards with a four iron gently landing a foot from the cup and trickling in.

As I registered my shot it brought to mind the most unusual "hole-in-one" that I have ever experienced.

In 1996 I was attending the Heritage Classic in Hilton Head, SC. Back then on the Wednesday before the tourney started, there was an event at most PGA tour stops called (I think) the Merrill Lynch Shootout where 10 pro's would tee off and play nine holes leaving the last man standing to win some money. While we were watching the 5th hole we heard the screams of "four right".

I turned around and felt a brushing on my side. My friend who I was with said "that golf ball hit you" and a bunch of us were looking for it in the rough. A minute or two went by and over the hill comes Paul Azinger walking right towards us. He asked if he hit anyone and where was his ball. My buddy told him it hit me on the side but he couldn't see where the ball landed.

As Paul, his caddie, the PGA rules official, me, my buddy and a bunch of spectators were kicking up the rough with our feet, I noticed something close to my stomach in my wind sweater. I had this wind sweater for several months and never knew it had a pocket until that day. The ball flew right into it. When I discovered it I stopped and pulled out a black Titleist 2. Azinger made a couple jokes, dropped his ball and played out the hole. It would be nice to know whether he still remembers that incident.