12,700 to 1

According to Wikipedia, those are the odds of an amateur golfer making a hole in one. Yesterday, I was that one.

On the 18th hole at Veterans Golf Course yesterday, I made my first hole in one. I took this picture with my cell phone before I took the ball out of the cup. Here's the specifics...

The hole was playing about 135 yards. My playing partner, Bill Graves, teed off with a 7-iron. His shot overshot the green. Using this bit of info, I went back to the cart, put my 7-iron away, grabbed my 8-iron, and hit the shot of my life. The ball started just a touch left, came back to the right just a little, hit the green about 2 or 3 feet from the hole, and dropped into the cup. My first reaction was that it rolled behind the flag and I just couldn't see it from the green, but the other guys assured me that it had gone in. That's when I started jumping around and yelling like a complete idiot.

We then made our way back to the clubhouse where I was congratulated by everyone in the clubhouse and got to participate in one of the stupidest traditions in all of sports...I got to buy drinks for everyone in the bar.

Sure, I'm a little poorer, but it was worth it.