ACE IN THE HOLE

PALMER — Most golfers will play a lifetime without knowing what it’s like to hit a hole-in-one. Gary LaRose has felt that thrill twice.

LaRose, an 85-year-old Palmer man, used his 7-iron and a 120-yard drive to nail a hole-in-one on the 9th hole of Palmer Golf Course Friday.

PGC director of golf George Collum estimates he sees about four aces a year at the Palmer course — the last came last July — But there was something special about LaRose’s shot on Friday.

LaRose is part of a local foursome, players 77 and older, who hit Palmer Golf Course religiously. The group has dubbed themselves the “Old Farts,” and in wind , rain or shine, LaRose tees off every Monday, Wednesday and Friday alongside longtime friends and golfing buddies Bob Johns, 87; George Crowthers, 85; and Jess Lee, 77.

On Friday, LaRose smacked a drive that will surely become part of years’ worth of stories that will be shared during the many days on the golf course to come.

“I knew it was going to be half-way decent,” LaRose said of the hole-in-one drive, right before he was set to tee off Monday morning.

Crowthers, who stood near the tee box and LaRose hit the shot on the par-3, said the drive cut through the air to the right of the flag.

“It bounced left and all the sudden it disappeared,” Crowthers said.

Crowthers said LaRose didn’t have an immediate reaction as the ball bounced toward the cup.

“I couldn’t believe it at first,” LaRose said.

But as soon as they figured out LaRose had aced the hole, Crowthers wanted to be the one to deliver the ball.

“George wouldn’t let me pick it up,” LaRose said. “He picked it up out of the hole and handed it to me, congratulated me.”

LaRose saved the ball, a Titleist Pro V1, to mark his second career hole-in-one. His first ace came about 14 years ago, he said, while staying at the Westwind RV and Golf Resort in Yuma, Ariz.

LaRose was playing the Yuma city course during the early morning hours and use a 6-iron to drive the ball 140 yards from the tee to the cup.

“The sun was coming up right behind the hole,” LaRose recalled. “All I could do was shoot in the middle of the sun. I went up there (to the green) and couldn’t find my ball. I thought it went over the hill and down into the pond. I dropped a ball and putted it over to the hole and my [other] ball was in the hole.”

LaRose said he’s been playing with his regular group for about 15 years now. He only plays the Palmer course, which is cut into the area where he grew up.

“I like the scenery, after all I was 10 years old when I came here,” LaRose said. “I used to run around here and try to shoot rabbits with sling shots.”

There’s no guarantee that LaRose will ace another hole. But LaRose does know one thing. He’ll be on Palmer Golf Course with Johns, Crowthers and Lee every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for as long as they possibly can.

“Till we drop,” LaRose said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.