One hole-in-one follows another at Blue Bell
After seeing one of his playing partners make a hole in one, the first ace he had ever seen in person, Tom Downey just wanted to get his ball on the green on the par-3 sixth hole at Blue Bell Country Club.
"I hadn't played in six weeks and I was playing lousy," Downey recalled. "All I wanted to do was put a good swing on the ball."
ED HILLE / Staff Photographer
Chris Ebersole and Tom Downey (right) recorded aces on the same hole at Blue Bell Country Club on Monday.
Not only did he do that, but Downey also achieved the unthinkable - a hole in one - after Chris Ebersole accomplished the same thing. Both used a 7-iron on the 162-yard hole, with Ebersole hitting first in the group and Downey third.
The odds of two players in the same foursome making an ace are estimated to be 17 million to 1. The Labor Day feat was the first career hole in one for both men.
To be sure, an ace was the last thing on the mind of Downey, 54, of Horsham, who had been idled by an injury to his left forearm and elbow.
"I hit it with a little fade," said Downey, general sales manager at Arrow Electronics. "Then it hit about halfway up the green and started rolling. I see it rolling and I'm thinking, 'Damn, that might go in the hole.' After it went in, I started yelling and high-fiving everybody."
It was a crazier celebration than what occurred moments earlier when Ebersole, 52, of Blue Bell, knocked in his ace.
"It all happened fairly quickly," said Ebersole, vice president of health care services for Bancorp Bank. "There wasn't a whole lot of thinking going on. It looked pretty good and had a chance to go in, with the flight and the line the ball was on. But it was incredible, just an amazing situation."
Both Ebersole and Downey said their respective ball marks on the green were no more than four inches from each other.
Celebrating the aces with Ebersole and Downey were their two playing partners, Joe Sosnowski and Ira Katz, both of Blue Bell. Sosnowski hit second and missed the green, and Katz, batting cleanup in the order, reached it, although his shot didn't go in.
"We all booed him," Sosnowski said.
"I had to back off the shot three times with all the adrenaline and excitement," Katz explained.
The separate commotions caught the attention of Blue Bell teaching pro Mike Dynda, who was giving a lesson at the practice range, close to the sixth hole.
"I'm teaching and all of a sudden I hear, 'Woo-hoo!,' " Dynda said. "And I shouted over, 'Excuse me, who had the hole in one?' They told me it was Chris. I went back to my client - and I heard, 'Woo-hoo!' again.
"At first I thought it was back-to-back because it only seemed like 30 seconds. I yelled over, 'Did you have another one?' They said 'Yes' and I ran over there. To hear two yells like that, the hair stood up on my arms."
Dynda sent a text message to the clubhouse to report the feats, and the two men were honored with some drinks at the turn before going on to complete their rounds. Larger festivities were held in the clubhouse when they finished.
Ebersole, who has an 8.4 handicap index, making him a 10 at Blue Bell, wound up with a career-low 73.
"It was quite a day, quite an experience," he said.
Downey, who holds an 11.2 handicap index and plays to a 13 at Blue Bell, said he played the three holes after No. 6 "not knowing what was going on." But he'll never forget what happened.
"Before that, I was playing terrible, to be honest with you," he said. "I was just trying to get the rust off, and that makes making a hole in one even more amazing. It was so great to be part of that."
Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com.
