Pair of aces: Moss Creek woman hits golf's jackpot twice in same week

Linda McCarron thought the same thing she usually does when the ball comes off her 6-iron just right.

"This is a good shot," the Moss Creek resident said to herself last Thursday as she watched the flight of her tee shot at the North course's par-3 17th hole.

The idea of a hole-in-one never crossed her mind. After all, she'd made just one four days earlier, on the very same hole, and the odds of anyone making even one ace is fairly steep. Two in a week? Just grab the putter, and ...

And it disappeared into the cup.

"We all screamed," McCarron said Tuesday as she recounted the moment. "And one of our (Moss Creek) pros was in the group behind us. He was on the green on that hole (No. 16), and he saw it too. But it was exciting."

Indeed. While many amateurs can spend a lifetime hoping for that perfect intersection between a well-struck shot and sweet luck, McCarron entered some pretty rarified air.

According to the National Hole-In-One Association, which makes it their business to know because the firm sells hole-in-one insurance to charitable events, the odds of an amateur golfer making an ace during any given round is 12,500 to 1.

A call to HIO headquarters in Texas wasn't able to quickly dredge up the odds of someone making two holes-in-one in the same week. Two from a foursome in the same round comes to 1.3 million to 1, so there's a baseline of sorts.

A Google search, unscientific as it may be, reveals just one other recent account of someone making two aces in the same week. A Minnesota man turned the trick six years ago, coming three days apart on the same hole.

Suffice it to say McCarron doesn't have a whole lot of company. Thursday was her third lifetime hole-in-one, recording her first in 2008 on No.10 of the Moss Creek's North course.

Then came Nov. 15, playing with her husband, Jim, and another couple. Her 6-iron from 118 yards looked good in the air, but she couldn't make out where it had rolled once it touched down.

"I said to the gentleman I was walking with, 'I can't find the ball,'" McCarron said. "He eventually took a look in the hole and it was there."

Thursday's was more clear-cut, with the hole placement more visible from the tee. "That was fun," she said. "Well, they're all fun."

Above all, never rule anything out when McCarron has that trusty 6-iron in her hand. "Yeah, I'm going to keep that one," she quipped.

Moss Creek, too, seems to be a magnet for aces these days. The club has reported at least five in the past two weeks alone.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Pair of aces: Moss Creek woman hits golf's jackpot twice in same week."