Holes-in-one on par-4 holes are very rare, but that hasn’t been the case lately at Tatnuck Country Club.
Lauren Birkbeck aced the par-4 fifth hole on July 31. Then Greg Jouki carded a hole in one on No. 5 on Friday, Aug. 30. Incredibly, Patrick Hanlon also aced No. 5 the next day, Aug. 31.
So that’s three holes-in-one on the par-4 fifth hole in a month and two in two days. You could almost say that Tatnuck has had aces in spades.
“I feel like I’m a trendsetter,” Birkbeck said.
“I guess good things come in threes,” Hanlon said.
“It’s unreal,” Jouki said. “I don’t know if it was the pin placement. I don’t know if it was the weather, but three holes in one in a month is crazy, on the same hole and on a par 4.”
The aces are the first on the fifth hole since Ryan Harper of Shrewsbury hit a driver into the cup in 2021. Tim Bishop, who was head pro at the time, said then that Harper was the only member that the club knew of to record an ace on No. 5. Tatnuck bartender Dave Nelson had one about 15 years before that, and a member of the grounds crew also had one many years ago. There’s no record of anyone else doing it.
The holes-in-one were the first for Birkbeck, Jouki and Hanlon. So none of them has aced a par-3 hole yet. Of course, recording a hole in one on a par-4 is much more impressive.
Hanlon, 35, of Worcester is the best golfer of the three. He has a 6.7 handicap, while Birkbeck, 37, of Paxton has a 26.8, and Jouki, 33, of Paxton has a 25. But they’ll forever be linked together for their accomplishment on the links.
A hole-in-one on a par 4 is 3 under par and is called an albatross or a double eagle. According to the Double Eagle Society, the odds of getting an albatross are between 1 million to 1 and 6 million to 1, but that includes carding a 2 on a par 5. The odds of an average golfer carding a hole in one on a par-3 are 12,000 to 1.
Birkbeck didn’t begin playing golf seriously until two years ago, and she and her husband Robert joined Tatnuck this year. She admitted that she had never heard of an albatross before she carded one.
The women’s league was postponed because of an approaching storm, so Birkbeck and Liza Laurent decided to play as many holes as they could on their own before the bad weather hit.
On No. 5, Birkbeck hit a PXG ball with her PXG 0211 driver from the red tees, about 227 yards from the cup.
Even before her ball found the cup, she said it felt like the best shot of her life.
Her ball landed a few inches left of the hole and rolled into the cup. Birkbeck and Laurent couldn’t believe it.
“We gave each other a high five and a fist bump,” Birkbeck said, “and we walked over, and we’re like, ‘Did that really just happen?’ When we got to the hole, we were like, ‘Are you kidding me right now?’ We were yelling.”
The women in her golf league jokingly said they would start calling her “Al,” which is short for albatross. They could also call her queen of the fifth green.
After her round, Tatnuck CC head pro P.J. Breton informed Birkbeck that she is believed to be the only woman to have aced a par 4 at Tatnuck.
“That was pretty awesome ,” she said. “It motivates me to improve my golf game and keep going.”
Thanks to hole-in-one insurance, none of the three had to purchase drinks for the members afterward.
Hanlon, a Worcester police officer, has golfed for about 15 or 20 years, and he joined Tatnuck this year.
From the 257 yards, Hanlon took an 80 percent swing with his Callaway driver and curled his Titleist Pro V1 from left to right. His ball landed on the front of the green and rolled onto the upper tier and into the cup.
Hanlon was playing in the Petersham Cup member-member, so he was one of 16 people playing on nearby holes who saw his ball drop into the hole.
“The cart girl saw it, too, and she gave me a hug,” Hanlon said.
Hanlon played with his brother, Matt, 37, who had a hole-in-one on the sixth hole at Green Hill when he was about 12 years old.
Jouki took up golf only three or four years ago, and this is his second year as a member at Tatnuck. Also from 257 yards, Jouki hit his shot with his Titleist TSR2 driver directly at the fifth green, but he couldn’t find his Titleist ball. So he began walking back to his cart, and he told his playing partner, Brian D’Andrea, to give him a bogey. After D’Andrea putted out, he found Jouki’s ball in the bottom of the cup.
“Complete and utter shock,” Jouki said.
He didn’t jump for joy or high-five D’Andrea.
“I was very calm in disbelief,” he said.
On Monday, Jess Eckstrom carded a hole-in-one on the par-3, 170-yard second hole. That was the third ace in four days at Tatnuck. It was the third hole-in-one on a par 3 at the club this year. So Tatnuck has had as many aces on par 4s as on par 3s this year.
“I think it’s crazy,” Breton said. “I think we should play the lottery.”
Ideas welcome
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—Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @BillDoyle15.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Tatnuck Country Club holds month of three par-4 aces in hand
