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17 million to 1 odds: 2 golfers make back-to-back holes-in-one

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Imagine watching one member of your foursome tee up his ball at a 123-yard par 3. After his usual pre-shot activities, he strikes his approach. It flies for the pin like a heat-seeking missile, lands softly, and disappears into the cup. Your whole group erupts in celebration; after the dust of enthusiasm settles, it’s your turn to hit.

Such was the situation for 33-year-old Brian Halpern at the seventh hole of Westwood Country Club in St. Louis, Sunday.

After watching his buddie, Howie Sher, ace the hole, Halpern teed his ball up and struck his approach, and the projectile did…the exact same thing.

Imagine that scene: It had to be a mix of jubilation and disbelief–“Is there a glitch in the Matrix? Are we all going to ace this hole?”

“Watching Howie’s go in was the most-exhilarating thing I’d experienced on a golf course,” said Halpern. “I’d never seen one go in before. Watching it was amazing.”

To be sure. But what was it like trying to follow up his friend’s performance?

“To be honest I was just trying to make sure I hit contact because I had so much adrenaline going from watching Howie. When I hit the ball I chunked it a little bit but had a good line. It was going a little left of the pin and landed on the left fringe, pin high. After it landed, it took a hard bounce up the hill and then ran down the hill in a beeline for the hole – just like Howie.”

Unreal. Halpern described the experience as “out-of-body,” telling Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

“What happened is not believable.”

Indeed. According to the National Hole-In-One Registry sets odds of two players in the same foursome making aces as 17 million to 1. To put that in perspective, the odds of getting struck by lightning are one in 960,000.

Thus, it’s 17 times more likely you’ll get struck by lightning than it is that you’ll experience the “lightning strikes twice” phenomenon of two aces in one group.

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19th Hole

TaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract

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This week, TaylorMade Golf announced that they’ve signed AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year, Miles Russell, to an NIL contract.

In a statement, TaylorMade called Russell “nothing short of remarkable”.

“Miles’ record setting success at his young age is nothing short of remarkable and we are excited he chose us to support him in his growth as a golfer to continue to accomplish his career goals. Identifying and developing the top junior talent in the world has always been a priority for us at TaylorMade. Miles and his family epitomize the type of athlete and human being we are looking to add to Team TaylorMade.”

Russell has broken plenty of records in recent months. This season, he was named American Junior Golf Association’s Rolex Boys Player of the Year, making him the youngest male player to receive the award. The record was previously held by Tiger Woods who was about 10 months older than Russell at the time he received the award.

At age 14, J he became the youngest player ever to win the Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass at age 14.

The 15-year-old also played in his first Korn Ferry Tour event on Thursday, the LECOM Suncoast Classic, and shot a first-round 68.

In the aftermath of the agreement, Russell released a statement.

“I have had a great relationship with the team at TaylorMade for years now and couldn’t be more excited to continue to work with them in the future. TaylorMade has a history of developing the top junior talent in the world to help reach their goals of becoming PGA TOUR and major championship winners. I am looking forward to working with the team to reach those and other goals I have laid out for my career.”

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Group of PGA Tour caddies sign endorsement deal with underwear company

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In an interesting turn of events, a group of PGA Tour caddies have signed an endorsement deal with an underwear company.

Geno Bonnalie (Joel Dahmen), Aaron Flener (J.T. Poston), John Limanti (Akshay Bhatia) and Joel Stock (Will Zalatoris) and John Ellis (Wyndham Clark) have signed a deal with the underwear brand, SAXX.

Here are some details about the endorsement deal:

  • The deal eclipses six figures in total value, extending what last year marked the first significant apparel agreement with a group of pro caddies. Of note, Geno and John Ellis appeared in the Netflix docuseries, Full Swing.
  • The caddies will wear SAXX underwear, shorts and polos on and off the course.
  • SAXX will donate $100 to the Testicular Cancer Foundation for every birdie made by the caddies’ players for the rest of the season.
  • SAXX will bring the Ball Masters to the masses at the Travelers Championship, hosting a fan activation with underwear giveaways, photo opportunities, appearances from the Ball Masters and more.
  • Fans can become an honorary Ball Master, which includes a year’s worth of underwear, among other things. Go to SAXX.com/ball-master-application from now until June 15 to enter.

The partnership is great for the caddies and also represents a great cause.

Check out the video they shared on YouTube:

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Man charged with stealing millions of dollars worth of memorabilia from Augusta National

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Augusta National

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man has been charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Per the court records there is no mention that Globensky worked for the golf club.

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