Malcolm and Stewart Rennie had, within the span of an hour, each drained their first hole-in-one.
As the brothers, both in their early 70s, capped an unforgettable round at the City of Calgary’s McCall Lake Par-3 Course, they wondered how their late father would react to this rare double.
“Stewart and I were thinking he might have been looking down on us, a bit surprised,” Malcolm said. “But we hope pleasantly surprised.”
When these brothers — Malcolm is a retired teacher, while Stewart worked as a trustee — teed off on this October afternoon, they couldn’t have possibly been expecting this. In fact, nobody in their foursome had ever witnessed an ace, let alone made one.
That changed on the third hole, where Stewart potted a pitching wedge from 86 yards away.
“He hit his a bit to the left and was going to pick up his tee, so he never even saw it go in,” Malcolm relayed. “I said, ‘You know, there’s a hill there. It’s going to bounce off that hill at just the right angle, back towards the pin.’ Sure enough, it did. The other three of us were jumping up and down.”
They were celebrating again on the seventh hole, where Malcolm made a ‘1’ of his own. He was swinging a nine-iron from 101 yards out.
“Two or three bounces and it was in,” Malcolm said. “I couldn’t believe it. I mean, both in the same round? What are the odds of that?”
***
Bob Anderson has apparently mastered the second hole at Fox Hollow. Anderson aced that assignment twice this season, most recently with a nifty nine-iron from 127 yards away.
Hyun Chul Choi and Colin Stallknecht could have split the clubhouse tab after each carding a ‘1’ on the same day at Fox Hollow. Choi buried a beauty on the second, a nice nine-iron from 125 yards back, while Stallknecht swished a seven-iron from 144 yards on No. 11.
Rita Huysmans now has a career hole-in-one hat-trick after she cruised through the third on Highwood’s Heritage Nine, once again showing her incredible aim as she completed that 97-yard test with one crack of a six-hybrid.
Richard Poncsak finished the season in style, notching an ace on the closing day at Turner Valley. Poncsak was perfect with a pitching wedge on No. 5, which spans 140 yards..
Hieng Au will be saying only good things about his pitching wedge, his weapon of choice for a 128-yard memory-maker on the second at Lakeside.
Luisa Bell was one-and-done on No. 13 at Douglasdale. Bell bopped a driver and was right on target from 101 yards away.
Matthew Hellingwerf must have been feeling like a tour pro as he watched a wonderful wedge land a foot beyond the flag-stick and spin back for a 131-yard marvel on No. 5 at Shaganappi Point.
Eight might be Pej Sepassi’s lucky number. Sepassi aced the eighth hole at Lakeview with one swing of a … you guessed it … eight-iron from 160.
Josh Slypitka skipped the putting portion on No. 5 at Springbank Links, instead finishing his business with one knock of a nine-iron from 156 yards away.
This turned out to be a wise investment for Jenson Quon, who’s been playing golf for three years and purchased brand-new balls for the first time. Quon was using one of those orange beauties for an ace on No. 5 at Shaganappi Point. Nine-iron was the right call for a 126-yard challenge.
Evan Mitchell sized up the splashy eighth hole at Redwood Meadows, nailed a nine-iron through the chute and across the water and was right on the money from 160 yards away.
Greg Christou and Rob Suik can swap stories after both made short work of No. 11 at Shaganappi Point. Christou cranked a five-hybrid from 118 yards out, while Suik was accurate with an approach wedge from that same distance.
John Belanger breezed through the second hole at Fox Hollow thanks to an awesome eight-iron that covered 155 yards.
Mike Clonts had reason to hoot and holler after this fortunate bounce. Clonts slugged a six-iron on No. 11 at Fox Hollow and watched from 155 yards away as that shot ricocheted off the mound right of the green and wound up at the bottom of the cup.
Sheldon Chomistek registered the last ace of the season at the City of Calgary courses thanks to a precise pitching wedge on the third hole at Maple Ridge, which measures 128 yards.
This is our final hole-in-one report of the season. Congratulations to all the golfers who drained aces in 2024.